Once again we find ourselves in the position of not having enough time to do everything we want to do in a place we are visiting. Quebec has some great museums so today we went back into the City to visit the Museum of Civilization (Les Musees de la Civilisation). We had also planned on visiting the Musee de l'Amerique Francophone and the Musee de la Place Royal, but we only had time for the Museum of Civilization because it had some great exhibits. One of their permanent exhibits is, This Is Our Story, First Nations and Inuit in the 21st Century, but when we arrived we learned that the museum had a fire two weeks ago. We were happy to learn that there had been no damage to the collection, but were unhappy to learn that a number of exhibition halls were closed down as a result, including the First Nations exhibit.
However, we were thrilled to learn that the original Treaty of Paris (1763), ending the 7 Years War and transferring control of Canada from the French to the British, and validating documents were on a special two week exhibit, the first time the Treaty has ever been in North America. We spent a bit of time waiting in line because they only let so many people at a time in to see the documents and supporting exhibit materials. Out in the waiting area there were some exhibits from the French and British battles for control of Canada, including the deciding battle on the Plains of Abraham between Wolfe and Montcalm.
This is a diorama of the Plains of Abraham battle. Fought on September13, 1759, and lasting only 20 minutes, the British were disciplined and surprised the French who fought a sloppy battle. Both Wolfe and Montcalm died as a result of woulds received during the battle.
There were also these examples of the uniforms worn by the British, red, on the left and grey for the French, on the right. It also mentioned that the soldiers abandoned their swords in favor of the hatchet which made it easier to move through the woods in North America.
That is it for the pictures of this exhibit. The museum police came up to me to tell me that no photos are allowed in the exhibition. There was also low light because of the fragility of the paper and ink. It took several years to negotiate the treaty and all those official negotiating and validating documents were included in the exhibition. The treaty was signed by Great Britain, France and Spain. The 7 Years War was costly to all the countries involved and in an effort to replenish their treasury, Great Britain increased taxes on their North American colonies, including a tax on tea. We all know what this action led to!
After viewing the Treaty of Paris, we visited the Quebec province historical exhibit and learned about the landmark events that shaped Quebec up to the current time.
This is a replica of the "Abitation" built by Champlain. Champlain choose the site of Quebec City, ("Quebec" is a Mi'kmaq word meaning "narrow", an allusion to the narrowing of the river at this point) because it is a natural headland and can control navigation to the Great Lakes.
The French forged strong alliances with the Amerindians. From the Indians the French learned about the canoe, snowshoes and freedom of movement. The Aboriginals began using the cooking pot, the rifle and some converted to Christianity.
We ate out lunch across the street, on a green patch right next to this cruise liner docked for a visit to Quebec City.
We had to get back to the Museum for a 2pm guided tour of their special exhibition, Master of Olympus, Treasures from the Greco-Roman Collections of Berlin.
We could't take any pictures of the exhibition, there is a beautiful Exhibition Catalog which I almost bought (but where would I keep it?), but we were able to take a picture, outside the exhibit, with our tour guide, Helene.
However, I did manage to take this picture of Frederick standing at the entrance to the exhibit. The white blob on the edge of the sign above, is actually an enormous stone foot that was once a part of a huge seated statue of a god. This is the left foot; the right foot is in the British Museum. At one time there were numerous statues with just the hands and feet of stone; the rest of the body was made of wood and was draped with cloth.
One of the items that our guide mentioned is that careful study with modern techniques have determined that these Greek statues, which now appear to be of white marble or other stone, were once painted with bright colors made from natural dyes. I'm not exactly sure why this is a sculpture of an Indian, but it is an example of the colorful decorations scholars now believe covered the statues of the gods in ancient Greece and Rome.
This picture, and the one above, are forbidden pictures that I took against the rules.
It was a fascinating exhibit and in addition to the statues, we were also witness to a visit by the First Lady of Germany (the domestic partner of Jochim Gauck, President of Germany, [he is legally married to someone else]), Daniela Schadt, who was visiting the exhibit with a whole retinue of people, many of whom looked like security people.
We are currently staying at a campground that is located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, across the river from Quebec City. Every time we have visited the City we have had to cross, and recross, this bridge on the right. The bridge with all the trusses is a railroad bridge.
This is another picture of the highway bridge.
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