Beautiful St Anne's, Quebec

Beautiful St Anne's cathedral church reminded me of the miracle church of Ta Pinu on the island of Gozo. Our guide even told us the hill behind it had the stations of the cross on it, also, I thought, like on Gozo. The maples on the hill behind St Anne's were in a deep autumnal shade which contrasted with the light colour of the stone church.

The church of St Anne had burned down twice, but miraculously the figure of St Anne on the top had survived. Inside were crutches and things which had been left by those who had experienced miracle cures. Fewer of these than formerly, our guide told us, as there had been a thorough investigation of each cure, and only those which had been proven to have no other possible explanation except a faith cure, had been kept. The art and craft works inside the church were exquisite. There was also a copy of Michael Angelo's pieta there. I remembered having read about it being commissioned and installed, never imagining I would see it.

After visiting the church, we walked back to the coach past the deep coloured maples. Our next stop was at a family firm of copper artist's and craftsmen, where we had a demonstration and were shown a series of religious reliefs and other fine works made by members of the family. One point our guide made about the homes we saw was to remark on the different colours of the roofs. These she explained depicted the colours of the French province they had emigrated from.