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got an early start and headed directly to two Ottawa area cemeteries
that we had located last night using the book on Canadian Prime
Ministers. The first was Beechwood Cemetery and the grave of Sir
Robert Baird Borden, a rather obscure Canadian Prime minister whose
only claim to fame for us was that he was buried very near to
the Ottawa Marriott Courtyard. In later reading, we learned that he
was a conservative Prime Minister that lead Canada during World War I. |
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the street about five miles was the Notre Dame cemetery, and
Canadian Prime Minister Sir Wilfred Laurier. At the time, he was
famous to me only for his likeness on the Canadian Five Dollar Bill.
Since then I have read about the role he played in the founding of
Canada. He was a French speaking Liberal, and served as prime
minister around the turn of the century. His gravesite was memorable,
although our pictures did not capture its grandeur. |
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 On
our way back into the city, we drove by the Canadian Governor
General's residence (Canada's "White House"). The building
is invisible, and totally lacking the fame of its cousin on
Pennsylvania Avenue. The ceremonial guards remind you of the close
ties between Canada and Great Britain.
We visited just after a local scandal where an intruder was found
within the Prime Minister's residence one night. It was still playing
in the papers a few weeks after it occurred and several police
directors lost their jobs. |
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We crossed the river to Hull, Quebec, Ottawa's sister city and
visited the Canadian Museum
of Civilization (Musée Canadien des Civilisations). This
sounded like quite an undertaking, but it turned out to be a fairly
standard "museum of natural history" type presentation. A
lot Canadian native craftwork and history. Our favorite was the large
amphitheater sized room full of actual native Totem Poles, relocated
here to both memorialize and preserve them from the elements. |
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From Hull, we
drove several miles north to nearby Wakefield, Quebec, the burial
site of Lester Pearson. He was only a name in a book to us, so you
might imagine our surprise to learn that along with being Prime
Minister, he received a Nobel Peace Prize. An American of similar
accomplishment would be very well publicized. Reading up after our
trip, we learned that the Nobel was given in honor of his role in
mediating the end of the Suez Canal crisis in the 1950's, where Great
Britain withdrew from Palestine and the middle east. I am sure some
of his accomplishment was diminished by the later wars fought over
the same land. |
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 We
left Ottawa and drove again to Montreal, stopping to visit the
somewhat famous St Joseph's retreat. We had a small dinner, then
drove on eastward toward Quebec City, spending the night in Trois-Rivieres. |
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Original Web Upload December 2000
Last Update: December 22, 2006 |
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Ottawa / Drive to Trois-Riveres