A few hours before the arrival of Pope Francis, the faithful are becoming rather rare on the Plains of Abraham.
• Read also: Papal visit: Quebec ready to welcome the sovereign pontiff
A few hundred pilgrims have taken their places along the fences but it is rather easy to circulate on the Plains, observed Le Journal, around 1:45 p.m.
Several dozen people also took their places in front of the big stage where the speech of the Holy Father will be broadcast.
A little after 1:30 p.m., the Quebec City Police Service (SPVQ) indicated that the obstacles were put in place to accommodate the Pope’s convoy. Grande Allée is now closed between Claire-Fontaine and Honoré-Mercier streets.
However, the SPVQ specifies that traffic is “fluid on the municipal road network”.
The Grande-Allée is empty
At 2 p.m., the Grande-Allée was practically empty. Even the restaurant terraces that are usually filled in the heart of the holidays had only a few customers. However, the place is ideal to see the procession of the Pope pass by very closely.
Louise Larocque, Guy Hott, Hélène Rochon and Robert Larocque traveled to LaChute to see Pope Francis. They settled around 1:30 p.m. with their chairs along Grande-Allée in the hope of greeting the Holy Father in his Fiat 500.
“He is the head of the Church and we were interested in seeing him at least once in our life,” explained Robert Larocque. The group arrived in Quebec last weekend taking advantage of the opportunity to go to the Sainte-Anne party and to visit the greater Quebec region.
