FALL 2018 ROADTRIP
EASTERN TOWNSHIPS, QUEBEC CITY AND
THE GASPE PENINSULA
DAY 1 September 6 Hurrah!
We left Harwich at 10:02!!! Our
first day would be a side trip to Cousins Fuzzy and Sally’s in Cohoes NY. We decided to take the “scenic” route and
drove into Rhode Island on Rt. 195 to Providence where we turned north on route
6. Our drive took us through the
countryside of Rhode Island; towns like Foster….ever hear of it? Once we drove into the northeast corner of
Connecticut, called the Quiet Corner, we got onto Route 169. The town of Pomfret is full of beautifully
maintained mansions with expansive lawns and hand-hewn rock walls. Pomfret is also the site of the Pomfret
School and the Rectory School both boarding schools which have a “posh” look! Next town, Woodstock, has a lovely town green
and across the street is the Roseland Cottage, a vividly painted Gothic Revival
style house where abolitionist Henry Bowen entertained presidents. After North Woodstock, we turned onto Route
171 and stopped at Bigelow Pond State Park at 1:15 for a picnic lunch. The rest of our drive across Connecticut on
Route 197 to Route 91 passed through more tranquil hills and valleys and small
villages with the city of Stafford Springs a stand-out.
At 1:50 and
91 degrees, we finally put the top up on the BMW!! Good idea!!
By 2:30 the temperature was 97 degrees.
On Route 90 (Mass Pike), the outside temp fell rapidly to 67 until we
hit a thunderstorm with thunder, lightening and wind. By 3:13, the storm was over and by 3:30 the
sun was out and it was sunny at 72 degrees.
Interesting hour!!!!! We wended
our way into New York and arrived at Fuzzy and Sally’s at 4.
Fuzzy, Sally
and Randy, their dog, welcomed us and treated us delicious appetizers and a
dinner of shrimp on rice, asparagus and salad with homemade cake with blueberry
sauce and whipped cream. We talked and
talked and talked and finally went to bed after the 10 PM news!!! What a treat to visit with Fuzzy and
Sally!!!!
Day 2 Sept. 7
We woke up today to the aroma of bacon cooking. After a great night’s sleep, we feasted on a
great breakfast prepared by Sally. We
had bacon and eggs, fresh fruit salad, homemade English muffin toast with
homemade strawberry jelly or blueberry jelly.
Another treat!!! We spent the
rest of the morning touring the apartment complex on foot. We met some neighbors, observed the flora,
fauna and a nearby farm. After arriving
at the clubhouse, we saw the pool, the exercise room, the pool room, the yoga
room, the community room and finally the theater room. After much maneuvering, searching and testing of the equipment, a clubhouse
official maneuvered first one and then another lap-top until we were able to
download our Anniversary Party video on YouTube onto the 150 inch screen! WOW!!!
Sally and Fuzzy had been at the party so we all watched the video
together and, again, enjoyed our awesome party!!!!
Back at
home, we relaxed for a short while.
Fuzzy gave me a tour of the neighborhood and then we drove around Cohoes,
“both up the hill and down the hill!” I
saw the historic buildings, the site of the fire not too long ago, the converted
mill factories and the Cohoes waterfall. We took a short walk at the waterfall. I took
a photo of it for Peter!!! Back home, after
making a decision about and making the reservation for dinner, we left for
Saratoga. Toured the city, saw the car
museum where there were some cars worth looking at in the parking lot, saw the Saratoga race track, drove
around the Skidmore campus, saw the Performing Arts Center where there were
people outside “dressed” for an event!
We ate
dinner at Taverna Nuova which has wood-fired brick oven pizza. The waiter was a little “in your face,” but, eventually,
he won us over!!! We had a burrata app
with pistachios and roasted tomatoes, an octopus app with white beans and
garlic, we shared 2 insalatta mistos and then went on to pizza. We each had a pizza, mine had roasted eggplant,
Fuzzy’s had a margarita with salami calabrese, Sally’s pizza, called “the happy
bastard, Peter had a margarita pizza and
cacio e pepi. On the CASTE rating scale,
the best pizza was Fuzzy’s, a solid 19!!!! For dessert we shared 2 profiteroles. Great dinner!!!! Before leaving Saratoga, we toured in the car the awesome mansions.
Back at the
hacienda, we discussed our day, assessed our dinner and played with Randy.
Day 3 Sept.
8 Today, we awoke to another fabulous
breakfast! Sally made blueberry pancakes
and sausage accompanied by fresh fruit salad.
We made special chicken salad (with cranberries and walnuts!) sandwiches
complemented by cherry tomatoes from Fuzzy and Sally’s garden for our drive
into Vermont. It was 9:45 and only 64
degrees when we left. What a super visit
with loads of conversation about family, politics and our own lives!!!
We headed
for Vermont and Route 100 but soon decided to make a slight detour to the
Equinox Skyline Drive off Route 7A in Vermont.
We took route VT 7 to VT 313 to VT 7A through the Taconic Mountain
range, where Mt. Equinox is the highest peak.
At 11.29 we found the Equinox Skyline Drive where we paid $25.00 to
drive up the toll road (the longest private toll road in the U.S) to the top of
Mount Equinox. As you drive you ascend 3000 vertical feet in 5 miles. That’s an
11% grade which really pushed the car to it’s limit. Peter was really getting
concerned but we let the car cool down at the summit and all seemed ok on the
way down. At the summit, 5.2 miles up
and 16 minutes later, we found a viewing center with fabulous views of the
mountains in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts!! The center also contained historical info on
the Carthusian monastery located on the mountain. The temp at the top was 52 degrees. The day has been cool and cloudy but the top
stays down!
Back on Route 7A, we connected with Route 100 in Londonderry. We drove through Manchester Center which was
upscale with a lovely golf club and an Eagles Hall (Hail, Jim Bailey!) and by 1:10 we were in Londonderry and the
temp was up to 61 degrees. We continued
Route 100 and stopped in Weston for lunch on the town green and then perused
the Vermont Country Store where we bought CANDY!
