Category: Canada

Biking, Canada

Bike Isle-Aux-Coudres

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Fred also told us about going to Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive and taking the free ferry over to an island in the St. Lawrence, where you can bike all the way around. We decided to take the truck across, which was a good decision, as the road off the ferry is quite steep and long. We parked in a municipal building’s lot and headed into the wind north. Fred had told us the winds can be tough, especially if you hit them on the return side of the island. It was difficult to keep the pace as there were so many photographic opportunities – views of the St. Lawrence, cute little houses, old barns and farmer’s fields. We stopped by one bay where the wind was particularly strong and a man was wind surfing with a kite. Fred had told us he used to wind surf, so I sent him a picture of this guy, who really knew what he was doing. Fred replied that the 3rd best woman kitesurfer in the world is from that island – Catherine Dufour. Also Dominique Maltais is from here, and is 3-time world snowboard champion in the X-Games. She is his daughter, Laura’s, idol. It is a beautiful ride around the island, and we would never have known about it if Fred had not told us. 

We cleaned up and went to Chez Truchon for dinner just a couple of blocks up the street. It’s a beautiful restaurant with excellent service and food. Martha had a yellow beat salad, cream of leek soup and cod. I had a nice halibut and vegetables, and we shared a sinful desert. I had been clearing my throat all day, thinking it was allergies, but now a pretty good cold was catching up with me. After two glasses of wine and dinner, I was ready to go to bed.

Canada

Secret Beach

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We took Fred up on his incredible offer and moved to his house, where he has a big driveway next to his office. We had a great visit with him for a couple of hours when he brought us chocolate and pear brioches and a bagette. Those brioches were so good, we ate them right up. What a guy this Fred is! I know we got him in trouble with Marie-Eve, but it was such a nice morning to sit and talk with him. 

He told us about a one-hour hike to a pretty, secret beach, so that was our adventure of the day. We drove down a narrow road  that ended at a little dock facing a small bay with an island in the middle and mountains surrounding it. Two little cabins were perched on the rocks to the right. Small boats tied up at the dock were likely used to get to the cabins. We had lunch at a picnic table, watching people come and go and two kayakers with all the gear get ready for an excursion around the island. Martha watched especially closely as the young guy was quite handsome. 

After lunch we started across a little bridge and up the mountain. Someone had done a lot of work building steps and railings. Martha was a bit grumpy about climbing more steps and mountains, but she went on. Surprisingly, at the end it is a gradual walk down to the beach, and it is well-worth the trip. On a small cove, the beach is beautiful and quiet. We sat on a bench, resting and enjoying the view. Again, we felt like we could have been in the Bahamas. Three whales came through as we sat. Ducks and seagulls were swimming around rocks on the left that led to a great little house. A young couple had been walking on the beach and came up to clean their feet and put their shoes back on. They had come from Montreal, and she had found out about the trail on the internet. We told them we were planning to cross over to Gaspè, and they said it is quite beautiful. They hadn’t traveled all the way to the end, but said the road follows the St. Lawrence through cute little towns right on the water.

Canada, La Malbaie, Towns

Galerie d’Art Au P’tit Bonheur

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Wednesday, September 14, 2016

We met Fred at Stoneham Campground. He loves Airstreams, and his son, Antoinne, suggested he talk with us. We had noticed his immaculate campsite two sites down from us. We were walking parallel to each other and exchanged a smile and a nod of the head. We met at the other side of the shower where he had come to wash dishes. We talked about Airstreams for a few minutes, and I could see the enthusiasm in his eyes. I could quickly see he was well-read on Airstreams. Then we talked about where we were going and where we had been. He had some great suggestions on where to go and where to stay. Martha quickly wrote them down. I don’t know what it is in a handshake, a short conversation and a smile, but we felt like old friends in a short time. He sat down at a picnic table and showed us on my computer how to get places and what routes to take. He talked about the destination art gallery that he and his wife have in La Malbaie, inviting us to come and visit. We learned he was a computer engineer who had worked for Expedia, but was now doing the website for the Gallery, and it’s a good one!

Our intention was to go to Grands-Jardins, then come back down to 138 and LaMalbie, but we went north to Lac St-Jean and stayed a while. We stayed in communication with Fred all along our route, but felt we had messed up their plans, but Fred, always courteously, replied telling us more about where to go – truly a patient man. Finally, we were in La Malbaie and were excited to visit him and see the art gallery.

As we drove into town on a rainy morning, we made the turn, but didn’t see the house or gallery, but Martha saw a man standing on the sidewalk with an umbrella. It was Fred directing us where to park. We exchanged greetings, then he took us through the house, meeting Jeanette, and then going to the gallery to meet Marie-Eve. This is a lady passionate about art. Her enthusiasm is contagious. Many people came through the gallery while she told us about the artists and about how their gallery works. It is not by consignment. They purchase the works from artists in Quebec and now across Canada. Marie-Eve’s grandfather started with a framing shop. Then her father started the gallery, renovating an old house that had been on the market for years. Marie-Eve worked in the gallery summers and vacations as she was going to school. With degrees in Art and Business, she began to take the lead role in the gallery, but her parents still enjoy working there.

It is a great gallery with beautiful grounds, and a huge parking lot that can easily handle big RV’s and trailers. Their website at http://www.auptitbonheur.com, shows more than what is shown in the gallery. Amazingly, Marie-Eve makes herself available for phone calls and final sales. They have a Canada project where they are working with an artist named St-Gilles, to paint the most spectacular places in Canada. I want to go to all of those places! The staff is outstanding. It is a wonderful gallery run by wonderful, highly organized people! We stayed with them for two great days. I can only hope our paths will cross again.

