July 29 - Day 55 - Saint Jean Pont Joli - Angelina's brother

It was kind of a slow start to the day, having to work our way through Levis with it's numerous stoplights and traffic, but soon enough, the road opened up to the Highway 132 we were expecting.  Very much like 138 on the north side of the St.Lawrence, but from the south side you gained the view of the mountains to the north which were beautiful.  Lovely paved shoulders and accomodations for cyclists everywhere.  There was a guy in a van with a flashing light that was riding behind Sid peeping his horn, and when Sid stopped and approached him he asked in broken English if he was going to the Gaspe Penninsula.......we thought he was a lurker and were going to call the cops.
Sid picked up a flat a short time after the encounter, and when we were on the side of the road fixing it, many cyclists passed us that were on an organized ride..........followed by the guy in the van with the flashing light!  Who knew?

 

There is some power in these lines stretching across the St.Lawrence

 Think that is Mont St.Anne in the distance

Weather conditions were just great and the wind was in our favour.  I found myself coasting at over 30km/hr sometimes which was great because I gave me lots of time to look around at the great views of the St.Lawrence and the mountains to the north.  John crossed our path after two and a half hours, and we had a quick pit stop before resuming the ride in search of a comfy lunch spot.  We found that in L'Islet sur Mer, at La Salicorne Cafe.........FYI salicorne is harvested from the side of the river in July in small amounts and used in various local dishes (or so I'm told)........we had a delish lunch which included for me a large strong cafe aux lait in a bowl.......another Patachou fave.

 L'Islet sur Mer had a few other surprises to share that we were not aware of, and made me wonder how many other great spots I have ridden past in the past couple of months without knowing.

Pano from the south shore L'Islet sur Mer looking north

The church in L'Islet sue Mer was stunning inside

Just down the road we came across the Quebec Maritime Museum.  The story of this attraction is best told by the pictures below.  We didn't go inside, but the exhibits outside were real interesting.  There was a workshop visible through the garage doors at the back of the building where you could see a workshop inside with boats of various shapes and sizes being restored.

The Ernest Lapointe - The last steam powered icebreaker of the Canadian Coast Guard, in service 1939 - 1978.  It was used during World War II to transport troops and material to Labrador, then resumed service keeping the St. Lawrence navigable.

HMCR Bras d'Or - The Royal Canadian Navy's experimental hydrofoil, 1960 - 1971.  With it's gas turbine engine it could reach speeds of 65 knots - 115km/hr and was designed for coastal defence and submarine detection.  High operating costs eventually scrapped the program.  It was named after 

Bras d'Or Lake in Cape Breton, where initial experiments and testing of prototypes took place.

J.E. Bernier II - The smallest vessel ever to circumnavigate North America.  It left Montreal in 1977, and headed south, through the Panama Canal, then north.  It is most famous for navigating through the Northwest Passage (which I have done many times on snowshoes), and returned to Montreal in 1979.  Might have my dates screwed up here, but it did make the trip. Pretty amazing.

We only had a short 20km or so to go to reach Saint Jean Pont Joli, but as we traveled along the road, photo op's were appearing faster than we could imagine.  This town and the surrounding area is home to many artists and artisans.  Stone and wood carvers were everywhere.  Sculptors studios open for viewing.   What a great area, and one I would revisit sometime in the future for sure.  Our camp is right in the middle of town in a small but very well equipped campground.  

This was clearly a memorable day that had nothing to do with the cycling, how fast we rode, or how far.  Just nice to be out here riding in some beautiful country.  We just had to stop at this wood carvers gallery and workshop, and this guy wins the prize for my Large Things By The Road category.

Hunting Duck w/ banana suit boy

A little story from yesterday that I forgot to include........
In the distance we saw two cyclists riding with totally loaded bicycles.  Bright yellow paniers were packed full on both front and back wheels.  As we got closer it appeared it was a couple of ladies on the bikes, based of course on the hair hanging out of the helmets, and shapely figures.  Sid rode alongside the cyclist at the back and said "Hello ladies", and when the head turned to reveal a guy with a moustache, we just about lost it.  Had a good laugh for the next few km.

Parting shot for my Mummy in Worthing, UK..........
Hey hen......I've got the washing oot

LYJ.............The farther away I ride, the closer I get to you