I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
An August summer night
Soldiers passing by
Listening to the wind of change...
Riviere Ouelle to Trois Pistoles – Day 58
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
An August summer night
Soldiers passing by
Listening to the wind of change...
- The Scorpions - "Winds of Change"
Riviere Ouelle to Trois Pistoles – Day 58
117 kms / 72 miles
It was a chilly morning this morning but a monumental one as my tent was dry!! This is maybe the third or fourth time that this has happened so it was quite a treat. Todays cue sheet promised ‘easy terrain’ AND it was a super short day so I was looking forward to it. The only slight problem was the fact that the sky was ominously dark and the strong wind which had been at our backs all day yesterday had shifted slightly (about 23 degrees accordi
ng to Peter). Yikes… Rain is bad enough but rain AND a headwind is a recipe for disaster and can make an ‘easy terrain’ day a very difficult one.
French toast was on the menu for breakfast which is one of my favourites. I ate LOADS (5 pieces!!) and still had room for more. We headed out of camp around 7:30 and turned onto the lovely ‘Route Verte’ – Route 132. By this point we’d come to the realisation that the tail wind had indeed turned into a gusty headwind and the mixture of dark black clouds and wispy white clouds were certainly evidence of this. The views however were gorgeous. The terrain over the past few days has changed so much and we were now cycling through the drumlins – mountain-like formations in the middle of the relatively flat terrain which were formed millions and millions of years ago by lava rising through cracks in the earths crust.
We cycled as fast as we could to try and avoid the storm that looked like it was brewing overhead. It chased us all the way to Kamouraska where we were reeled in by Bob and sought shelter in an absolu
tely fantastic restaurant called, ‘La Camarine’ (http://www.cooplacamarine.com/). The restaurant served gourmet traditional French meals which are made from local products. The breakfast speciality was crepes and we had a choice of sweet or savoury. I had a delicious huge sweet crepe jammed full of fresh, wild blueberries and real maple syrup..! They also served the best (BEST) café au lait that I’ve had in AGES. Yum. We all agreed that the restaurant was a real find and one of the best breakfast places on the Tour so far (apart from our camp breakfasts of course..!)
It was a real shock to the system to head back outside and into the cold. The wind had certainly not subsided and it was freezing. I wished that I would have brought my leggings with me and made a mental note to carry them with me from now on. I am about 99 percent sure that ‘summer’ is over for the rest of the trip particularly now that we’re getting closer and closer to the open water
. I think that the strong winds are a reflection of this as well.
We peddled into the wind and fought the giant potholes in the road all the way to Riviere du Loup. It was a tough ride but a rewarding one as again, the rolling hills are incredibly scenic and dotted with dairy farms and fruit farms selling their produce along the side of the road. There wasn’t much traffic so it did make avoiding the potholes a bit easier. We’ve been on the ‘Route Verte’ for quite a long time and this is one of the first sections where the road has been a bit sketchy. For a large part of the journey we could see the cold looking St. Lawerence River off to our left (north) and the hills to the south. The wind did not subside but the clouds did manage to part and make way for the sun which was most welcome..! Andrew commented on how huge the sky looked here – it was like we had the Prairie sky back again and it seemed to go on for miles and miles.
Andrew, Ian
and I somehow lost Brendan and Dave but continued on to Riviere du Loup where we turned into our ‘old faithful’ – Tim Hortons. It’s amazing what branding can do as we have remained loyal to Timmy’s for most of the trip. It’s easy, relatively fast and you always know what you’re getting. For a quick ‘pit stop’ it’s always a welcome stop. We half expected to find Dave and Brendan there but they weren’t there either. I had the famous ‘feves au lard’ with my honey cruller when Brendan and Dave arrived as they’d waited for us in the small town of Notre Dame du Portage. Apparently we’d missed the turnoff into the town and had taken the bypass via route 132.
