Pictures

 As promised here are some pictures of Lac Mégantic and Maine

Bar Harbor Main Street

On the car deck of the CAT motorcycles waiting their turn to disembark at Bar Harbor

This rock with the guitar is on the exact spot where the café/ bar that was destroyed by the explosion was located

Taken from inside the lounge area of the CAT as it left for Yarmouth

This is the monument to the 48 people who perished during the Lac Mégantic disaster nine years ago.

The next three pictures were taken in the Ponds area in the Maine mountains between the Canada-US border and Bangor. 

Lac Mégantic, Maine including Bar Harbor

 This is the second post of my 2022.

After a good night’s sleep at the Microtel Inn and Suites, which is one of the few new buildings erected on  the site of the disaster not far from the memorial I walked around the site before heading off to Maine.  The road I was on was an amazing route, especially on a motorcycle. The highway goes through Maine mountains. There’s a lot of nowhere there, broken by a lot more nowhere. That’s not to say there is nothing there,  because there are many many many trees. And how the engineers were able to get rivers to follow the winding roadway for long stretches has to be one of the wonders of road building. 

I arrived in Bar Harbor, a lovely tourist destination, in late afternoon. After checking in to the hotel I walked  to a nice restaurant for dinner. Small dishes were the specialty. Along with a half dozen locally-sourced oysters I had a delicious portion of smoked trout dip,  three perfectly grilled scallops on a very nice watercress dressing, and a perfectly executed lobster roll, accompanied by a nice Spanish Valtea white wine. This morning I went for a walk downtown along the waterfront.  It is a working harbour with lobster boats loading traps while siteseeing boats of many sizes set out to find whales to pose for pictures.

I boarded the CAT ferry in good time for the 3:00 pm sailing to Yarmouth. Unfortunately the movement of the ship caused a bout of sea sickness which kinda ruined the experience for me.  After arriving in Yarmouth I found the motel I had chosen and went out for a light dinner (salad with shrimp). 

I will try to post pictures later.

Return to rides - July 2022

 Well hello everyone. It’s been two years since I have posted a Retirement Rides blog entry. COVID has no doubt affected all of you and I hope that you and your loved ones have all made it through those troubling times. While the pandemic is not over, far from it if we listen to the public health authorities, which we all should, I am now quadruple vaccinated and things (read restaurants and hotels) have opened up enough to make a long distance motorcycle ride a possibility this summer. Add to that the fact that there’s a CAT, not a Lilly-kind of pussy cat but a high speed catamaran service that has been reestablished between Bar Harbor Maine and Yarmouth Nova Scotia that I have been longing to experience. So, after having my BMW a serviced in Ottawa on Monday, I started my trip.

When I left home early Tuesday morning the skies were overcast and there were a few small raindrops falling. Given that weather generally comes from the west, and since I was headed west, I thought I might be able to stay ahead of the showers that were in the forecast. A faint hope that was; except for a few brief intermissions it rained, though not heavily, from just east of Montebello all the way to Québec City.  

My, as it turns out very nice, room was in a small hotel just a few blocks from the Château Frontenac and the funicular that connects the fortress part of the old city to the lower part. As those of you who have had the joy of driving in Old Québec know a GPS is not very helpful in navigating a neighbourhood of densely packed streets, particularly when some of them are blocked by construction. Suffice it to say that I spent the better part of 30 minutes going up, down, and around streets before finally arriving at the hotel, only to be informed quite helpfully

gentleman at the desk that motorcycles were not allowed in the walled-in parts of the city. But, not to worry, I could just leave my bike in the underground city hall parking lot and probably avoid being   

I had a really great dinner of confit de canard and wapiti sausage last night at Bistro Sous le Fort in the basse-ville. Both the service and the food were excellent. A great way to end the first day of my trip

  

This morning’s clouds dissipated and after a very delicious breakfast of crêpes with maple syrup and wild strawberries and thick-sliced bacon and great coffee at La Buche, I retrieved  my motorcycle from the Parking lot and started off to Lac Mégantic in the Beauce, a region I had never before visited. While getting out of the city proved to be a bit of a challenge owing to the fact that the preparations for a music festival closed off a section of Grande Allée, the remainder of the trip was very interesting. The Beauce was, as far as I can tell, the most religious part of the province. There are Saints on nearly every hilltop, with churches with tall steeples lining the roads. The views from the highway are quite impressive.  Here are a few.