Our next
stop was in Plymouth Notch, a slight detour, to view the Calvin Coolidge
Historical site. It was here, where
Coolidge was born, that his father, a notary public, administered the oath of
office of president of the United States to his son after word of Harding’s
death! Back on Rt. 100, we followed the
floor of the Black River Valley, passed the Okemo Ski Area, Killington Ski Area,
drove through the Green Mountain National Forest with the Green Mountains on to
our left and right.
At 4Pm the
SUN came out as we entered the Granville Reservation. Minutes later……. a waterfall!!!! The Moss Glen Falls cascading down a sheer rock
wall! Soon we were driving though
Waitsfield, a prosperous town, compared to the small villages we had passed
through. Then we passed Sugarbush Ski
Area before leaving ski country and driving through farm country. At 5PM we took Interstate 89 toward
Burlington to find lodging for the night.
We ended up at the Ethan Allen Motel in East Burlington. After registering, we went to the local
supermarket for supplies! After our
typical “road trip dinner,” we caught up on the news(!) and called it a night!
Day 4 Sept.
9 Up and out at 9:30, temp 49 degrees! Peter left to find some coffee. I went for a short walk around the
neighborhood. Before checking out, Peter checked on the bill; they had charged
us for two nights!! With the bill
straightened out, we left for Starbucks!
We had decided that we were going to make a detour instead of following
our itinerary today!! What an
adventure! We headed for the Champlain
Islands and did a tour of Lake Champlain!
We started
at South Hero Island at 10:30, 57 degrees!
There are lake and mountain views on both sides of the main drag, US
2. After crossing the Lamoille River
onto marshy land, we crossed a causeway onto South Hero. Route 2 is basically the only main road on
the islands which are connected by bridges.
We passed apple orchards, corn fields and hay fields throughout our
drive. We stopped in the town of Grand
Isle to visit the Jedediah Hyde log cabin built in 1783 and supposedly the
oldest log cabin in New England in its original state. Just as we arrived, the docent arrived in
costume and proceeded to enlighten us about Jedediah and his family. Colleen showed us inside the cabin and
pointed out everything of interest. At
one point, she told us that she had heard that Jedediah had really loved his
wife because he built her a swinging arm containing a black pot in the
fireplace. Apparently, many women were
burned leaning into the fire to stir the pot because they had
to lean over so
far! It always amazes how tough living
conditions were in the 18th century!!
We proceeded
from there to North Hero where we took a detour off route 2 to visit Isle La
Motte. By now it was noon and 60 degrees.
Top down all the way, of course.
We stopped at the lovely Shrine of Saint Anne for lunch, walked through
the chapel, met a woman named Kathy Dodd with whom I shared my prayer. We lunched very near a beach where we watched
sailboats in the distance. Then we drove
to Light House Point….the road was closed!!!
After leaving Isle La Motte, we
returned to route 2, drove to Alburgh and went east across the lake to route 78
back to the mainland. We stopped
at the Missiquoi National Wildlife Refuge and took a 2 mile hike on the Steven
J. Young marsh. No wildlife but a
beautiful hike. From Swanton VT we drove
on route 105 (dotted on the map!) At 3PM
it was 64 degrees, the warmest of the day.
Our route took us through forests with peaks of the Green Mountains and
Jay Peak in the distance. We wanted to
stay in VT for the night so we could watch the Patriots on my laptop using the
Xfinity app (we had taped it at home!)
We were afraid we wouldn’t be able to do that in Canada. We were practically alone on this beautiful
road through small towns, past farms, up and down hills but we COULDN’T find a
place to stay the night!! Finally, we
drove south a bit to Lyndonville to the Colonnade Inn. We arrived at 5, watched the Patriots
(YAY!!), had our salad dinner, watched some TV and crashed!!!
Day 5 Sept. 10
Today we crossed the border!!! We left
the Colonnade Inn in Lyndonville VT at 9:40 but only 47 degrees! We actually left with the top up!! Coffee at McDonald’s!!! On our way north to the border, we drove
through E. Burke and made a stop at Sanderson’s Wooden Bowls where we met Sam
and Weeza Sanderson. Sam is the bowl
turner and Weeza, his wife, takes care of the ‘books!” All of Sam’s bowls are turned from native
Vermont hardwood from the “Northeast Kingdom” (a reference to northern
Vermont!). Sam gave Peter a lesson in
bowl turning and then took us to his showroom.
What a collection of bowls and other hand turned wooden products. We ended up buying a small cherry burl
bowl! Sam is robust and friendly, a real
Vermonter! Weeza is a loyal Red Sox
fan!!
From E. Burke,
we proceeded north to N. Troy to cross the border. We passed some enormous wood piles (Vermonters
preparing for winter) and more signs MOOSE CROSSING! For all these signs, we’ve NEVER seen a
moose! Again, we drove secondary roads,
beautiful country on 5A, the Kingdom Byway.
We saw farms with bales of hay wrapped in white plastic and mountains in
the distance.
We reached
North Troy, stopped for gas and a few supplies and crossed the border at 11:50
and 57 degrees. The crossing was very
easy; only one vehicle in line! I spoke
to the border agent in French; my first French since last year in Paris! Close to the border, we stopped in
Mansonville, the township of Potton, and took a stroll around the town. We were hoping to buy a baguette but the
boulangerie is closed on Mondays!!! A
short drive took us to a covered bridge for a photo shoot! At 12:30, the sun was trying to come out, so
we put the top down!
We drove the
Chemin des Cantons (the tour road for the Eastern Townships) through rolling
hills, bucolic scenery with green fields, yellow wildflowers and trees, some
with a hint of autumn! In Sutton, Louise
Penny’s home, we stopped and strolled again.
Boulangerie closed here, too!