The rest of the afternoon was much like the morning with the exception of the wind… before lunch it had been a stubborn headwind but somehow after lunch it shifted slightly to be a cross wind and then by early afternoon it had become more or less of a tail wind. The terrain around us remained rolling with long green hills, a sparkling St. Lawerence River in the background and loads of dairy farms dotted between the long and narrow seigneurial system fields of wheat and barley and corn and potatoes.
I must say that for me personally the landscape of Quebec has been a huge surprise and it has definitely been an unexpected highlight of the trip. The villages that we’ve passed through are all small, quaint, there are fantastic restaurants, and the landscape is spectacular and incredibly green. I find the locals very friendly and they seem to have a very high quality of life. Even the cities have been fantastic – I love Montreal and thoroughly enjoyed Quebec City. It’s
definitely a city that I will revisit when I don’t have to divide my time between sight seeing and laundry and bike cleaning..!
The Boulangerie
It was a chilly morning this morning but a monumental one as my tent was dry!! This is maybe the third or fourth time that this has happened so it was quite a treat. Todays cue sheet promised ‘easy terrain’ AND it was a super short day so I was looking forward to it. The only slight problem was the fact that the sky was ominously dark and the strong wind which had been at our backs all day yesterday had shifted slightly (about 23 degrees accordi
ng to Peter). Yikes… Rain is bad enough but rain AND a headwind is a recipe for disaster and can make an ‘easy terrain’ day a very difficult one.French toast was on the menu for breakfast which is one of my favourites. I ate LOADS (5 pieces!!) and still had room for more. We headed out of camp around 7:30 and turned onto the lovely ‘Route Verte’ – Route 132. By this point we’d come to the realisation that the tail wind had indeed turned into a gusty headwind and the mixture of dark black clouds and wispy white clouds were certainly evidence of this. The views however were gorgeous. The terrain over the past few days has changed so much and we were now cycling through the drumlins – mountain-like formations in the middle of the relatively flat terrain which were formed millions and millions of years ago by lava rising through cracks in the earths crust.
We cycled as fast as we could to try and avoid the storm that looked like it was brewing overhead. It chased us all the way to Kamouraska where we were reeled in by Bob and sought shelter in an absolu
tely fantastic restaurant called, ‘La Camarine’ (http://www.cooplacamarine.com/). The restaurant served gourmet traditional French meals which are made from local products. The breakfast speciality was crepes and we had a choice of sweet or savoury. I had a delicious huge sweet crepe jammed full of fresh, wild blueberries and real maple syrup..! They also served the best (BEST) café au lait that I’ve had in AGES. Yum. We all agreed that the restaurant was a real find and one of the best breakfast places on the Tour so far (apart from our camp breakfasts of course..!)It was a real shock to the system to head back outside and into the cold. The wind had certainly not subsided and it was freezing. I wished that I would have brought my leggings with me and made a mental note to carry them with me from now on. I am about 99 percent sure that ‘summer’ is over for the rest of the trip particularly now that we’re getting closer and closer to the open water
. I think that the strong winds are a reflection of this as well.We peddled into the wind and fought the giant potholes in the road all the way to Riviere du Loup. It was a tough ride but a rewarding one as again, the rolling hills are incredibly scenic and dotted with dairy farms and fruit farms selling their produce along the side of the road. There wasn’t much traffic so it did make avoiding the potholes a bit easier. We’ve been on the ‘Route Verte’ for quite a long time and this is one of the first sections where the road has been a bit sketchy. For a large part of the journey we could see the cold looking St. Lawerence River off to our left (north) and the hills to the south. The wind did not subside but the clouds did manage to part and make way for the sun which was most welcome..! Andrew commented on how huge the sky looked here – it was like we had the Prairie sky back again and it seemed to go on for miles and miles.
