Québec - Rivière du Loup - Plaster Rock
428 kmÂ
It's the morning of the big departure, the sun is shining, life is good and Juliette is wriggling in the hallway. My last trip dates back to February in the mountains of Colombia so… I too am wriggling.
Yesterday I rode a short 100km with my equipment to make sure everything is in place. It's that I have twice as much luggage as usual. I'm going for a dozen days, while my longest trip to date lasted 7 days, and I added a sleeping bag for the Couchsurfing and Bunkabiker portion of my trip.
The beginning of my trip brought back many memories.The first portion from Quebec to Rivière-du-Loup reminds me of my tour of Gaspesie peninsula. Then, from Rivière-du-Loup to Edmundston, I remember my trip to the Maritimes last year…which ended on the second day. I hope I will go a little further this year.
In St-Léonard, I come across several trucks full of "pitounes". My father was a teacher in the first forestry school in Quebec. I used to go there regularly and the smell of resin inevitably brought back those beautiful childhood memories.
I had planned to sleep in Edmundston but things were going well so, despite the Siberian cold (15°C), I crossed the largest and oldest Danish community in Canada, New Denmark, and I pushed on to Plaster Rock where I ate the New Brunswick's best pizza at Lil' Peppinos.
Before falling asleep, all I have to do is decide which route I will take tomorrow. I have a long conversation with a friend who insists, with good reason, that I go through Fredericton and the St. John River Valley. There is a limit to the amount of time I can devote to this trip, so I'm going to fly straight to Moncton instead to spend more time in that area at the expense of others. A heartbreaking but…necessary choice. So I will have to come back next year to continue my discovery.