I arrived in Lac Mégantic in late afternoon and was informed by the receptionist at Microtel Inn and Suites  which is built on a small part of the site where the train explosion occurred on this day 9 years ago.  As it turns out she was one of the survivors of that tragic incident. She, accompanied by her children, was supposed to be singing at one of the establishments that was destroyed that night. At the last moment she accepted the invitation of a friend to go to her home for a swim in her pool instead. She recounted the story and it felt like it was just yesterday, and meanwhile on a large screen tv not far from where she spoke a news report of a commemoration ceremony was airing. 

Tomorrow, after a visit to the memorial, it’s off to Bar Harbor, my first venture into the USA since the beginning of Covid19. 

Manitoulin Island and Lake Lauzon Resort

Friday I rode from My Friends Inn in Assiginack (Manotowaning) to Meldrum Bay, which is located nearly at the western tip of Manitoulin Island, via Mindemoya and Gore Bay.

 Lake Mindemoya is one of the three large lakes located on Manitoulin Island.

Some of the boats located at the Gore Bay Marina.

Gore Bay is a beautiful little village with all the services and CodMothers restaurant where I enjoyed a whitefish and chips lunch with a very nice Split Rail Brewing Co. ale.

Except for a 10 kilometre gravel stretch of the 540, the road to Meldrum Bay was in really good shape and the riding easy. But about gravel, especially uncompacted aggregate just dumped on the road, I can say that it's no friend of motorcyclists. Following a lead vehicle through a stretch of thick gravel at a very (too) slow speed I managed to ride my (heavy) motorcycle just of the roadway partially into the ditch. I swear the grader operator, who observed the incident from the splendid isolation of his perched cab, had a smile on his face as the escort vehicle driver, who had "led" me through this perilous obstacle course, strained to return my BMW to the road. Except for a few (more) scratches on one pannier, there was no other damage to either bike and rider and some 10 minutes later I arrived at the Meldrum Bay Inn where a nice room, and as it turns out a really good steak dinner and breakfast awaited me.

Meldrum Bay is a tiny harbour village consisting of the Inn, a General Store, a museum, and a marina. A harvest moon rising reflected in the waters of the channel in a nearly clear dark crimson sky provided a spectacular early evening tableau.

Friday after a delicious breakfast at the Inn I set off the ride to Little Current and off the Island to Lake Lauzon where the 1967 class reunion was to happen. Twelve classmates, some from as far away as Vancouver and Calgary, and from Montreal, Southern Ontario, Ottawa and Sudbury were welcomed at Lake Lauzon by an extremely generous and talented performer from Blind River.

What followed were nearly two days of reminiscing, and catching up. While we had all aged, expanded certain parts of our anatomy, and gone on different life journeys over the intervening 32 years, it proved to be very easy to reconnect with guys that we had been so close too at the college for five of our adolescent years. Incidents, lost or distorted in the fog of time, were rekindled, and, with the benefit of different perspectives, were rendered real and immediate again.  We laughed, we drank, we ate, we hugged. We sat around campfires wanting to listen to each story. We remembered fondly those who had passed away, and spoke of those who had chosen, or been unable to join us.  And we were treated to on the stage and impromptu campfire performances by three of our classmates: the legendary Robert Paquette, the greatest Franco-Ontarian composer and recording artist, Francois Lemieux, also a very accomplished local composer, musician and playwright, and Guy Lalonde, a skilled performer from Ottawa.

What a marvelous experience. It was bittersweet to say goodbye to each other this morning; we appreciated what had happened over the last two days. We held onto each other just a bit harder, just a bit longer; there were broad smiles but no tears, even if nearly. We hope to do it again; and we agree that a break of 52 years just won't work for our next "Retrouvailles".

Tomorrow the ride continues from here, at beautiful Lake Lauzon, to Lake of Bays where Jane, Pierre-Alain and my two grand-daughters, Jasmine and Alexandra, will be there on my arrival for days of fun at the cottage.

Retirement Rides 2019 II - Retrouvailles.

So, the second episode of Retirement Rides 2019 involves a trip to Lake Lauzon Resort, a spot some 10 kilometres east of Blind River Ontario just accross from the North Channel of Lake Huron. The channel itself seperates mainland Ontario and Manitoulin Island.

A bit of background to this trip may be of interest. A few months ago a former high school (Collège du Sacré Coeur de Sudbury) buddy, who had run into another mutual friend of ours, contacted me to ask if I thought a reunion of our 1967 graduation class would be a good idea. I readily agreed and we set out to locate as many former classmates as we could and set a date and location for a rendez-vous. One of the first to agree lives in Blind River and he agreed to be our host at the Lake Lauzon Resort. After some intense sleuthing we (mostly he - Richard (Press) Carrière) were able to locate about two dozen classmates, and 14 have accepted the invitation to attend Retrouvailles 2019 which is happening this weekend.