Andrew, Ian
and I somehow lost Brendan and Dave but continued on to Riviere du Loup where we turned into our ‘old faithful’ – Tim Hortons. It’s amazing what branding can do as we have remained loyal to Timmy’s for most of the trip. It’s easy, relatively fast and you always know what you’re getting. For a quick ‘pit stop’ it’s always a welcome stop. We half expected to find Dave and Brendan there but they weren’t there either. I had the famous ‘feves au lard’ with my honey cruller when Brendan and Dave arrived as they’d waited for us in the small town of Notre Dame du Portage. Apparently we’d missed the turnoff into the town and had taken the bypass via route 132.The rest of the afternoon was much like the morning with the exception of the wind… before lunch it had been a stubborn headwind but somehow after lunch it shifted slightly to be a cross wind and then by early afternoon it had become more or less of a tail wind. The terrain around us remained rolling with long green hills, a sparkling St. Lawerence River in the background and loads of dairy farms dotted between the long and narrow seigneurial system fields of wheat and barley and corn and potatoes.
I must say that for me personally the landscape of Quebec has been a huge surprise and it has definitely been an unexpected highlight of the trip. The villages that we’ve passed through are all small, quaint, there are fantastic restaurants, and the landscape is spectacular and incredibly green. I find the locals very friendly and they seem to have a very high quality of life. Even the cities have been fantastic – I love Montreal and thoroughly enjoyed Quebec City. It’s
definitely a city that I will revisit when I don’t have to divide my time between sight seeing and laundry and bike cleaning..!The Boulangerie
The Cue Sheet for the day said that there would be a 'Boulangerie' (aka. BAKERY!!) at the top of the hill just outside of Trois Pistoles. After our mid-afternoon siesta we were definitely keen on checking out the bakery before heading the final 7kms into camp. With BC in the lead we rocketed towards the bakery. I looked left, then right, then left, then right and flew down the hill - 
absolutely no sign of the bakery anywhere..! Just an old motel and a fish restaurant..! How utterly disappointing. BC, Andrew, Ian and I congregated at the bottom of the hill and cursed the cue sheet. Arrrgh.. I soooo was in the mood for a 775 calorie overload and decided that I'd have to satisfy my hunger with a few spoonfulls of peanut butter at camp instead. Dejected, we biked up the hill and continued on to Trois Pistoles. Whilst enroute I heard someone call my name and and turned around to see Thomas running out of a building frantically waving his arms. Andrew stopped to chec
k it out and BC and I decided it was worth checking ou
t if this was, in fact, the promised bakery. I prayed to the gods of donuts that it was....
absolutely no sign of the bakery anywhere..! Just an old motel and a fish restaurant..! How utterly disappointing. BC, Andrew, Ian and I congregated at the bottom of the hill and cursed the cue sheet. Arrrgh.. I soooo was in the mood for a 775 calorie overload and decided that I'd have to satisfy my hunger with a few spoonfulls of peanut butter at camp instead. Dejected, we biked up the hill and continued on to Trois Pistoles. Whilst enroute I heard someone call my name and and turned around to see Thomas running out of a building frantically waving his arms. Andrew stopped to chec
k it out and BC and I decided it was worth checking ou
t if this was, in fact, the promised bakery. I prayed to the gods of donuts that it was....
And man oh man, did the gods ever deliver..!!
What a fantastic boulangerie - definitely one of the very best ones we've passed so far. It blew Timmy's miles and miles out of the water with its fantastic array of baked treats. Fresh breads, chocolate, cakes, apple turn overs, mille feuilles, boston cremes... Caloric heaven. We sat and ate and relished the baked goods moment in the sun and discussed the possibility of staying at the bakery until dinner. I had the best apple turn over I've ever had in my entire life. Mmmmm.....
From there we continued on to Trois Pistoles to see the church which had been highly recommended.
