River Route: Bon Fjord Route: Comme ci, comme ca

Our days in Quebec City have flown and we are on Highway 138, the St Lawrence River Route again. The downtown traffic was surprisingly light and in no time we were at Montmorency Falls, Quebec’s Niagara. We saw them from a distance yesterday from the boat and today was a close-up. They are quite impressive and the park offers both a walk up and across and gondola cars for closer viewing, neither of which we take advantage of as we’ve many kilometres to ride and rain is forecast. We are certainly not enjoying the hot dry weather that Vancouver Island has this summer - thanks for rubbing it in, everybody back home!
We stop at the Shrine of Sainte Anne-de-Beaupre because it is right on the highway but it is so commercialized, we snap our photos and leave. This is a site of healing and a centuries old pilgrimage for the believers in New France. Sadly it hasn’t any of the serenity or the expansive well-tended grounds of the Cap-de-la-Madeleine shrine, however, it does have many visitors. It begins to rain lightly, and even though we’re riding through the wooded hills of the Laurentian mountains our visibility is limited by the weather closing in and we’re not appreciating the scenery much.
Just west of Baie-Saint-Paul the road descends to the St. Lawrence River, the wind dies down, the rain stops, the sky is lighter and we begin to enjoy the ride into this very pretty little town set in a valley. We leave H138 for H362 at Baie-Saint-Paul and as the road climbs away from the town there is a rest stop that offers sweeping views of the town, the river, Isle-aux Coudres, and the mountains. We can understand why this area is known as an artists’ paradise.
Highway 362, under construction in sections and poorly surfaced in others, is some ride! Up and down, it twists and turns through hilly farmlands with magnificent views of the St. Lawrence. We ride through the village of Eboulements nestled in the hills high above the river and then the road tumbles down to the saltwater shoreline of the St. Lawrence to climb again to the highland village of Saint-Irenee. We rejoin H138 in the resort city of La Malbaie where we stop for lunch. This city has a gorgeous golf course, a casino, and a Fairmont hotel among other tourist attractions such as great scenery, lakes, rivers, forests, and salt air. It is low tide and the bay is dry with many large boulders. Our awesome River Route ends at Saint-Simeon and we take Highway 170, the Fjord Route toward Saguenay City.
We have high hopes for this route and it reminds us of the road out to Tofino but where is the fjord? We ride more than 100 kms before we see the Saguenay River and we have yet to see a fjord. We spend the night at the Comfort Inn in Chicoutimi which is part of Saguenay City home to 146,000 people. To be fair it is a very pretty location and if the rain holds off we may see a fjord tomorrow.

Biker Bonanza

With a few delays due to road reconstruction, we make a bittersweet departure from Ottawa. It is always hard to say good bye to family but the challenges and excitement of Quebec await us! We have gathered lots of information on “la belle Province” as we are basically unilingual and always feel somewhat at a disadvantage in Quebec, where the first and sometimes only language is French.
Quebec Tourism has divided the area we are riding today into four regions: Outaouais, Laurentides, Lanaudiere, and Mauricie. As these titles are meaningless to us, our route is Highway 148, 158, and 138. We begin on the north side of the Ottawa River, riding through Gatineau, the gateway to Gatineau Park, a beautiful year-round recreational environment, that we visited years ago in autumn and will never forget. The park is crossed by a 34km-long road dotted with panoramic lookout points and we are sorry we are not riding it today.
Once we’re clear of the city, we roll through the mainly agricultural land that borders the wide Ottawa River. It is Monday so lines of bright washing wave us along. There are many small ferries crossing the river to Ontario destinations on the south shore. Further down the Ottawa River, the wetland Parc National de Plaisance, welcomes thousands of Canada geese who stop over on their spring and fall migratory routes. At Montebello there is a national historic site at Manoir Papineau, that we skip as we’ve finally got back into sync with the bike after a week of not riding and we don’t want to interrupt it.
Just east of Calumet, because we wish to skirt Montreal , we veer away from the Ottawa River and head toward Lachute where generous downtown parking contributes to a lively lunch crowd, including us! We have visited Montreal twice: the first time we drove our car and experienced frustration, the second time we took the VIA rail train and experienced a good time but nothing so outstanding that we feel compelled to revisit on this trip. The traffic thickens, busy roads criss-cross our path, and building construction intensifies as we approach Mirabel, and we are amazed that this airport, so far from Montreal, generates such activity.
We have good intentions to stop at the national historic site in Saint Lin-Laurentides that commemorates Sir Wilfrid-Laurier, however, we only see it from our seat as it’s on a wicked corner and we’re wedged between two semi-trailers on a very busy narrow street that doubles as the highway through this small town. Today’s route is very interesting as it passes through many small towns where the many houses perched on the side of the highway provide a charming view of small-town Quebec but it’s also a very busy route with many fluctuations in speed limit and many bumps!
Just east of Berthierville we turn onto Highway 138 and catch our first dramatic views of the storied St. Lawrence River at Lac Saint-Pierre, a World Biosphere Reserve. This area is a large flood plain, a resting spot for migrating water fowl, and the largest archipelago (some 100 islands) in the St. Lawrence. Highway 138 is, for the most part, also the King's Road (Chemin du Roy), the oldest roadway in Canada. Built in 1737, the King’s Road linked New France's three largest cities: Montréal, Trois-Rivières and Québec City. It follows the St. Lawrence and provides us with a delightful ride to Trois-Rivières.
We are staying at the Delta Hotel because it is right in the downtown core, which adjoins the harbour front park and the historic district. The hotel is a bit lack-lustre for the price, poorly signed, and charges extra for parking and the internet connection, which really bugs Barry! Old Trois-Rivières, founded in 1634 where three forks of the Saint-Maurice Rivers flow into the St. Lawrence river, is a city with much Old World charm. The terrace overlooking the St. Lawrence at Parc Portuaire is particularly nice and we enjoy a walking tour past many buildings classified as historic monuments, such as the Old Prison, today a museum. Another important site, the Forges du Saint-Maurice National , preserves the remains of Canada’s first ironworks, but is not within walking distance.
Trois-Rivières has a very vibrant downtown with rows of busy patio restaurants, trendy shops, and many nightclubs. We have seen lots of motorcycles in Quebec, many with couples riding pillion like us, and observe that Trois-Rivières is a popular destination for bikers. The downtown core has great bike parking (paid) at the heart of all the best sights and restaurants. We are very glad we gathered much information and walking tour maps in English before we came, as every interpretive and informative sign, plaque, and inscription is in French only!