Bonjour Hi! Bienvenue à Québec
First Stop: Ottawa(ish)
Our first stop was less than 3 hours away, with a weekend at Jas and Chantal’s cottage to soak in the Ontario summer cottage life. Cards, games, good food, drinks on the dock, canoeing on the lake, fire roasted marshmallows, testing the limits of Chantal’s car on a back country road as we scoped out Jas’ next ‘Sufferfest’ canoe route – everything summer should be. And all this in just two action packed days – this holiday-ing is hard work! But not to worry, we will be seeing more of Jas and Chantal in a couple of weeks when we meet up in Quebec. But in the meantime, our next stop beckoned. Our first week of our Eastern Canada adventure was a tour of visits with friends from our days in Japan. James had been back in Canada for less than 48 hours when we invited ourselves to his cottage just west of Ottawa, and suggested Dave and Nori meet us there as well. A feast of Japanese food on the deck was a great way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon while we caught up on news and plans for the future.
Montreal
Our first stop was in Montreal, where our Japan-festival continued as we caught up with both Sarah and Ivan. More catching up on past adventures and future plans, over some great local food and drink. Unfortunately my camera was out of film so we didn’t get pictures of either night (???) so you’ll just have to trust us that they’re both looking and doing great. The rest of our two days in Montreal we spent exploring. We’d visited before on a cold fall weekend when we’d been told by many people to come back in summer when the city comes alive. And it certainly does: streets closed to traffic, festivals, music all around. We rented bikes and did a long ride along the canal and the old port, and had our first look at the mighty St Lawrence River, or ‘Le Fleuve’ (pronounced like Lurrrv). Fun fact – in French, they differentiate between fleuves (which empty into oceans) and rivieres (which empty into fleuves). We’re going to be spending a lot of time with Le Fleuve over the coming weeks, as we follow it all the way out to the Atlantic Ocean.
The Jazz Festival also happened to be on, so we caught a couple of bands. And Michelle got us a table at a restaurant that our friend Liz had given her a recipe book from. All locally sourced ingredients, with many of them foraged from the local forests. Delish!
And the kitchen appeared to have a delightfully macabre sense of humour as well…
A Taste of the Eastern Townships
From Montreal, we momentarily left Le Fleuve and headed to the ‘Eastern Townships’, a handful of small towns east of Montreal and south of Quebec City, in the hopes of finding some Quebec food, wine and outdoor fun. On our way through the Townships we made a quick stop at a local cheese shop to pick up some squeaky-fresh cheese curds and other cheeses and we were ready for a picnic at a local winery. Who knew there was a thriving wine region just east of Montreal? Even one that makes vermouth, our new favourite drink from Spain.
Our base to explore the Townships was Magog. Just 50km from the US border and in the foothills of the Appalachian mountain range, Magog sits on a large lake that stretches down across the US/Canadian border, Lake Memphremagog. This lake is home to the terrifying sea monster known locally as Memphre. We were lucky enough to snap a shot of the horrible beast. Sorry for the grainy quality – my hands were shaking badly as it reared up in front of us.
The First Francophones
We headed to Ile d’Orleans, a small island in the St Lawrence River within sight of Quebec City. We’d spent a great 5-day city break in Quebec City a few years ago so decided to see something a little different this time. The island is very proud of its French Heritage. It is the site of the first French colony in Quebec and many Francophones across North America are apparently descended from the families that first settled here. It’s a great place to visit with a nice vibe. It reminded us a lot of Prince Edward County back in Ontario. It’s the kind of place where people don’t lock their doors, or their electric bikes.
