Day 8 - July 7 - C'est vraiment la "belle" province

One of my all-are-remarkable sibs, Dorothy, before we left on this trip gave me a very cool little leather notebook in which I could keep a log, in which she wrote a quote or poem or something for each day we are to be away... what a wonderful gift! Today it is "Poem to be read at 3:00 a.m.", and includes a passage:

"... as I drove past

at seventy

not thinking

this poem

is for...."

We've driven past a lot of wonderful sights and things "at seventy" (or thereabouts)... but to cross this vast land, you have to commit to keeping moving: it's the journey as much or more than the destination.

After a very short night, we breakfasted at the conveniently-placed next-door Tim Hortons (how did I, who never went to Tim Hortons, and voiciferously eschewed their coffee, suddenly become a fan?), and then headed off to Trois Rivieres and Quebec City, eventually getting to the north shore of the St. Lawrence.

What a wonderful gift to travel that shore! It is a series of small villages along the majestic river that looks like an ocean (or at least a Great Lake)... villages like Les Eboullement, Baie St. Paul, St. Anne de Beaupre. We stopped at the latter to get a cup of coffee, and visited a fromagerie ("Beaupre") and watched machine-driven paddles stir great vats of milk... and I thought of my niece, Samantha, and her husband, Jeff, as they run an organic farm, and make some of their own cheese... certainly changes your perspective on conveniently packaged products.

From a motorcyclist's perspective, the road was fabulous - the north shore is completely different than the south shore (that Jo-Ann and the kids and I drove years ago): the villages have been built upon a series of steeply ascending (and descending) hills, so lots and lots of "twisty" road, and roller-coaster-like ups and downs.

A highlight was going into the village of La Malbei, eating luch at the very simple but tasty Cafe Chez Irene, and then climbing out of the village on the steepest, narrowest, and twistiest road I can recall - 1st gear all the way, and hoping we didn't have to stop altogether because that would be a hill start! The road was narrower and twistier, but it made me think of climbing up the hill from Trail at Rossland.

Each village was a delight: dominated by its Catholic church - one steeple if a small town, and two steeples if larger - and full of attractive "auberges" and "gites". We commented to each other that it felt very much like we were in small villages in Europe, rather than the Canada with which we are more familiar. One can't help but reflect upon the folk who bristled at the idea that Quebec is a "distinct society"... well, of course it is, and how blessed we are as a nation to be able to include (and, one hopes, embrace) that diversity. But off the soapbox...

After lunch we headed to St. Simeon, and the ferry across the St. Lawrence to Riviere du Loup. We had to wait 90 minutes for the ferry, and Bob demonstrated his impressive ability to fall asleep anywhere, any time. The ferry took an hour and fifteen minutes to cross the river, which gives an interesting sense of the remarkable expanse of the river. The breadth of the Fraser pales in comparison.

From Riviere du Loup we drove to Edmundston New Brunswick - the 7th province in 8 days!

We lost yet another hour, so dinner still wasn't until almost 10:00 p.m. local time, but we had a charming young server named Anack, which she told us is a common francophone name (though none of us had ever heard of it).

Two final significant points of note today - Jim:

1. admitted he was "a little bit" tired; and

2. was overheard on the phone telling an employee that something "couldn't be done"

Both statements were wholly at odds with the person with whom we thought we were travelling.

Tomorrow to Charlottetown - lobster for dinner?