Lovely town, beautiful flower and grass plantings! At 1:45 the sun was out, and we stopped at
the local IGA for dinner supplies. By
2:30, we were back in the car driving up Mt, Sutton to a picnic area for
lunch. Apparently, Mt. Sutton is a
popular ski area! In Brome-Knowlton, we
saw many lovely estates with sprawling lawns, stone walls all right on Lac
Brome.
From there
we wound our way through Waterloo, Eastman and arrived in Magog, right on Lac
Memphremagog. The last few towns we went
through were big and not very interesting, but Magog looks more inviting! We checked into Auberge du Grand Lac about
5:30. Small hotel, nice rooms and
reasonable!!! It started to rain so that
curtailed our adventuresome feelings. We had our standard dinner, watched some
TV, looked at our options for tomorrow and that was it for today!
Day 6 Sept.
11 First thing, we decided to stay at Auberge du Grand Lac another night. It’s so convenient and reasonable. We’ve slept well at all our lodgings
including this one. After registering to
stay in our room another night, we left at 8:45, 58 degrees. Our first stop was at Caffucino café in town for
coffee and a muffin. Then we were off in
light rain to St. Benoit du Lac, a Benedictine monastery 20K away. We
followed Lac Memphrenagog from its northern tip to its southern tip. In the town of Austin we admired the estates
on the eastern shore of the lake. Many
were down long driveways, some gated and all with extraordinarily manicured
grounds! We were driving on a road
called Chemin des Peres.
We arrived
at the Abbaye St. Benoit at 10:15 and stayed until 12:30. After parking the
car, we walked a short distance to a lovely church and visited the boutique
where I had a lovely conversation in French with the cashier. She gave me a lot of information about the
monastery, we perused the goods and, of course bought a lovely book, some
strawberry-rhubard jelly made at the monastery, a bookmark and a notecard with
a lovely image of the abby. We then strolled
around the grounds waiting for mass to begin at 11. I met a French Canadian guy and we spoke some
French….this is a great place to practice my French! Mass was beautiful: there were 19 monks in white robes and 4 in
black robes, one monk is an African from Senegal. The mass was COMPLETELY sung in Gregorian
chant! There were about 30 people in the
simple chapel. The mass was
extraordinary and very moving! By the
time mass was over, the sun was out! We
had been given Cortland apples by an orchard worker; there are a few orchards
on the property and on weekends visitors can pick their own! We strolled a bit more, ate our apples and
left the abby at 12:30 with the top down!
In the
village of Austin, we stopped at the small Catholic church, strolled some more,
visited the local market and drove to a nearby historical site where there is a
small stone structure built to commemorate the town of Millington. Inside the structure is a capsule to be
opened in 2088! Back in the car, we
continued to drive along the Chemin du Mt. Owl through very small villages
while regarding Mt. Owl in the distance.
Its peak was covered in clouds! At 1:30 it was 65 degrees as we drove
the beautiful countryside to Mansonville.
In the town, we found the Euro Deli where we had lunch, dill pickle soup
(delish), a jambon and fromage on a baguette for Peter and Polish sausage with
sauerkraut on a baguette for me.
Delicious! We strolled the town,
read some history boards about the people of the Eastern Townships which were
settled by Loyalists around 1792. There was also an antique round red barn! We
retraced our drive to Magog, dodging raindrops and bikers….this is bikers’
heaven!!
Back at our
Auberge at 3:30 and we decided to walk the town of Magog. We walked to the Pointe de Merry along the
Lake and then walked the main street.
This is a decent sized town with a flourishing and busy center! We stopped at a café, Le Fou du Roi, for a
coffee and snack and bought 2 croissants for dinner. Had a lively chat with the chef in French and
English! We watched some TV in our room
after returning from our walk at 5:30. I then made our usual dinner except that
we had delicious croissants to accompany it!
More TV and chatting about tomorrow, writing the blog and here we
are!!! What a great day!!!
Day 7 Sept.
12 This was the day we were chasing!!!
We woke up, showered and were on the road at 8:45 under a cloudy sky, 64
degrees but top down!! Our first stop
was in downtown Magog for coffee at Caffucino and pastries from Fou du Roi
patisserie. Them we were of to Ste.
Catherine-de-Hatley, population 2540. We
found the road to Manoir Hovey, a prestigious hotel on the shore of Lake
Massawippi. Manoir Hovey is the Chatham
Bars Inn of the Eastern Townships. It
combines charm and turn of the century elegance among the birch groves that
surround the lake. Inspired by Mount
Vernon, it was built in 1900 by Henry Atkinson, the president of Georgia Power
in Atlanta. This was the genteel summer
home of the Atkinsons until the 40s.
Since then, it has been continued under other ownership and operated
with the splendor and charisma of the original summer estate.
Our next
stop, N, Hatley is our favorite so far.
With a population of 689, it retains the charm of exactly what we
expected of the Eastern Townships.
Flowers everywhere, a long boardwalk out into Lake Massawippi with a
gazebo at the end. We also walked along
the path near Dreamlands Park which is home to the village green and another
gazebo. Some century old homes have been
transformed into charming inns and B&Bs.
What a treat to visit this village!
Further
along the Chemin des Cantons, we arrived in Stanstead, a larger town than what
we had previously seen today. Just
outside of town, we stumbled upon the Stone Circle of Stanstead. We listened to an audio presentation made by
Henrietta Ball-Bunting in which she told of her family’s history here. They were originally from Connecticut and
built a home here with the addition of what I call “the Stonehenge of
Canada!” Local granite rocks in a circle
celebrate her family memoir. We left
this unexpected marvel after a stroll around the circle. A metal structure commemorates her family’s
“determination, endurance, faith, courage, passion, audacity and love.
It was now
12:30 and 78 degrees. We retraced our
route back up the Chemin des Cantons passing very well- manicured granite farms
with corn fields and hay fields and huge piles of firewood. Very bucolic!
