Friday, May 21: Topsham, Maine to Levis, QC (249 miles)
We packed up our bikes this morning at the Wilson’s home in Topsham, Maine. We had trailered our bike from Cleveland to Maine, saving our butts for the beautiful scenery and interesting roads from here on.
Paul and Linda…
Elaine and me…
The ride north through Maine on U.S. 201 was spectacular in places — mountainous, curves and hills, swift flowing rivers and occasional lakes. I’m sorry I didn’t stop to take any photos. It is definitely a road worth riding again, and I won’t forget it…
We crossed the border north of Jackman, ME after following our usual routine of visiting the duty free shop to stock up on spirits for the trip. This time it was Chevis Regal, and Skyy vodka.
The ride through southern Quebec province was interesting also – we took secondary roads for the most part. We arrived at Au Gré du Vent B & B in Old Leviś by late afternoon and settled in. It was a lovely restored mansion, one of many in this section of Leviś.
We ate dinner at the Intimiste Restaurant in in Old Leviś, and enjoyed a really fine meal. After dinner we walked across the street to a chocolate shop that had a long line of people (local folks who know) standing in line for their specialty — soft ice cream cones dipped in their special hand made dark chocolate. The locals definitely know what is good around here! The rich, dark chocolate took several minutes to harden into a thick covering enveloping the creamy, melting soft ice cream. Très bien!
Back at the B&B, we strolled across the street to a little park from which we had a spectacular view of Old Quebec city across the St. Lawrence River, featuring the beautiful old Chateau Frontenac off to the right.
Saturday, May 22: Levis, QC to Tadoussac, QC (132 miles)
This morning we took the ferry below our B&B across the St. Lawrence River to Old Quebec City and rode east along the shore.
The road to Tadoussac was dramatic, reminiscent of the south shore of the St.Lawrence that we rode several years ago when we toured the Gaspé Peninsula. Below, the road descends from the cliffs to meet the shore. The St. Lawrence becomes wider and wider as we ride eastward. Up in the mountains away from the shore the temperature was in the 70’s; down near the shore it was in the low 60’s – more comfortable for riding with all the gear on!
Our second ferry for the day took us across the Saguenay River to Tadoussac. The lady who checked us in at our hotel for the evening said the whales were here already and we could see them at 18:00 if we took a hike behind our hotel to a fjord on the Saguenay. We declined, expecting to see whales along the St. Lawrence and on the ferry to Blanc-Sablon.
Tomorrow we will ride to Baie-Comeau.