Going East

My departure from Quebec City (in fact from Lac-Beauport) to go in one go to Baie-Saint-Paul was like the shooting of an arrow towards a distant goal, but long visualized!  I experienced the first stage of this long journey eastward as a renewal that I wanted to celebrate upon my arrival in Baie-Saint-Paul.

Each hill, each climb, each descent of these beautiful Charlevoix mountains were like moments of transition towards a new, much softer reality, that of a solo journey, in total freedom.
And it all started in a big way with the long Saint-Joachim hill, when we left the beautiful and historic Côte-de-Beaupré.

The famous Saint-Joachim and Cap Tourmente coast!
It’s not the Rockies… but it goes up and down… constantly!

The uncertainty of undertaking this other part of my challenge solo was replaced by the pleasure of discovering myself fully as an accomplished, solitary and assertive woman.

I rode hard!  I did days of 100, 120, 150 kilometres…
And the kilometres I rode paid off with exceptional encounters filled with kindness and generosity!

Everywhere, all along the River Route, the beauty of nature.
No matter what the temperature, the scents perfume the road.
My bike in rainbow colours!

From Quebec City to Baie-Saint-Paul, then to La Malbaie to Tadoussac and finally to Les Escoumins.  Where a close friend, her daughter and her mother offered me the privilege of sharing the comfort of their cottage, not to mention the most important, the comfort of their presence…
Because I left the companion of the beginning of my journey.

In my big canoe! ‘Tiguydou backpack’ i’m going to Tadoussac!
Phew!… I pedalled a bit to find my friends!
The happiness of the reunion. How good the fire will be…

Yes, it’s really another energy that drives me. The demonstration of knowing that they are present (even virtually) makes me feel safe and helps me so much in the pursuit of this healing adventure.  So does the support of the GoFundMe donors and all the people who follow me via social networks.

The endless horizon carries me and feeds me.
Moving forward relentlessly while trusting in Providence.

After their hospitality and a certain amount of rest, I knew I would have to set off for the North Shore, far from my loved ones, to reach Sept-Îles with a certain urgency…

50th Parallel! And right in the Heart of Me.

Given the changing sanitary conditions, who knows if I will have to do a quarantine to reach Newfoundland?  No choice.  In fact, I am in a hurry and I take the boat that will take me to the port of Blanc-Sablon.

Being at home, everywhere. To be comfortable only in oneself.
Take the boat so as not to sink…
On the Croisette, I crossed myself!
From Sept-Îles to Blanc-Sablon. The maritime villages of the North Shore.

Throughout this crossing, I fall in love with wonderful villages, inaccessible by road, that I am shown around and that leads me to think, to think that I would live this experience of life in an isolated land.  Who knows, a little later, in a few years…  It’s ‘La Grande Séduction’!

One of those unique villages that the river connects with its tides.
The desire to believe… in a simple and united life.

These 72 hours on the boat rock me and heal, I feel, my wounds from the past… On my arrival in Blanc-Sablon, I feel fully alive again, it seems that my luggage, my burden, is no longer the same…

Would it be time, one day, to leave my ‘barda’ on the edge of the quay?…
Another shore awaits me…

Women’s food

Repas au restaurant La Batture

Feeding myself

It’s 9pm, I don’t know where I’m going to camp tonight…

After 120km of flats, climbs and descents on my own, I arrived in a beautiful tourist town on the river called Baie-Saint-Paul and I am recognizing the need to take care of myself…

Food is a must…
Here! A good restaurant calls out to me. And it’s called ‘La Batture’ !
Why not !  I feel like feeding myself with a bit of luxury !
To celebrate my solitary moment of physical overcoming by embracing this opportunity of western culinary richness !
As I don’t know where I will pitch my tent tonight and as I leave this restaurant I will be homeless, alone and vulnerable in the dark of this late June night, I fully savour this moment when, seated at a table, I feel secure, proud and female !

I thus begin what I could consider the second part of my journey. After a break in the Montreal area, a visit to Victoriaville at Répit-Jeunesse and finally some time in the beautiful Quebec City area, I am now climbing other beautiful mountains, those of Charlevoix. The presence of the water of the St. Lawrence River nourishes me in a different way than the absence of the Plains. And I hope to go back to the source of this road…

Thank you for continuing to follow me!

Tonight I’m getting a $200 room !
I slept in a city park… Haha ! it’s still crazy life !