In Barnston under the sun and 70 degree weather, we stopped for a picnic
lunch at a picnic area. We arrived in
Coatiecook at 1:15 and stopped to see the Coatiecook Gorge where we took a 2
mile hike roundtrip to the world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge. It trembled a bit but we made it to the other
side!
We were on
the last leg of today’s drive! On our
way to Sherbrooke, we passed the Drouin Covered Bridge built in 1897 near the
small village of Moe’s River. This part
of the trip was trying with road work and traffic jams!!! Finally, we arrived in Sherbrooke, our last
stop in the Eastern Townships. Sherbrook
is HUGE, 166,000 residents, the 6th largest city in Quebec and the
regional capital of the eastern townships region. We stopped for the night at the Hotellerie de
ville and, for a change had dinner at a restaurant, the Brasserie
Seigneurie. For appetizers, Peter had
onion soup that he loved and we shared a blooming onion. Then I had shrimp in garlic sauce with a
Caesar salad and Peter had steak and Pommes frites. Some TV and then to bed!!!
We crossed the St. Lawrence River at 3:48 and there was terrible traffic coming the opposite way! Commuters? After the bridge while wending our way to our Air B&B the traffic was on our side! With the help of GPS, we found our lodging on Rue St. Jean, although, we couldn’t park there! Parked a little further up the street, Peter got the key from the lockbox and then I schlepped our stuff into the studio apartment. We took turns staying with the car since we were in a no parking zone! With everything in the apartment, we drove to a parking garage to park the car for two days and then we walked 10 minutes back to our “home,” while admiring our new neighborhood. We are just outside the old city walls and there is lots to observe here. We stopped at a grocery to get supplies for dinner, got home, unpacked, hooked up to wi-fi, had dinner, went for a short walk in the “hood” and here we are doing our laundry and getting ready for bed.
Day 8 Sept. 13 After breakfast and a car wash, we left our
hotel in Sherbrooke at 9:30 and 60 degrees, to explore the city. First, we stopped at our new coffee place,
Caffuccino, and found our destination with luck. At 10:30 we took a two mile walk around the
Lac des Nations. So many lakes and
rivers around here! We walked the whole
Zen Zone where we saw plant pads against fencing, much foliage and wild flowers. The signs encourage Zen walking, Zen skating,
Zen thinking, Zen skating, etc!!! We
crossed the Jacques Cartier Bridge after walking half-way around the lake and entered
the Jacques Cartier Parc where we saw a water ski school. Further along on the other side of the lake
we saw some Zen lounges where I posed and then walked around the Sherbrooke Sports
Hall of Fame. So many beautiful
flowers!!!
Back at our
car, we drove to the cathedral which was undergoing some renovation and then we
were off to Quebec City at 12:15 and 73 degrees. At Redmond, we left the highway and got onto
Rt. 116, a dotted road to Quebec City through rural Canada. The road is not as bucolic as the Chemin des
Contons but, nevertheless, lovely. To
our East we saw the town of Asbestos where asbestos had been mined and could
see in the distance the crater formed by the mining! We took a short side-trip to Kingsey Falls to
the Parc Marie Victorin where there is a beautiful themed garden park………more
beautiful flowers, even a chestnut tree!
But, no falls!! We could see
glimpses of trees changing color.
Back
on our route, we drove through Victoriaville, a bustling metropolis with a Home
Depot and a Walmart! It was now 2PM and
79 degrees! Top down the whole way!!!! The speed limit was 50 mph most of the way
except when we drove through the towns.
We saw mostly modest but VERY well cared for homes. In Ste. Anastasie, we took a photo of the beautiful
two-steepled Eglise Ste. Anastasie.
Peter had a “feeling” for this town:
he LOVED it! It was not fancy but
so well-maintained. We continued to see many caution signs for
deer, tractors, motorcycles, snowmobiles and bikers. Also passed cornfields, huge wood piles, red
roofs and red convertibles!
We crossed the St. Lawrence River at 3:48 and there was terrible traffic coming the opposite way! Commuters? After the bridge while wending our way to our Air B&B the traffic was on our side! With the help of GPS, we found our lodging on Rue St. Jean, although, we couldn’t park there! Parked a little further up the street, Peter got the key from the lockbox and then I schlepped our stuff into the studio apartment. We took turns staying with the car since we were in a no parking zone! With everything in the apartment, we drove to a parking garage to park the car for two days and then we walked 10 minutes back to our “home,” while admiring our new neighborhood. We are just outside the old city walls and there is lots to observe here. We stopped at a grocery to get supplies for dinner, got home, unpacked, hooked up to wi-fi, had dinner, went for a short walk in the “hood” and here we are doing our laundry and getting ready for bed.
Day 9 Sept.
14 WOW!!!! What a day! We were up about 7:30, showered, got coffee
“to go” in the neighborhood, got organized for the day and we were of to the
Old City at 8:45, temp in the low 70s, to meet our Walking Tour at 10. On the way, we stopped at the parking garage
to pick up a couple of things from the car, stopped for a coffee and croissant,
found an ATM to get Canadian dollars and met out tour leader, Sam, at the
Tourny Fountain near the Quebec Parliament House. This was a free walking tour that I found
online, payment is a tip at the end of the tour. Sam is an affable young man with lots of
interesting stories.
We started our tour with a history of the
fountain, transported here by the head of the Simons clothing empire and
costing him 6 million dollars! We then
entered the Old City at the St. Louis gate.
Interestingly, the walls and gates of the Old City were almost demolished
until an influential Quebecois, M. Dufferin, insisted “Keep the Wall!” From the gate, Sam pointed out a skyscraper
nearby, its top floor a round revolving bar!
Another interesting bit of info from Sam, Roosevelt and Churchill met at
the Chateau Frontenac and planned the Normandie attack!
