La Belle Province

I left northern New Brunswick on Friday morning of June 23 . I rode along route 132. I was very familiar with the first 100 KM section of this highway because there was a time when my favorite skiing partner Tania and I would drive this section every weekend during the winter months to ski one of the best ski hill in the eastern Canada. A remarkable difference this morning was the ice on the Matapedia River had been replace with canoe's and salmon anglers.

Route 132 is a very scenic ride along the Matapedia River thought small farming and forestry communities to the larger well established regions of Rimouski and Riviere du Loup. West of Riviere de Loup the route meanders along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. I followed this route to the city Levis where I found a reasonable priced motel and settled in for the night. The weather had been good enough for camping but this was the Friday night of Quebec holiday weekend St. Jean Baptist and the camping areas were busy. There was plenty of blue and white everywhere and people were in a partying mood. I later walk to a nearby bar for a couple of cool one's and enjoyed the festivities. The joie de vive and their ability to cut loose are but a few things many of us can learn from our friends from La Belle Province – they know how to celebrate.
On Saturday morning I rode over Le Pont de Quebec, down along the river and past Le vieux-port, a very touristy area this is. I located route 138 a secondary roadway which hugs the north shore of the St. Lawrence River all the way to Montreal. I throughly enjoyed this ride which is designated as “La chime de Roi”. When New France was first being settled, people established themselves primarily along the shores of the St. Lawrence River in order to facilitate communication and transportation. The first Canadian roadway adapted to vehicular traffic, the chemin du Roy ( King’s Highway ) was built in 1734. It connected Montreal and Quebec City, the two largest cities in the province. This roadway provide spectacular views of the St. Lawrence and lead me through many unique small town and villages.

I had made many treks from New Brunswick to Montreal and Ottawa. These trips were always rushed get on the highway and drive like hell to get there. My ride to Montreal over the past few day was by far the best ever. It did take much long but the scenery made the ride much more pleasant.