Trois Pistoles - http://www.ville-trois-pistoles.ca/
Trois Pistoles - http://www.ville-trois-pistoles.ca/
The church in the small village of Trois Pistoles is listed as one of the top 50 most beautiful churches in Quebec. It is known as 'Notre Dame des Neiges' and the cornerstone of the church was laid in 1885. I must admit, it was stunning. It was made almost entirely of wood and inside the wood was even painted to look like marble..! The marbling effect was painted on the columns in 1954 and ca
mouflaged in the marbling are many reminders of his passing that never cease to amuse observers: a priest smoking a pipe, a prostrate priest, a pig, a lamb, a wolf, a couple embracing, a map of Europe with Rome, Madrid and Paris clearly indicated..!
mouflaged in the marbling are many reminders of his passing that never cease to amuse observers: a priest smoking a pipe, a prostrate priest, a pig, a lamb, a wolf, a couple embracing, a map of Europe with Rome, Madrid and Paris clearly indicated..!
The church is essentially neoclassic in design, borrowing heavilly from ancient Greek a
nd Roman architecture. It uses perfect arches for all window and door openings, triangular pediments, corbels, pilasters. The church accommodates 1200 people.
nd Roman architecture. It uses perfect arches for all window and door openings, triangular pediments, corbels, pilasters. The church accommodates 1200 people.
We toured the church in our own time, took a few photos and continued on our way. It was definitely worth the visit..!
Trois Pistoles Campground
The campground is lovely and right on the water so we have just witnessed a spectacular sunset. The wind which has been blowing all day has now completely subsided and I can hear the waves crashing off in the distance. Ian built a fire which has become a gathering point on the beach. I must admit, I am happy and warm in my tent and don’t intend on crawling out of it before the morning.
We had an ‘interesting’ dinner – ‘Touchdown Tuna’ which is by far my least favourite on the menu. Fortunately there were still leftovers from yesterday so I had some more spaghetti. This was topped off by pie and icecream for dessert.
When we arrived into camp after a lovely 12% downhill, I struggled to put up my tent thanks to a wicked wind and managed to entertain Dave, Ned, Gary and Ross for about 20 minutes. I finally admitted defeat when Ned came over to help me wrestle the tent poles and erect something that looked more or less like a tent..! I then joined Andrew and Brendan in a serious bike cleaning session as my bike has been sounding ROUGH for the past few days – especially today in the headwind and as I cranked and squeeked my way over a few of the hills. It is actually at the point where I am feeling guilty that I have let my bike fall into this state of disrepair. Now however, it is back in relatively good shape with a clean, thoroughly scrubbed chain and some oiled pedals. I am hoping that it runs a bit more smoothly tomorrow and manages to last the last 2 weeks of riding. It’s hard to believe that in 14 days the trip will be over. I am truly amazed at how quickly the time has gone...!
The campground is lovely and right on the water so we have just witnessed a spectacular sunset. The wind which has been blowing all day has now completely subsided and I can hear the waves crashing off in the distance. Ian built a fire which has become a gathering point on the beach. I must admit, I am happy and warm in my tent and don’t intend on crawling out of it before the morning.
We had an ‘interesting’ dinner – ‘Touchdown Tuna’ which is by far my least favourite on the menu. Fortunately there were still leftovers from yesterday so I had some more spaghetti. This was topped off by pie and icecream for dessert.
When we arrived into camp after a lovely 12% downhill, I struggled to put up my tent thanks to a wicked wind and managed to entertain Dave, Ned, Gary and Ross for about 20 minutes. I finally admitted defeat when Ned came over to help me wrestle the tent poles and erect something that looked more or less like a tent..! I then joined Andrew and Brendan in a serious bike cleaning session as my bike has been sounding ROUGH for the past few days – especially today in the headwind and as I cranked and squeeked my way over a few of the hills. It is actually at the point where I am feeling guilty that I have let my bike fall into this state of disrepair. Now however, it is back in relatively good shape with a clean, thoroughly scrubbed chain and some oiled pedals. I am hoping that it runs a bit more smoothly tomorrow and manages to last the last 2 weeks of riding. It’s hard to believe that in 14 days the trip will be over. I am truly amazed at how quickly the time has gone...!
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