We started
our walk down the streets and alleys listening to Sam tell us about the
Urseline nuns who did much for the education of women in Quebec. Their building is now a historical and
educational museum.
We also saw the
house where the movie I CONFESS, directed by Alfred Hitchcock was filmed. At the Morrin Center, we viewed a jailhouse
where Public hangings took place hundreds of years ago and is now a prestigious
English library! This library was a
center of intrigue in one of Louise Penny’s mysteries. At this point, I gave a “plug” for the Louise
Penny series!! Nearby, the Price
Building, called a “skyscraper” by the people of Quebec City, houses the office
of the Prime Minister, now Justin Trudeau!
We then
walked around the Chateau Frontenac, built in the 1800s and now a Fairmont
hotel. The turrets are amazing! There is a statue of Samuel de Champlain, the
founder of Quebec, under reconstruction in the square just outside the
Frontenac. There was lots of discussion concerning the war in 1750 between the
French inhabitants led by Montcalm and the British army led by Wolfe which was
won by the British and started the controversy that continues today between the
Anglophones and the Francophones.
Descending
into the Lower City (by stairs!!!), we arrived in the Place Royale, the
birthplace of the original city of Quebec by Champlain. Louis XIV had to send some young girls to
Quebec, in order to help the new men settlers populate the area!! In time, this area became fairly seedy but
was restored in 1917. We strolled more
around the Lower City and finished out tour about noon in 79 degree
heat!!! Sam was delightful and we
invited him to visit us on Cape Cod after presenting him with a tip of $20CD
(CD=Canadian Dollar).
After
leaving Sam and the group, we continued to stroll, climbed back up to the Upper
City, did some shopping and stopped at 1 PM at the Ste Anne Café to have lunch
on the patio. Strolling continued into
the exquisite lobby of the Chateau Frontenac, around the many parks and quaint
streets and alleys and back to the Porte St. Louis. We were pretty tired and
decided to go back to our studio for R&R. Arrived there at 3:30 and 83
degrees after walking 6 miles! Later I
took a walk around our interesting neighborhood, bought some water and
returned. Easy dinner and then perusal
of maps to decide on our trip toward the Gaspe Peninsula tomorrow. We found some interesting places on the north
side of the St. Lawrence before actually crossing perhaps by ferry over the to
the south side of the river and the beginning of our trip around the peninsula.
Day 10 Sept.
15 Every day keeps getting better and
better. We were up at 7:30, got the car
from the parking garage, parked on the street opposite our charming and cozy
Air B&B and walked up Rue St. Jean for a baguette and a coffee with
croissant before packing the car to head out of Quebec City. At the café we met a couple from Toronto who
wanted to know where we had bought the baguette Peter was carrying. We chatted with them for a bit, said our good-bys
and ran into them later carrying THEIR baguette!
We headed
for Mont Morency Falls east of Quebec and on the north shore of the St.
Lawrence and arrived at the Chute de Mont Morency at 9:30, 71 degrees. The falls are amazing almost 100 feet higher
than Niagara Falls! We walked along a
path where we could view the falls a short distance away. As we got nearer, we could see the mist
making rainbows! And we got misted,
too!!! We decided not to climb the 487
steps of the panoramic staircase to the top of the falls. Instead, we walked back to the Welcome center
and bought tickets to take a Cable car to the top! The cable car stops at the Manoir Montmorency
where we walked about investigating the restaurant and terraces. From there we continued walking up to the top
of the falls. It was so much cooler at
the top!!! Breezy with mist from the
falls. We watched several people do the
zipline across the falls and the canyon.
Too exciting for us!!! We did
walk across the top of the falls on a suspension bridge. Amazing and awesome!!! We retraced our steps
including the cable car and, reluctantly left this
spectacular sight!
Back on Rt.
138 at noon, we continued driving east to the Basilica of Ste. Anne de Beaupre,
dedicated to Ste. Anne, the grandmother of Jesus. What a magnificent structure with elegant
300 foot twin steeples. This basilica is
credited with many miracles evidenced by the array of crutches displayed
inside. As with other monuments, it was
rebuilt after a fire in 1922. In one of
the small side altars dedicated to various saints, I discovered that St.
Patrick was sent to Ireland from England as a slave only to return years later
as a priest and bishop. I did not know
that! After saying a prayer or two, we
exited the basilica and continued on our way east on Route 138.
We found a
picnic nearby at 1:30 and stopped to have lunch. There were several campers in the area and
one gentleman approached us to chat. He
was quite a character and spoke almost no English. Good chance to practice French!!! He knew Provincetown and Cape Cod, he owned a
couple of Triumphs (Peter loved that!), he’s a skier and Peter met his dog
Stella. It’s so great to have the
opportunity to practice my French!
Back in the
car, we took a short side-trip on Rt. 360, a loop through some ski country at
Mont Ste. Anne, some lovely homes, new homes being built, grazing horses. We were looking for two small waterfalls that
we never found! But it was a great
drive! We did get back on Rt. 138 to find
the falls at Canyon Ste. Anne, but it was pretty cheesy! However, we found several photo ops of
valleys and mountains!!! The scenery is
simply indescribable! Lovely homes, many
with red roofs, everything so eye-catching!
We took
another dotted side-road from Rt. 138, Rt. 362 from Baie Saint Paul to
Malbaie. that followed the shore of the
St. Lawrence. We soon saw a sign that
proclaimed we were on the Route du Fleuve, the River Route! By this time it was 4 PM and 81 degrees and
we decided we needed to think about where to stay tonight! So, we got on the internet, found Auberge
Fleur de Lune in Malbaie, made a reservation and continued to enjoy our ride.
We stopped at an artist studio in
Eboulements to admire work of Mme
Kapelier and speak some more French! We
passed some gorgeous views of the St. Lawrence all the way across the river to
the Gaspe Peninsula. We saw more cute cottages with red roofs in St. Irenee and
finally arrived in Malbaie.
