We spent a cool, slow Sunday morning wandering the quiet streets of Old Town Quebec. Bliss! While waiting for coffee, we found umbrella alley sort of by accident and then Rue du Petit-Champlian - a place where history looks new, right below the fortification wall and many feet below the Fairmont - though on a map they look like next door neighbors.
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| Looking toward the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac |
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| Batterie Royale |
Our last day in Quebec City left us determined to come back for more exploring, learning, food and culture but the expense and busy-ness of the city in the middle of such a long trip left us overwhelmed - a longer dedicated stay would be much better.
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Umbrella Alley
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| Le Lapin Saute along Rue du Petit-Champlian |
Back at the hotel, after coffee and crepes, it was time to go! Re-load car, still full to exploding, re-attach bikes, unplug with a full charge(yaaaay!) and off we go.
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| Load up! |
First stop Latulippe Outdoors because our air mattresses no longer hold air. We were very careful not to buy anything else because…where would we put it?! Well, nothing else except new shorts for Tucker who seems to have grown a few inches since we left? Next, meet the Trans Canadian Highway for the long push East and South. We waved reluctantly as we turned away from the Saint Lawrence waterway and the Gaspé Peninsula, with it's inland mountains and ocean/Gulf route full of beauty and lighthouses and history.
We wish, wish, wish we could have taken the long slow route along the coastal road but we were already more than halfway through our time this summer so, like the tourists we were, we prioritized two sights: 1) Hopewell Rocks, and 2) Cape Breton and the Cabot Trail. Everything else would need to be relegated to next time.
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| late night charging at Canadian Tire near Grand Falls, New Brunswick |
Thus, Hello New Brunswick! We passed rolling, agricultural hills, forest farms and big logging trucks on barely paved roads. We rented a cabin in Plaster Rock and did nonstop laundry from late check-in to early check-out.
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| Laundry and Le Tour de France (on the iPad) |
And we relished one last night in comfy beds, ready-ing ourselves for another week of camping: first in Kouchibouguac National Park with it’s long, sandy beaches, diverse birdlife, long bike trails and cool campsites and then in Fundy National Park for the world's highest tides.
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| BIG tides in the Bay of Fundy |
