Well, this is posted a bit later than I would have like, but whatever. Finding time to write, ride and eat has been a bit of a challenge these past few weeks. We've established a strong (but rather unorthodox) tradition of doing handstands to warm up in the morning, getting better and better each day :)
Biking in Quebec was a treat! Besides running into an angry Québécois who shouted profanities and hit Toby upside the head as he passed by on his bike, everyone we've met here has been friendly and kind...even though I don't know what they're saying most of the time. Sigh, Mrs Doubie (my high school french teacher) would not be impressed with me right now. Out of the three of us, Toby speaks the best francais. Dave was basically useless, and I wasn't much better. I could order a coffee just the way I liked it, and ask for poutine. But that was about it.
La Route Verte, an interconnecting web of bike paths criss crossing the country, was the primary avenue for our exploration. We saw a lot of countryside, small towns, and views of the Saint Lawrence. Sometimes the bike path would cut away from the highway, following smaller roads and often leading us down gravel trails that soared up and down hillsides or along marshy inlets. Besides rural Quebec in general and Gaspasie in particular (where we found ourselves camped under a lighthouse and watching an unbelievable sunset with wondrous eyes) the two most brilliant and amazing places we visited were Montreal and Quebec City.
In Montreal we stayed at the place of a friend (Jessica) of a guy (JP) that Toby cycled with on the Pacific Coast two summers ago. The three of us reveled in the delights of having an indoor space to chill out in. We spent a formidable portion of our time in the city listening to records, drinking Maudite (beer), and lounging around on the sofas with the cats. Jessica had decorated her place with a mish mash of stuff she'd found in thrift stores and picked up on the side of the road for free. I totally dug it :)
Grilling up cheesy sandwiches and toasting each other with wine glasses of chocolate soy milk, I thought that life couldn't get any better. But then, we left the apartment and discovered how awesome the city was. Bang, pow! Amazing place! We watched fireworks from a bridge top, rode around like maniacs on our bikes (because that's the way city folk ride-like crazy people), and ate smoked meat. We listened to an outstanding organ performance in the Basilica, devoured overflowing bowls of pho in Chinatown, and explored paths and city parks on our bikes. I really liked the mix of new and old buildings, the number of bike paths and bikers (go Bixi go!), as well as the the wicked graffiti and stylishly painted apartments.
One night we met up with my high school friend Austin, who'd been living in Montreal since he moved out east to go to uni. It was a rainy Sunday, and we showed up at the Mad Hatter soaking wet with rain and smelling kind of funky. Austin (who was sensibly dressed, arriving via public transit waiting out from of the pub with an umbrella in hand) recognized us immediately and we spent the night drinking pitchers of beer, playing pool and Foosball, and re-telling stories from our youth. Dave ordered a pizza delivered to the bar, Austin ordered a couple of neon coloured test tube shooters, and at one point Toby decided it would be a good idea to do a handstand on the pool table. We left on our bikes, braving the rain and the dark and cruised around the city in search of poutine, eventually winding back up at Jessica's apartment where we polished off a bottle of wine and a bag of grapes (tossing them into each others mouths, leaping and diving to catch the plump green fruits) before passed out in the wee hours of the morning watching Bio dome on VHS.
In Quebec City (well, people here just say Quebec, but I always say Quebec City because I find it confusing otherwise) we stayed with couchsurfers. Our hosts Clair, Jean Sebastian, and Antoine were really chill folks, making us pancakes and giving us the low down on the city. Oh, and they had a newly acquired Super Nintento, on which we squandered many hours playing Mario and battling velocoraptors in Jurassic Park. Good times :)
Old Quebec was amazing. I mean, I'm from the West: if there's a building older than a century it's pretty much a historical landmark. So to visit a place where most everything is a few hundred years old was just a little bit mind blowing. We locked up our bike and explored by foot; wandering through the windy cobblestone streets, stopping in at chocolatiers and soaking up sounds of fiddlers playing in the street for coins. We explored the excavation at Chateau Frontenac, wandered around the enormous walls of the citadel, and gawked at the magnificence of the churches. We spent the better portion of an evening chilling out on top of some ancient fortification (with cannons everywhere!), watching the world go by below us and the sun set above us. One night we watched a Cirque du Soleil performance under a bridge, and it didn't cost a cent! Dancers soared across wire over our heads, romped through the crowd on the backs of stilt animals, and performed incredible acts of contortion. It was mind blowing. Then we ate ice cream, which was pretty good as well.
In a moment of blondness, I dropped my camera on the ground with the lens open. It kind of created a fishbowl affect, and all my pictures looked like they were from a skate video or through the eyes of a drunkard. So I splurged and bought a new one (hot pink this time!), vowing to be more careful in the future.
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