We found our
auberge, checked in with the couple who own the B&B, viewed the living
room, the dining room and the front porch.
Our room is lovely and the auberge has a gorgeous view of the
river. Are we lucky or what? Drove into town, got supplies for dinner,
relaxed in our room, ate dinner, and walked the grounds a bit. Watched the news and that’s it!!
On our way back down the Route des Montagnes,
Peter declared this his most favorite road so far on the trip. This is a smooth drive, through absolute
bucolic scenery and through more small but thriving towns. Everyone must work for the paper, pulp or
hydro-electric industry. In St. Urbain, we viewed a glorious sight: the mountains to our east were silhouetted in the lowering sun!
Day 11 Sept.
16 Our road trip continues to be amazing!
We were up this morning and downstairs at 8:30 for breakfast which was
phenomenal! I had yogurt with cereal and
fruit, a croissant, coffee and orange juice.
Peter had an omelet with a ground pork mixture and homemade bread with
coffee and a croissant. We chatted with
our hosts about our routes for the day.
They were very helpful and provided us with local info and maps. We decided to stay another night and there
was another room available so we opted to stay.
We organized our “stuff” for the move, took a walk in the neighborhood
which is actually the old village of Cap -a-l'aigle. Stopped briefly at an old Anglican church,
St. Peter on the rock. Saw a lot of rosa
rugosa which reminded us of home.
By 10AM, we
were on the road, good weather, top down.
We drove to the beach area in Malbaie and took a walk on the Promenade
Samuel de Champlain to the end of a pier.
Champlain was the one who named Malbaie in the early 1600s when he
wanted to use the area as a port but soon discovered that the bay was too
shallow to accommodate ships. Therefore,
he named it “mal baie.” meaning a “bad bay” in French! We languished at the end of the promenade on
adirondack chairs. The weather, the
view, the sparkling St. Lawrence was magnificent! We languished for a long time!! On our way back down the promenade we met a
charming couple from Montreal on vacation.
Another chance to practice my French!
They have a brother-in-law who lives in Woonsocket RI and spend the
winter in Florida. We retraced our steps
and strolled along the beach in the Parc du Casgrain.
At 11:45. We
were “on the road again, headed for the Mountain Route to the National Parc des
Hautes Gorges (high gorges!). What a
drive! Along the road to Clermont we saw
hydo-electric plants along the Riviere Malbaie. An industrial park contained a paper and pulp
mill. At the sign for the Parc National
de la Mont de la Croix, we took a slight detour to see the 360 degree panoramic
view of the area.
At 12:45 and
67 degrees, we were in St. Aime des Lacs along the Route des Montagnes on our
way to the National Park. The road is
awesome!!! Rolling hills, lush greenery
, foliage beginning, and no homes or
villages. We arrived at 1:30 and 70
degrees. It was a little disappointing
in that the trails were really tough! We
did take a school bus up the gorge a bit, did a short hike, had lunch at the
station (great chicken soup with rice).
The area is beautiful and the gorge is awesome but fairly
unattainable! I think we needed to be
more seasoned hikers! We left shortly
before 3.
We drove to
Baie St. Paul, stopped there and walked through the town. This is a very artsy place, artists, potters
and artisans who use glass, wood and metal.
Very charming! At 5 PM we were on
our way back to our auberge. After a
stop to buy dinner supplies, we were back at our auberge at 6. Our new room has a balcony overlooking the
Sr. Lawrence! After dinner, the Patriots
and our day we were well-nourished with the Charlevoix Region of Canada. Remember the last G7 meeting? It was in Charlevoix in the town of
Malbaie!!!
Day 12 Sept.
17 I woke up at sunrise, about 6. What a
beautiful sight! Pink clouds were streaming
across the St. Lawrence River, just outside our French doors. After a shower
and another fabulous breakfast of croissant omelette, home-made bread, fresh
fruit and cretons, a home-made pork spread, we chatted with our hosts, Florence
and Patrick. They have been the
proprietors of this auberge since February.
We discussed politics a bit; they were in Charlevoix last spring for the
G7 and had security people staying at the auberge. After packing up, we said “au revoir” and left our address in hopes that they will
call when they visit Boston.
It was 9, 64
degree sand sunny when we packed the car and left Auberge des fleurs de
Lune. We drove back through Malbaie in
search of the Fairmont Richelieu Resort and Casino. This is where the G7 took place. Needless to say, it is an exquisite place
with an extraordinary view of the bay.
We investigated the lobby and took a long walk in the gardens. A cruise ship was at the pier so we walked
down to take a gander! By the time we
left it was 10 AM and 67 degrees.
Back on the
Route du Fleuve, we headed east to St. Simeon to find the place we would take
the ferry at 2 over to the Gaspe peninsula.
Along the way, we saw cargo ships and majestic views of the river and
the mountains. There does still seem to
be a little more color in the trees with each passing day. At the ferry we discovered that there were no
reservations, only first come first serve.
We were told to be at the dock one hour before the crossing! So we continued to drive toward la Baie Ste.
Catherine where there is a confluence of the St. Lawrence and the Saguenay
Rivers. It was now 77 degrees! After Malbaie, we passed MANY lakes, and
observed mountains, hills and forests all a little inland from the St.
Lawrence. At Baie Ste. Catherine, population
197(!), we stopped at the Pointe Noire Observation Center to view the
confluence. We had hoped to see some
whales there where the fresh and salt water meet. No such luck!!!
At this
point we had to head back to wait in line for the ferry. The temperature had gone down to 66 degrees
but then began to rise as we headed our of the confluence area. In ten minutes, the temperature rose from 66
to 84 and It started to get cloudy and the temperature decreased again!!! We got into the ferry line at 12:15 for the
2PM ferry, had lunch on the beach and WAITED!!!
We did board a little after 2, cars lining up in very narrow lanes. The ferry ride was 65 minutes long crossing
the St. Lawrence to Riviere du Loup on the Gaspe Peninsula. We arrived at 3:15, deboarded slowly and
found our hotel for the night, a Comfort Inn.