A motorcycle trip to a class reunion, what a good idea! And if I am going to ride to Blind River, why not make the journey as interesting as possible. Rather than taking the Trans Canada Highway through North Bay and Sudbury, a route I have traveled many, many times in my life, I decided I would take the opportunity to revisit Manitoulin Island. And as everyone one knows the best way to reach manitoulin Island is via Peterborough, Port Perry, Uxbridge, Newmarket, Shelburne, Flesherton, Wiarton, and Tobermory. If you do not believe me check out a map of Ontario. Once in Tobermory at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula why you are only a pleasant two hour ferry ride to South Bay Mouth; voilà you have arrived on Manitoulin Island and you`re just 30 or so kilometres from My Friends Inn in Manitowaning, which itself is about the same distance to Little Current, the gateway town at the eastern end of the island that one reaches by crossing an honest to goodness swinging bridge.

Manitoulin Island, which I had last seen nearly fifty years ago when I visited a girlfriend, who coincidentally was my date at my collège graduation and was the daughter of a guy that my dad was best man for, and who with his wife owned and operated the Anchor Inn which is still a going concern in Little Current and where I had a very nice pan seared filet of whitefish for lunch today.

I am looking forward to exploring the island tomorrow and will report on my journey in future blog posts.

Last Post - June 2019 trip

First, an apology; I should have posted something about the end of this year`s trip well before now.

At 10 days and 3,058 kilometres, this June`s 10th anniversary destination journey on my trusty 2006 Beemer, was the shortest multi-day retirement ride on my motorcycle to date. The route was through Quebec, the South shore of the St-Lawrence River, New-Brunswick, and PEI. Once again I discovered that, while the speed limits are lower and the road surfaces not as smooth, it`s always more fun and interesting to take meandering secondary roads that often follow rivers and streams and go through small towns and villages.

I slept in 3 hotels, one Hotel Oui Go in Trois Rivières was a great choice conveniently located in the centre of the city, 3 B&Bs, with the best by far being Bulwinkles Place in Souris of which I`ve already written in an earlier post, and the Auberge sur mer in Notre-Dame-du-Portage where the restaurant alone is well worth a trip.  Speaking of food, as I tend to do a lot, in addition to the delightful dinner at the Auberge sur mer, I enjoyed wonderful meals at the Blue Fin Restaurant in Souris, and at Les Pas Perdus and La Table des Roy in Cap-aux-Meules. Oh, and there were delicious lobster rolls consumed at different times and places in the Maritimes.

As for the highlights, were it not for the non-stop wind, rain and positively cool temperature that forced me to rent a car to discover the sights, the Iles de la Madeleine was definitely a worthwhile destination. I can see why the ferries in July and August were all booked when I tried to arrange a trip there.

And on the negative side, riding a motorcycle, even one as stable as my touring bike, in the rain sucks, especially when you are momentarily lost in the cloud of fog and mist created by passing trucks on highways or on a bridge deck high above the St Lawrence River.

This June`s trip was fun, and while I enjoy my retirement rides immensely, I am always happy to return home to loved ones.

Here is a final selection of pictures from this trip;

my room at Bulwinkles,

fishing vessels at one of the ports on Iles de la Madeleine,

hotel Oui Go, Trois Rivières,

a lighthouse on Iles de la Madeleine,

a monument to fishermen, Iles de la Madeleine,

and a nice house on the island.

Stay tuned for Retirement Ride 2019-II in August.

Until then, take care!

Visiting the Maggies in the rain

Having figured out that riding around the Îles de la Madeleine in the wind and rain might not be a whole lot of fun, I rented a car for two days and was able to drive in comfort from one end of the island to the other.  I can see how people might want to come here. The beige beaches, of which there are many, are easily accessible and they extend for many kilometres.

The first two pictures show the surf crashing on one of the stretches of beach.

This is one of the lighthouses and the keepers house. Note how the lighthouse is anchored to the ground with a set of heavy cables.

Again, the surf crashing against an interesting rock formation. If you zoom in you`ll see a flock of birds on the rocky outcrop.

Interesting shoreline and of my rental car at a rest stop yesterday.

Another interesting sight is the many small fishing harbors. I detoured to a number of them and was impressed by the number and condition of boats at each of them. There`s no doubt that the fishery is big business around here.

The next two pictures are of the fantastic dinner I had at La table des Roy. It consisted of an appetizer of grilled octopus and a main of herb crusted halibut on a veal reduction with many fine (with the exception of the Brussels sprouts) additional ingredients. The service was impeccable and the suggested white wines a perfect match. This was certainly the best meal of the trip.

The rain stopped overnight, and even though it was windy early this morning, the five hour crossing to Souris was comfortable. I was able to read and nap for a fair chunk of time.