Eastern Townships

We've heard a lot about the Eastern townships near Montreal, so on the spur of the moment we decided to spend the weekend here.  There are many gorgeous little B&Bs listed on trip advisor all with rave reviews and all fully booked at short notice!  We managed to get probably the last room at an Auberge in Knowlton, so my expectations were very low.

The Eastern townships are only 1 hours drive from Montreal, so on Friday evening we had a nice easy drive after a long hard week at work.  The Auberge was surprisingly very nice and they sold Mussels a volonte. We couldn't decide whether this meant all you can eat or as you like, but fortunately the pot of mussels was big enough I didn't feel the need to ask for more!

 

Saturday morning and the weather forecast is terrible, so we are in no hurry to set off, we went for a wander round the small town and followed the smell of bacon to what looked like an old barn, but on closer inspection was a lovely cafe, great ambience and frequented by lots of locals.

We decide to drive to Bedford as this town has several cycle routes that pass through it, giving us plenty of choices. On the way the rain is so heavy, we have to pull over in the car as we can't actually see where we are going!  This does not bode well!

By the time we arrive the rain has stopped and we feel very sorry for the soggy cyclists that are out on the roads.  Fortunately, I have my magic rain jacket with me.  Since  I purchased the jacket in June, I have carried it with me on every bike trip and we have not been rained on.  However, I'm not convinced its powers will be strong enough to defy today's weather forecast.    Fortunately, there's plenty of bike routes to choose from,so we choose to head away from the rain clouds.

The roads are very quiet (if a little rough, but that's Quebec for you) and we're cycling through lovely farm land.  I have to make a stop at this road sign, maybe I'll make a little detour here!

Only 20km into the trip, we make a stop in the cute little village of Freighlisburg, for a cup of tea and potential rain avoidance

We're still not wet, but there's quite a head wind and a few hills to contend with.  We are traveling through the wine region, and it seems a pity that we can't carry any wine on our bikes (no panniers), but I do have an idea for an alternative!

On the way back to Bedford, we take a little detour to see a covered bridge.



Stuart was disappointed when viewing this clip, that my initial comment was "oh my god, no fringe" rather than "aren't you clever to cycle one handed, no brakes, filming with my camera and negotiate the wooden planks of the bridge". He did after all nearly fall off, as you will gather from the abrupt ending of the clip! We get back to the car, incredibly without being rained on, but only having cycled 50km. Today was more of an amble and rain avoidance trip.

In the evening, we discover that there is a barn dance at a farm along the road, so sounds like it is worth investigating. It's held in a real barn, live band, charity event raising money for cancer, so overall a great way to spend an evening!

Sunday morning and Stuart's in no hurry to leave.  It's raining - a lot! 

We have a very leisurely breakfast, and then sit a bit longer.

The rain eases up, we collect our stuff from the Auberge and bravely head off to start cycling.  The heavens open, and we divert into a store, where I find some great stuff.

We plan a new shorter route and head off to the start point, but on the way pass a car park which we found quite odd yesterday.  We return to the site of the curious incidence of the cars in the car park

We came here yesterday to fill up with petrol, but both noticed how odd it was that there were over 100 cars in a far corner of the car park.  Nowhere near any building, why would they park in the corner?  No bike racks, no boat towing equipment, no spare fishing rods, no spare posh clothes hanging in the back.  Nothing, to give any clues.  Back at the Auberge, we googled -  nothing.  We google mapped and found an interesting lake in the woods behind the car park.  We went back to the car park, found the path to the lake, no foot prints.  We were puzzled.  Hence our return to the car park on the Sunday.  Every single car was still there!  Finally, we cracked and went into the garage to ask why all the cars were there.  Apparently, all the people had been bussed away to a spiritual retreat in one of the mountains to "find themselves".  They may have been finding themselves, but we found their cars!

So back to the cycling, or rather not - it didn't happen.  I wasn't brave enough to test the powers of my magic rain jacket. So after a surprisingly lovely, despite the rain, weekend in the eastern townships, we reluctantly head back to Montreal.