After a stop at a supermarket for dinner supplies, we relaxed in our
room while black clouds were forming! At
6:15 it was 62 degrees and by 8 it was 51!!!!
Thunderstorms expected tonight!!!
Rain tomorrow!!! We’ll see!
Day 13 Sept.18
Up at 8 and YUK!! It’s blowing,
44 degrees, feels like 37 and the forecast is NOT good: high of 52, cloudy with some rain, low
44! Oh, well, it’s another day on our
journey and the weather until today has been great! So, after breakfast and packing the car, with
the top up we left Riviere du Loup and headed off east on Rt. 132, the route
that goes around the Gaspe Peninsula.
We passed
more lovely homes and small towns along the St. Lawrence. At 10:30 we were in St, Simon, a larger town
than we have seen here but not as prosperous as even most of the small
towns. Now it was foggy, misty and 43
degrees as we passed mowed hayfields.
Lots of roadwork, very bumpy in sections. We arrived in Rimouski, the regional capitol
at 10:50 and stopped at Tim Horton’s for coffee at 11:15. There were white caps and waves on the St.
Lawrence. Would love to have taken a
walk on the beach! Not today!! In St. Flavie, we stopped at the art gallery
of Marcel Gagnon and made some purchases.
We drove inland a bit through farmland, mowed fields forests and hills
to St. Moise. Now it was misty and 42
degrees with heavy mist.
Back to the
St. Lawrence on Rt. 132 where there were waves and rough surf on the rocky
beach. We arrived in Matane at 1:30.
This is an industrial city, population of 14,000. There is a maritime tradition here with
salmon fishing on the Matane River. 41
degrees now! It’s so nasty we hate to
get out of the car! In Cap Chat at 2:30
There is a large wind farm here. The
precipitation had stopped so we decided to take a side trip to the Parc
National de la Gaspesie. We never found
it! Apparently, we were on a road that
did not go to the center of the park so we turned around! There a lot of moose signs on this road but
no moose!! No precipitation bur clouds hanging on the mountains!
We were back
on Routs 132 at 4PM. In Martre we
stopped to see a light house but it was bone-chilling! We continued to drive through small towns
with a population of 100-200! More road
construction with a stop light and a timer in seconds for each lane! Pretty desolate! We passed some beautiful striated cliffs and
in Madelaine Centre we saw another lighthouse.
We noticed that maybe it’s clearing in the distance! In Grande Vallee we stopped at 5:45 and 43
degrees to get a photo of the town from a distance. At the town itself we
stopped to get a closer photo of the church.
We were on
the Gaspe Coast at 6:20 and it was starting to get dark! The town of Gaspe has 17 coastal villages we
stopped in Riviere-au-Renard at 6:45 at the Auberge le Caribou for the
night. Nice room, reasonable price and a
restaurant! We checked in, unpacked and had a good dinner
at the restaurant! It’s now 9PM and 45
degrees! Let’s hope tomorrow has better weather and better roads.
We decided that this south coastline of the
peninsula is not as dramatic as the north but beautiful in a different way,
more bucolic. After stopping at two
motels that were closed for the season, at 5:45 we saw a sign for a B&B in
New Carlisle, stopped, and here we are in Manoir Hamilton, built in 1852. We are the only guests, we have a very
charming and quaint room, and we will have a full breakfast in the
morning! Dinner in our room, blog
writing, editing the blog
Day 14 Sept.
19 Oh, boy!!!! Raining and 46
degrees! We were on the road at 9 with
very overcast weather but not as windy as yesterday. Today we hope to do more exploring! In very light precipitation, we drove through
Riviere le Caribou. We have discovered
that most towns here are named after the river that flows through the
town! This town has a fishing industry,
mostly cod although, like Cape Coe, the cod supply is down! We drove to the docks to see the fishing
boats. The next town, l’Anse Griffon
from gris-fonds, gray seabed, not much to see!
At the next
town, Cap des Rosiers, named for the wild roses that once grew here. Rosa rugosa?
There’s a lighthouse here that is the highest lighthouse in Canada! From there, at 9:45, we entered the Forillon
National Park at the south entrance. At
Cap d’Ami, we attempted a hike to an observation point. VERY steep climb! After a half mile, it started to rain and we
turned back! So, we drove to the north
entrance but in hard rain and showers we gave up on the park and returned to
Rt. 132 where it was very nice but gray!
Back on our
route, we headed for the town of Gaspe.
The population is 15,000 but encompasses 17 coastal village and the town
of Gaspe itself. Is it clearing? At noon we stopped in Gaspe at the Musee de
la Gaspesie. What a treat! We had lunch, delicious grilled cheese
sandwiches, before we saw the two main exhibits. The first, Gaspasie….A grand journey, took us
on a historical trip around the peninsula and showed exhibits about the economy
of the Gaspesie: fishing, logging,
farming, tourism and energy. The second
detailed the life of Madame Edouard Bolduc, a very popular singer of the people
in the 30s. A movie was made about her
this year entitiled “La Bolduc.” After
making some purchases, we left the museum at 1:30, walked along the Baie Gaspe
on a boardwalk next to the Baie Gaspe.
No rain, only clouds!
On our way
to Perce, again on Rt. 132, Peter spied a bald eagle above us! What eyes!
By 2PM we had left the Gaspe area and were chasing the sun. Picked up some small stones at Seal Cove and
the sun came out. At the First village
in the Perce township, it was 52 degrees and sunny so we put the top down! The road was fabulous, curvy, smooth and
hilly. In Perce itself, we were able to
get a good look at the Perce Rock and took a few photos. The road continued to
be great through more villages and at 3:45, we were in Cap d’Espoir, the last
of the 10 villages of the town of Perce.
We stopped here for gas and supplies.
