The Wandering Bulgar: A foreign land

We've been in Canada for over a week now, but it wasn't until yesterday that I felt we were in a foreign land.

Sunday morning we crossed the river from Campbellton, NB to Quebec and rode east up the south side of the Gaspe peninsula. The weather was balmy and there were many bikes on the road, mostly cruisers. That part of Gaspe is somewhat like the Delaware/New Jersey shore - many summer cottages, ice cream places, small towns every few miles, and vacationers. There aren't that many beaches, however, and I imagine the water is quite cold. Along the way in Perce we took picture of a very large rock just offshore that is the last bit of the Appalachian mountain chain. We rode into the national park at the very tip of the peninsula, and began heading west around the north side. That side of the peninsula isn't as developed as the south side, the terrain is wilder and the road has more hills and turns - it is a bit like the northern California coast, although with less traffic. For much of the way the road goes right near the shore. We stayed at a small motel in Mont St. Pierre for the night.

The next morning we rode about 40 miles before stopping for breakfast in St. Anne des Monts. Although the restaurant was part of a motel, it was quite elegant and the food was delicious. By the time we left it had started raining, and we rode through occasionally heavy rain for an hour or so before it gradually slowed and finally stopped. The farther west we went the shorter the distance between towns and the more traffic there was, so eventually we left the shore road and went a few miles inland to the local equivalent of an Interstate. This took us to St. Jean Port Joli, home of a motorcycle museum that was one of the destinations for the trip. We stopped there and spent an hour or so looking at the bikes; there were a few bikes and scooters I haven't seen before, and the museum was nicely arranged with period displays. Since we had such a large breakfast, we skipped lunch, so we had an early dinner in town before getting back on the divided road and riding for 30 miles to Montmagny, where we are spending the night.

We've enjoyed ourselves in Quebec. The people we've met have been lively and helpful, and perfectly willing to work with you to understand what you are trying to say. Quite a few of the older people speak little English, but most of the younger ones speak at least some.

Tomorrow we may stop in Quebec (city) for a short visit before heading to Ottawa where John has a service scheduled for his bike on Wednesday.