I go, I don't go, I don't go, I...go.
It's not always easy to go on a motorcycle trip. It was while reading a post from a member of Riders-Qc that I got the urge to go to the Highlands. I really like traveling so when I read "Highlands", I immediately thought of Scotland and its pink cows.
Credit: ©Getty - Wayne Hutchinson/Farm Images/Universal Images Group
As I continue reading on the ridethehighlands.ca website, I learn that there are also Highlands in Ontario.
credit: ridethehighlands.ca
In fact, during my last trip to Ontario, I had traveled part of it without knowing the name of the region.
For a few days now, I have been monitoring the weather and as usual, it is neither precise nor reliable. So, this morning, after a long hesitation, I leave.
It is raining but not so much... In fact, there are more or less scattered showers but I am "greyed" as a result. I have been riding a motorcycle for four years now and my current equipment is nothing like the one I had when I started. I can now ride dry... or almost because water always finds a way to get in. This time, it seems that my helmet has a small crack but nothing to slow me down or stop me.
Montebello
At the end of a beautiful day of motorcycling, I arrive in Montebello, a small village well known for its rock music festival. With a population of 978 inhabitants, the municipality of Montebello welcomed up to 200,000 visitors during the peak years of the event.
credit: 99scenes.com
Montebello is also well known for its luxury hotel, the Château Montebello.
At first, the home of Louis-Joseph Papineau, then a private club and finally after an expansion that required more than 3,000 men working 7 days a week, 24 hours a day for three months, a renowned hotel. The developer even paid for the village priest to travel to Rome for three months so that the work could take place on Sundays... Let's admit that the result is magnificent.
But I am not attracted by great luxury or crowds. So, it is while walking after dinner that I come across a magnificent sundial. There, I learn that Quebec and Ontario live on "Montebello time".
Montebello time
In 1884, when time zones were created, Montebello was the largest village in the region and the time zone of "Eastern Standard Time" passed right in the middle. Quebec therefore began to live on "Montebello time" and several Quebec writings refer to it.
Tonight, I'm going to rest in, nothing less than a castle, the Petit Château Montebello, smaller than its namesake but much more charming in my eyes. Tomorrow I'm going to take a ferry because I love sailing with my motorbike. More in the next post...
My itinerary
Highway 40 to Berthierville
Road 158 to Lachute
Road 148 to Montebello
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