After a lovely wedding weekend, we headed north back to Canada. We didn’t turn on the gps, just drove north, following a map. We figured we’d end up somewhere between Montreal and Quebec, preferably not on the main road.
We did find a tourist information stop, where a few towns were recommended. We missed the fort, but found ourselves in Beloil, buying chocolate. The friendly sales girl wanted to know what the heck a couple of Los Angelenos were doing in a small town in Quebec, just exploring. Since she was from Quebec City, she gaves us a very good tip on what to do there, more on that later.
We have some wonderful florists here, with amazing window displays. How nice that in summer, Martin can have this beautiful display outside.
There are many beautiful churches here, unfortunately, these days many are no longer in use. This one in Beloil still is.
There was a large cemetery next to the church, of course I had to check it out. Joel went and took a walk by the river, there are only so many cemeteries he can visit. One marker really stood out from the rest.
I went to check it out.
An eight year old boy, sad, very sad. I didn’t check to see if in later years his parents were buried nearby. If they are still alive, they would be very very old.
Another church across the river. I could have just taken pictures of churches there were so many.
In Beloil, a 100 year old business, this old town isn’t very big, but it now has restaurants and that gorgeous florist. 
I like the paint job here, reminds me of colorful New Orleans. Other than this old town, most of Southern Quebec looked dull, main drags that could have been anywhere in Canada or the US, just all the signs are in French.
For some reason we decided to bypass Drummondville which is quite a large city and go on to Trois Rivieres, which is on the main highway. So we drove through driving rain, by the time we got there, we were tired. We drove to the old part of town, the one or two hotels didn’t look good, so we kept going. All we could find were old 1950s motels that looked like they hadn’t been updated at all. So back to town we went, we found an Italian place for dinner. The food was pretty awful, but they kindly directed us here:
I took the picture the next morning. We waited half an hour for the owner to come over from her restaurant. Turns out we got a very nice room for the night. Since we had to wait, she even took $5 off our bill, which wasn’t expensive to begin with.
While driving through Trois Rivieres I saw a lot of this, outdoor circular staircases going up to the second floor of buildings. Later in Quebec I got the explanation that was very common throughout the Province. Rather than waste space inside on staircases, they are outside. I get it, 100 or 200 years ago people simply lived in weather. They didn’t control it like we do today, so exiting to such a staircase would be normal. I understand that these kind of flats are popular in places like Quebec or Montreal – until you have a baby and need to schlep up and down them with a baby and stroller, especially in winter.
Then we headed out on the Chemin Du Roy towards Quebec. We were expecting to find a coffee shop, no luck, a few towns in, we stopped at a gas station that had a convenience store. The coffee and croissant were fine, but this is advertised as a scenic day trip. Scenic yes, amenities, not really.
Yes, a beautiful church among the cornfields.
We arrived in Quebec to a whole new adventure.
I went to Smart and Final to buy a #10 can full of whole tomatoes, I’ve used some of them, but most are in smaller containers in the freezer. Following the instructions for 
I payed attention to other items on the registry, looks like the bride likes simple grey fabrics. I had to really dig in my stash to find quiet fabrics.
I added an insert in the bottom, a tin can is a tin can, better have it completely covered.
The instructions are well written. I followed the measurements exactly and it fit the can perfectly.
.The pockets flaring off the side are practical and pretty.
Those spoons and spatula suddenly don’t look so boring.
And look! It matches the apron!
You can’t quite see, but I also made 4 napkins out a simple white text fabric. Some of the bride’s girlfriends wanted to know if I sell these items. No I don’t, no one pays me for the time it takes to make something handmade. I am thrilled to make gifts to share with people I care about, but it isn’t worth the money.
The reason for our quick trip to Israel was for my nephews’ wedding. A rather blurry image of him putting on the ritz.
With my mother and two brothers. The taller one, Yaacov is the father of the groom.
Sophia is gorgeous. I had met her before and she is lovely. When her family converted and moved to Israel – they too became very Orthodox, much more so than my brother. She like Meir is now secular. But one thing that caught me by surprise is the family as a whole.
I didn’t take many pictures at the wedding, all of the pictures are thanks to Joel pulling out his phone. I found this image online and I’m sharing it here, the two little girls in the bottom left are cousins of Sophia. In LA, this ‘type’ of Mexican is part of the landscape, these are not Conversos, these are native to Mexico, long before the Europeans arrive. How they learned about Judaism I don’t know, but there is now a large community in Cochav Yaacov in Israel. Israel is the most amazing country in the world, it really and truly is the most diverse nation outside of the US. Unlike the US, it is a tiny county. There is a pull for many people to become Jews and to move to Israel, on the settlement that this family lives there are immigrants from the US, Europe, Africa, India, South America. The one thing that unifies them is that they are Jews – either by birth or by choice.
As I mentioned, not a lot of photos, so I’ll share what I have which is mostly family. I’ll get back to the interesting story as well, since it didn’t stop, My nephew, his wife and sister, yes I have a very good looking family.
On the left my brother and sister in law with her sister and brother in law. Pay attention to the backdrop, this is the real deal, the wedding was overlooking the old City of Jerusalem, so those walls in the background aren’t some painted back drop. Of course the breathtaking setting added so much to the atmosphere.
I’m glad Joel handed me the phone so I could get a picture of him.
I can’t explain why these two are in most of the pictures. Sure handsome couple, but they aren’t the only ones.
All the cousins in one shot. I love how the groom and his brother (who is married but no kids yet) are holding the baby who belongs to the couple to their left. Yes, mom and dad can’t wait till you have one of your own!! (more than one really). One nephew couldn’t make it, he is still in the army and couldn’t get out to join in the festivities.
Great looking kids against a beautiful backdrop.
And then the wedding returned to surreal. As I mention, my brother is modern Orthodox, but because Sophia’s family is much stricter, there were some interesting things happening. First of all, the dress covering her from head to toe, the large opaque veil – that wasn’t her choice that was honoring her mother. Here she is walking down the aisle with her mother and grandfather. Unfortunately her father has passed away.
Traditional Chuppah. I just wish the photographer and videographer weren’t right in there, they blocked out view. So for the first time in almost 40 years, I am at a wedding where the couple is secular, and men and women are asked to sit separately. Not one family on either side, women on one, men on the other. I had to comment to the lesbian cousins that they lucked out, they could sit together.
And at the end of the evening, the very proud parents of the groom. Another kid married off! A job very very well done.