Canada, Longue-Rive, Towns

Longue-Rive and a Lot of Wind

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As I drank my morning coffee, I heard what sounded like a huge ship on the river periodically turning it’s giant engines. It was very regular, but I couldn’t see anything out the window, so I went out for a look. Nothing. Maybe a storm, but I couldn’t see any lightning. About a half hour later you could finally see a huge thunderstorm rolling toward us. The winds picked up to 40mph, so we battened down the hatches and hung out for the morning.

By 11:00 I was stir-crazy, so we drove to Les Escoumins for lunch, then drove north to Longue-Rive, the next town north. We stopped at the Visitor’s Center, but the nice lady did not speak any English. The wind was blowing so hard it had broken the bathroom door outside. There were pretty falls of the river flowing into the St. Lawrence and a suspension bridge across. 

We keep seeing these rose hips in full fruit now. Squirrels are working hard to eat as many as possible and burying the rest. Reading up on it this morning, they are high in vitamin C and can be made into herbal tea, jams, soups and they are good for arthritis pain. 

Canada, Les-Bergeronnes

Cap-de-Bon-Desire, Longue-Rive and Portneuf

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46℉ at 5:30 and high of 70

Monday, September 12, 2016

I would love to keep driving north as there are many things to see and explore, but I need to fly to Baltimore for a few days, so we will turn south tomorrow. With that in mind, we drove north to explore a couple of towns, and it is always interesting. We stopped at Cap-de-Bon-Desire for an hour and then on to Longue-Rive and Portneuf sur-Mer. Both have incredible salt marshes where we learned that Canada has 25% of the salt marshes of the world. There were hundreds of seagulls, and we saw several Blue Herons and a falcon. There were a lot of geese, and we are starting to see ducks migrating. 

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We stopped for lunch at a busy diner where truck drivers were giving each other grief in a dialect that sounded like Creole from New Orleans or a Guinneman on the Chesapeake. They were having a big time and making the busy waitress smile, but we couldn’t understand a word.

Back at camp we did a load of laundry, then took a little wine and peanuts back to Cap-de-Bon-Desire for one more visit, and what a show we saw. It was slow at first, but as the sun set maybe six whales fed along a slick edge or water a hundred yards away. You can only take so many pictures of whale’s backs, and then you just relax and watch the show. The park is only open Wednesday to Sunday now, but you can walk in. It’s probably a mile and a half walk all the way to the water. Maybe it’s less, but it’s a pretty good hike. No matter, there were maybe 25 people there, enjoying a beautiful evening in a beautiful spot where whales, ducks and seagulls pass right in front of you, and the sky turns pink as the sun sets.

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Canada, Canadian National Parks, Parks, Uncategorized

Leaving Parc du National Mauricie

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58℉ this morning with a high of 86.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

I prefer staying in a provincial or national park, but Rouillard Campground has grown on me. They gave us a nice, quiet spot, and they work very hard to make you comfortable and provide everything you need. Maybe a little early, but they are decorating for Halloween. Some people live here and go to every day jobs. Some are retired, while some come and stay all summer. Others, like us, are passing through. It is interesting to see the variety.

It rained very hard last night. I got up in the night to see if it was coming in the windows I had left open and closed one. Getting back in bed, I thought of those poor people camping along the lakes in Moricie. Having done it plenty of times in the old pup tents, there is nothing more miserable. Everything gets wet. If not in the tent, around the tent, and what if you have to go out to go to the bathroom? Sleeping in the Airstream in pouring down rain is such a luxury and even a pleasure, much like being in a house with a tin roof. When we got up, the sky was clear and it was a beautiful day. 

Mauricie is a beautiful park, but for me, La Faunique de la Mauricie is very special. I would love to come back!

 I have never worked so hard to find a campsite. For hours Martha and I sat at the WIFI cafe searching for something near Quebec City, but everything is full. It is the end of August and the kids will be back in school soon…..and it is hot! I asked if it was a holiday, but the answer was no. A nice lady at one of the campgrounds said many Canadians were traveling. They come to just vacation. They come to see Quebec City, and like us, they come to see Parc National du Jaques Cartier. You can get a site in the park in September! We had just about given up when we found a spot right next to the bathroom at Stoneham Campground, which is between Jaques Cartier and Quebec City. We booked it for three days, which was all we could get. We are hoping to get into Jaques Cartier after that. Maybe someone will cancel.

We drove south on Rt. 55 to Rt. 40 heading east to Quebec City, which is supposed to be 2 hours. The drive along Rt. 40 is beautiful with beautiful farmland, trees and glimpses of the St. Lawrence. Stopping once for gas and running to a big traffic jam in Quebec City, we made it three and a half. Of course there is road construction, and then people drive like crazy in the cities, so there was an accident. It is nerve-wracking enough driving a car in that stuff, but driving a truck pulling an Airstream will really try your nerves. We were fortunate to make all the right turns heading north of the city on Rt. 73, and then, poof, you are in the country and trees and forrest. Stoneham Campground is right off the road, and it is better than Disneyland for kids. They are happily floating tubes down one of the two streams surrounding the campground. There are playgrounds and a great swimming pool. Kids are riding bikes all over. Almost clipping the Airstream coming into the site, we backed into a shaded , tight area, but it was pretty. We took a walking tour around the campground before dinner – a big salad with chicken. 

They are the first idiots I have run into! I think they arrived late right across from us, where our heads were pointed. At 1:30 in the night, I was awakened by loud talking with no regard for their neighbors. They must have thought they were in their own homes. Surely they were not accustomed to a campground. After a while I got up, got dressed and looked out the window to spot the culprits. I knew Martha wouldn’t want me to go out there, and I didn’t know how to cuss them out in French, so I stuffed some Kleenex in my ears and turned on the Fantastic Fan on low, which did the trick. If I could make the truck backfire in the morning in front of their tent, I would!

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