Quebec Pt. 2(4) - Trois-Rivieres

Smaller towns and villages between Montreal and Quebec City are super cute. We had been looking forward to this section of the trip from the beginning, and the old towns along the Chemin du Roy were living up to the expected vibe. 

Grocery stores and cafes had good food.  A stop at a lovely fromagerie produced a huge bag of fresh squeaky cheese curds for $8, which we demolished out front and went back in for another.  

The scenery along the Flueve Saint-Laurent is as awesome as any ocean view and we rode along at speed wishing we had "cruiser" bikes and could soak it up much more slowly.  

We had left Montreal with a plan to reach Trois-Rivieres in one go, 158kms by bike.  The rest of our trip will be like this.  We've done the math on the kilometres remaining to Sydney, Nova Scotia, and we're left with about exactly the number of days we'll need to get there in time for that last ferry sailing of the season that will allow us to get to St. John's in Newfoundland.  There is no margin of extra days for something to go awry, which of course will happen, so we're going to have to string together some 150s. 

It went by too fast.  This remains one of our favourite sections of the trip and we are already making plans to return as soon as possible.  

We stayed with 'warm showers' hosts Anik and Sarah in Trois-Rivieres and had a truly memorable and fun evening.  The 'warm showers' contacts we're making has become one of our most cherished components of this lifestyle.  

Trois-Rivieres is like a "best kept secret".  Montreal and Quebec get all the hype, but nestled halfway between is this gem of a city, dripping with culture, architecture, and class. 

Before pressing on for Quebec, we took a ride through the old downtown. Early morning meant we had the streets to ourselves.  

We heard from Sophie, who had stayed here the night before.  The poor gal had left Montreal on the South side of the river and had not planned on passing through Trois-Rivieres, but a bike problem had forced her to hitch a ride across this bridge to get to a bike shop.  

She was messaging from the old city in downtown Quebec, eating a big pile of French baking and enjoying a lovely morning.  We were about 130 kilometres from doing the same.    

The modern amphitheater caught our eye, and the grounds were an interesting space along the river.  Lest we think the region is only about old brick and cobblestone, cities like Montreal, Trois-Rivieres, and Quebec have done a wonderful job of seamlessly blending the old and historic with the new and progressive.  

Leaving Trois-Rivieres to the North we are treated to beautiful parks and bridges across inlets from the main river trunk.

The sun is peaking up and cyclist are out for morning rides.  Fantastic place to be if you're a cyclist.  Well marked, well paved, and well separated from the automobiles, with magical scenery and fresh coffee along the way.   While we have seen a Tim Hortons or two in the province, generally the standard is much higher here.

Every single town in Quebec has a basilica in perfectly maintained condition.  Like the grain elevators of Saskatchewan you can see these coming from kilometres away, sometimes perched on a hill, or sometimes nestled down along the river.  The architecture is fascinating, and some are incredibly elaborate.  We had started "collecting" them photographically as we left Montreal and they became a fun stop for us in each settlement.  

We had opted for the North side of the river, but we could see across the water to the South and make out the peaks of the church steeples in each town and village on the other side.  There was no way to collect them all.  

A stop for lunch at a public pier was quite the adventure.  A swarm of French-Canadian wasps were operating at a level of aggressive that we could not escape.  Sherrie took a sting on the back as we scrambled for safety, losing some of our dried plumbs.  They were not seeming to bother the Québécois family that was also stopped for lunch, so we could only assume it was a cultural issue pertaining to our Anglo dialogue.  

Je me souviens, little wasps, je me souviens.....

That made the official count 4 stings for Sherrie, 2 for Andrew.  We're counting double taps as one sting.  

There are literally chunks of our flesh being sacrificed for this project. 

The battle against "nature" did not dampen our enjoyment of the region in the least.  

The weather was fantastic, the views fantastic, the riding fantastic.  We are sad we had to blow through here so quickly, and vow to return.  

If time was no object, we would highly recommend the full Chemin du Roy experience.  Following the winding, zig-zagging route back and forth across the main roadway, one is guaranteed to encounter charm in the scenery, and in the local denizens alike.     

A last minute 'warm showers' message offering us an apartment near downtown Quebec City alleviated any concerns about where we'd stay that night and we soaked up the last of the afternoon rolling in.     

The 300ish kilometres between Montreal and Quebec is possibly the section of our journey we've enjoyed the most, (although of course that's a close race).

Having never been to Quebec City before, and having heard from many that we will love it, we're very excited for the next few days!  

READ NEXT:  Quebec Pt. 3(4) - Quebec City