In Grande Riviere, Peter got a cappuccino that had a few drops of coffee
and too much foam! He wasn’t too
happy!!!
Day 15 Sept.
20 We had a delicious breakfast in the
opulent dining room of Manoir Hamilton this morning. Nicole made us egg in a hole with eggs from
her chickens out back!!! She gave us
some history of the place and all of the work she has done to it since
2004. We left at 9:30, 46 degrees. After a 2 mile walk on the boardwalk at the
local beach, we started driving on Rt. 132 West toward the border to New Brunswick,
looking for a carwash; the BMW is filthy!!
We drove down the route named here for Rene Levesque, Canadian Prime
minister from 1976-1985. He was born
here in New Carlisle. We stopped briefly
in Bonaventure to see a huge native rock carved to show a woman’s head! The sign said the rock was 450 million years
old!!!
This south
side of the Gaspe Peninsula is dotted with little towns, fairly modest homes
all built in the last 50 years. Top
down, at 10:30 we took a short detour to see downtown New Richmond, a homeland
for Amerindians, Acadians, Loyalists, Scottish and Irish. At the Parc de la Pointe-Taylor, we observed
a dinner being served for retirees!! We
saw a Deloitte sign and took a photo for Pete!
Here, cliffs and the bay meet at a local river. We did find a hands-free carwash; we can be
proud again of our convertible!
In the town
of Maria, we stopped at Tim Horton’s at noon for coffee which Peter says is
better than Dunkin Donuts coffee! Looks
like the economy in these towns is farming and fishing (salmon, lobster and
mussels. We walked a bit on the beach in
Maria, saw a set-up for beach volleyball, and saw another BMW just like Peter’s
only dark blue. At 12:30, we began to
see the mountains and ski areas in the distance. This south side has more roadside rest areas
than the north side as we drive through town after town with nothing between
the towns!
We arrived
at Pointe a la Croix at 1:30. This is where the crossing is to Campbelton, New
Brunswick. We got a little turned around
trying to find 17S to Maine! Finally got
on the right road and discovered we were now on Atlantic Time!!! For the most part this was a great road but
quite desolate! It started to sprinkle
but not enough to put the top up! We
drove south through forests, very small towns with nothing in between them but
miles and miles of forests! MANY moose
signs; we still haven’t seen one!
At 4:10, we
left Canada at St. Leonard NB. Very easy crossing! Back in the USA on Eastern Daylight
Time! We drove south on Route 1 and, in
Caribou, put the top up! Sprinkling and
cool! On the side of the road, in
Westfield, Maine, we saw a HUGE field of sunflowers! We arrived in Houlton ME, at 6:30, checked
into the Shiretown Inn & Suites, had dinner at a sports pub, Downunder,
just behind the motel! Had some good pub
food and didn’t have to prepare anything or clean up! Tomorrow we’re going to drive south on Route
95 to Harwich, 430 miles! What a
trip! Thank you for reading! Now we have to start thinking of our next
road trip!
20 comments:
So happy to read the 1st entry of your fall 2018 Canadian trip. As I told you, I learn something new every day from your musings. I have never heard the phrase "Quiet Corner of Connecticut," although I know of the towns it encompasses. So I found this link https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/connecticut/quiet-corner-ct/, please share w/Peter and did you stop at the 1st on the list, the pizza place?
Enjoy your travels and good luck explaining what is going on here to our northern neighbors.
And on day 3 I learned about Coolidge's swearing in by his father after Harding's death.
Hi Pam, We didn't stop in Danielson for pizza BUT we DID see the Rose Cottage in Woodstock!
Connie
Hi Pam, The Coolidge story is one I had NEVER heard!!! Connie
Hi, I didn’t realize Route 100 passed thru Sugarbush & WaItsfield, I skied Sugarbush during college days and attended the Vermont Jazz Festival in Waitsfield one muddy summer weekend! Also hiked around Killington in my 30’s. Fuzzy
Today you were at a couple of places from my past that I had almost forgotten about. I spend many summer vacations on Lake Champlain where my mother's Uncle Izador, the dentist, had a cottage. It was not far from her tiny home town of Keesville, NY. And I do remember skiing at Jay Peak, as well as Sugarbush, during my college days.
Today I learned who Louise Penny is after I googled her.
Oh!! The skiing in our youth!
Louise Penny is the reason I wanted to visit the Eastern Townships! Her Inspector Gamache mysteries are THE BEST!!!
In all your conversations yesterday did anyone even mention that it was the 17th anniversary of 9/11 or the fact that the small town in New Newfoundland took in so many stranded airline passengers?
Hi Pam,
Noone mentioned it but WE were aware of it!
Connie
Maybe a dumb question, but I assume the TV programs are in French. What does Peter do? Do you translate or are there sub titles?
Here in Quebec, on the TV in our studio, we only get French speaking channels! Other places we’ve been able to watch CNN and NBC.
So I learned a lot today about Quebec from Sam, whom I never met. Are you going to Montmorency Falls, just outside of the city, which is taller than Niagara Falls?
FYI http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2018/09/man_dies_after_shark_attack_off_wellfleet_beach
We did go to Mpntmorency Falls today. Fabulous! Also, we read about the shark atttack online. Horrible!!!
Sounds like the remnants of Florence caught up w/you the last couple of days, but you're back in the sun & top down mode. Are you aware of all that is going on w/the Kavanaugh nomination? The dog and pony shows are never ending.
We’re up to date on everything! Whew!!! Weather was pretty good today! Hope it lasts!
Welcome back to the USA! Enjoyed sharing your trip thru the blog.
Thanks, Pam, for all of your comments!
Hey Connie just wanted to let you know that my dad made cretons (pork spread) that Peter loved on 9/17. We all loved it as kids too, not too healthy but delicious! We bought your book too and then completed the Mohawk Towpath Byway last week lots of fun in our backyard! Welcome back!
https://growagoodlife.com/tourtiere/
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