Family Matters

One of the reasons we visited Quebec recently was to visit the village of L'Ange Gardien where my ancestors settled in the 1600's. I guess I'm what some would call pure laine. Unfortunately, we got distracted once we got to Quebec City and decided to forego the side trip up to the Charlevoix Region. Here's a picture of the large monument to the Trudel family in L'Ange Gardien. At some point we'd like to take a trip to the original homestead of Jean Trudel in Parfondeval , now a B&B, in northern France but we'll probably get distracted again (once I'm in Paris I'm impossible to budge). Our family motto is short and to the point: Ad Sum, as in "add some more Scotch to this drink, you cheap bastard" or some such obscure Latin meaning.
This is what we missed:

"The monument stands twenty-five feet above its base which is itself four feet in height. Including the helmet, the total height of the structure is thirty (30) feet and the approximate weight is thirty-two tons. Here is the significance of each of the emblems on the monument: The cross: symbolizes the faith. The ax: symbolizes the colonist. The scythe: symbolizes the harvest. The sheaf: symbolizes abundance. Year 1645: arrival of Jean Trudelle in Canada. Ad Sum: motto of the Trudel family. The chalice: recalls the first mass in Ange-Gardien. 1664: year of this first mass. The Coat of Arms: armories of the family originating from Adrien Trudelle, of France, who was ennobled in 1696. The helmet: that of a gentleman. The monument can be seen on highway #138 along the St Lawrence river.
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