Quebec est la belle province!!! This morning was interesting; everyone was really excited to get to Quebec City but they were kind of slow getting ready. Today was two people's birthday and Terry Barnes and I organized a surprise singing. Last night I told everyone that at the morning prayer we'd be singing happy Birthday 🎉! So we had Randy volunteer to pray (otherwise Peter Slofstra asks someone, but it was his birthday so we couldn't let him know) and he started by singing "Let us Sing" instead of let us pray, and then everyone sang Happy Birthday to them, it was a nice surprise for them. We left after doing our chores. Sara and I went pretty fast to get to Quebec City. After the last rest stop we had a huge hill to climb, with a stop light in the middle, worst spot to catch a red light. I was able to get going pretty easily but Sara had some trouble. It is hard to get going again after stopping on an uphill. As I was struggling along, a local cyclist came up beside me and asked about the tour and where we were heading. I told him Montmagny, with the proper pronunciation and I felt very French! (I had overheard someone who speaks French telling Ed the pronunciation only that morning!) We arrived in Quebec around 11. We were a little worried about what to do with our bikes as we didn't want to take them up the steep roads, but when we got there there was an area by the ferry that we needed to catch later, that had a good number of bike racks. We locked our bikes there and then joined Brigitte, Bonita, Anita and Deanna at the Cochon Dingue restaurant. It was definitely a tourist hangout and pricey. Sara and I had flower shaped Belgian waffles, which were good but nothing special. After we climbed the many many stairs to upper Quebec, we looked out at some views over the St.. Lawrence. Then we split, Brigitte, Sara and I went off together. We walked up even more stairs to see the Chateau Frontenac which is the most widely pictured hotel in the world. In front was a couple of street performers juggling knives. The one would be juggling and then the other would come up behind and then reach out and take over the juggling, it was cool. We then walked down the Terrasse Dufferin which is a popular boardwalk with a great view of Lower Quebec City and the river. We wanted to see the Citadelle so we climbed even more stairs (we don't get enough exercise as it is 😜). We walked along its wall and went all the way around, we took the long route accidentally. We saw the Plains of Abraham where the war between the French and the British happened. We walked down the tunnel with the information of the Citadel which is the fortress with a great vantage. We didn't go in as we didn't want to pay for a guided tour that costed $ and took time. We then walked through to the beautiful fountain in front of the Quebec parliament building and watched some horse and carriage tours, trying to get pictures but the vehicles got in the way. We have decided that Quebec City should not allow vehicles, they get in the way and everyone needs exercise anyways. On our way back we stopped at the Notre Dame Cathedral which is huge!!! It's amazing how much money they spent on the church. We then did some window shopping along the Rue de Petit Champlain which is the oldest commercial district in North America. It was packed with people and no vehicles, thankfully. We went to a cafe and got some drinks and gave our feet a break from all the walking/climbing. We arrived at the ferry just in time for the next one! We bought our tickets and walked our bikes on and put them in the racks provided! They have a high volume of cyclists that take this ferry. It was less than 10 minutes to cross the St. Lawrence and then we were on our way again. It took a bit to get my legs going. Soon we were cruising along at about 29km/h. We made pretty good time and only stopped for a few pictures of barns, so many!, and a bike wheel. The views were amazing and we were thankful for a tailwind. This week has been great for riding! We arrived in Montmagny (mow-may-nee) around 6pm and stopped for dinner at a restaurant, I had a delicious burger. We then arrived in camp as the sun was setting. We were in pretty high spirits arriving in camp and gave everyone the impression that we had partied. We set up our tent and showered and then climbed into bed. We were tired.
121.9km
5h 30min
22.6km/h
828m elevation