July 31--Day 49--Just Like That, I've Crossed the Border into France!

Well, it sure seems like it! All the signs are in French--not French and English (like the rest of Canada), just French. For some of them, I'm just guessing what they say.

France...I mean Quebec!

 

 

I crossed into Quebec at about 7:45 this morning. The border at Coburn Gore was pretty quiet. At Woburn I turned onto Extreme Rollercoaster 212. Aiyiyi! I thought I might have some climbing to do since I was in a valley, but I didn't expect it to be this intense! Then I saw this sign.

The mountain route

 

 

Ahhh...that explains everything (even in French). I reached a saddle in the area Notre Dame des Bois. There was a picnic place there, so I took a break. There was this cool thing where if you stand in a certain spot at night, the stars line up with the Big Dipper. I just had to use my imagination.

Info

Big Dipper

 

 

As intense as the uphill climbs were, the descents were equally as steep--10, and 11% grades. I think what was unusual is that the road, for good long stretches, was straight as an arrow. So, I could see the hills a long ways ahead. In some cases, fortunately, from afar, the hill looked worse than it was. Sometimes, it really was that bad.

See the hill ahead?

 

 

I stopped at a small market in La Patrie. I went decidedly French, and got grapes and cheese for a snack. 

 

I had written down the road names to get me to Sherbrooke. I missed two turns. Could be my fault, or it could be Google Map's fault. I'm positive they weren't paved roads. When I finally saw one of the roads I was supposed to go on--Chemin Lower, I made the turn figuring the road I was supposed to take to get to Chemin Lower would be somewhere along the way. Sure enough, I passed it. Chemin Flanders as well as Chemin Lower were both dirt/gravel roads. Tilmann did fine, but now I'm thinking Chemin means not paved. Chemin Lower did come out to the hwy it was supposed to. Then I was on another Chemin road. I suppose Chemin could mean "short cut", because these roads certainly did cut across the countryside.

Dirt road

 

 

Anyway, I made it to Île-Marie Camping after 65 miles. This is a pretty big place--a great place for kids. There's a little splash park, playground, playing field, and even a restaurant of sorts. I still haven't been to an ATM, but this campground takes Visa, so I'm okay.

 

 

Here was my favorite sign of the day. I think there won't be so much climbing from here on out.

Fin means end