My return to Quebec

The return…

My arrival in Montreal.

September 7 – Campbelton to Sainte-Florence : 75 km
Back in Quebec… After a salutary stop with my family. A family that was kind enough to take me to Campbelton to spare my tired legs despite a nice break with them.
It’s clear that the end of my trip is approaching as Quebec is getting closer and my body is feeling it! It seems that it is more and more difficult to ride, to move forward, to get closer to the end of an adventure that I don’t want to leave even if my body and my head ask for it…
Luckily the Matapedia valley charms me. I stop in a wonderful place to cook on a wood fire and feel the pride of having become the woman I always wanted to be! I am happy and proud of how far I have come!

Retrouver la Nature du Québec avec la vallée de la Matapédia.

How about a nice campfire to warm me up!

September 8 – Sainte-Florence to Amqui : 32 km
Despite the beauty of the place, I feel exhausted… I’m sick, I have a sore throat that forces me to stop for two nights in a nice inn in Amqui, in order to get well and continue my journey towards the grand finale of this wonderful trip.

September 10 – Amqui to Sainte-Flavie : 84 km
Strange departure from Amqui in the wrong direction!
I definitely feel a resistance towards this return to Montreal.
I have to get used to my return to civilization and to the Quebec I know so well.

Sunset on the western side of the Matapedia Valley.

A first night near the St-Laurent river.

September 11 to 14 : 233 km
From Sainte-Flavie to Rimouski > Trois-Pistoles > Kamouraska / Saint-Pascal > Saint-Jean-Port-Joli

The road continues… with a good headwind that exasperates me!
Despite everything, I’m on the edge of the river and I get drunk on the beauty of the landscapes and on these beers from microbreweries and generous in alcohol… To this are added beautiful meetings and a beautiful evening in a field to finally fall asleep under the stars!
More or less well recovered from a fresh night, I fall asleep near a grocery shop…
But Providence provides for my great fatigue and I am offered a ride to Grondines past Quebec City.
That’s it! I am on the north shore of the river. My home is getting closer and closer…

I find the magnificent banks of the St. Lawrence.

Sleeping with my toque from Newfoundland to Rimouski.

Beautiful end of the day in the Trois-Pistoles area.

The banks. Food for the river and the soul.

The large cultivated lands of Kamouraska.

540 km or 27 hours without stopping! Uh, no!

September 15 – Grondines to Louiseville : 97 km
Second to last night before returning to Montreal… I’m panicking… it’s the end!
I am proud and happy with myself. But the fear of returning to this life that is not my ideal scares me.

September 16 – Louiseville to Repentigny : 77 km
I’m riding on the Chemin du Roy, I’m tired… my thighs are burning… there are only a few kilometres left before I get to Montreal… but they seem endless. I find myself in the suburbs, I have to sleep in a motel… Phew! The place is very mediocre… I sleep with difficulty, because the smell and the dilapidation bother me. I feel very far from my nights under the tent swept by the sea winds…

17 September – from Repentigny to my home, Montreal
It’s over, I’m crying. But I am also excited.
My friends and my mother are waiting for me impatiently and I can’t wait to see them… They will be there…

My arrival!

I am coming. They are here! I am back.

(see my arrival in video)

Epilogue

It’s not over yet…

You still have a few days to make a donation via my GoFundMe page.
And I’ll soon be giving all these beautiful pennies to the Répit-Jeunesse organization.
Thank you to all those who did it and to those who will do it again.

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New-Brunswick

My New World !

The Peregrines are having fun !

August 27 – to Cape Pele, New Brunswick : 53 kilometres
As I hit the new coast of this province, I ride with a headwind and my thighs burn… I continue and try to adapt to this new environment, much more populated than the roads of Cape Breton or Prince Edward Island. The beaches in this part of NB attract a lot of people. When I arrived in society, I was marked by this tourist crowd. I had been alone and quiet in my own little world for so long that it was difficult for me. Moreover, for my first night, I can’t find any place to put my tent! I have to resign myself to pay for a small place in an RV campground.

OUF! It’s a bit of a shock… I feel far from the seaside in solitude. I am happily told that tonight is Bingo and that I must not miss it… they even insist that I stay another night, because the next day, beware… it will be Halloween!
After a joyful night of insomnia, I will take the road again towards Shediac, the lobster capital!

August 28: Cap Pelé to Bouctouche Bay – Shediac
That’s it, I have to rest even if friends are waiting for me in the Acadian Peninsula, 150 km from here, but now I have to rest these aching thighs. I decide to rent a small cottage by the sea and spend two nights there.

Shediac is definitely too big for me! It’s the weekend, everything is full, so no rest here for me … and no picture with the lobster … because the queue is too long ! Ha! Ha!!

I sit quietly next to this giant lobster trying to return to civilization… I prefer to put my energy into preparing a good salad, tasting olives and a good bottle of white wine! This is what makes me feel back in this life of ease and lust!
I still breathe in the smell of freedom and happiness! The sea by my side, the music in my ears, my choice of lifestyle and this desire to connect with people urge me to come back to you my friends!

Before the big return, I have a stop to make in the Acadian peninsula to see a couple of friends I met a few years ago!

August 30: some 150 kilometres later… Neguac

What a welcome… for my arrival in Acadia in the family of my friends!
The connection with this family is unbelievable, we are so different, but we share the same values… I feel like I’ve arrived at home… I don’t like to sleep in people’s houses, even in the houses of my long-time friends. I feel at home with these friends who welcome me with incredible generosity!

My lack of self-confidence and my fear of disturbing people, which is so obsessive, is softening and I feel very well among them!
Several events, including one that takes place the weekend after my arrival, make me stay several days… eight days to be precise.
I became even more friendly with this incredible family. This created a balm on my lack of confidence in myself… And I discovered new tastes thanks to the ‘Nashville de Lagacéville’ !
I thank them for this beautiful moment and I leave filled with gratitude!
I even celebrated my birthday there, as I don’t let myself celebrate easily.

I’ve been to many churches, but not like this one!

Young people are interested in my way of eating by bike.

The girl comes out of the wood, but you don’t take the wood out of the girl!

After such a beautiful week ‘with the family’, my stay ends on a beautiful Monday in September, under the rain, by taking the road back to Quebec.
The Matapedia Valley awaits me with its infinite beauty!

And a little further on, the St-Lawrence river that will take me back to my home…
The return is close, very close…
But so far…
for my tired legs, my body, my head…
despite all the Love in the World.

2021-03-152021-07-23

Goodbye Grandmother

My grandmother ! This woman who fascinates me day after day.

It took me many years to finally be known and recognised by you ! You are an important woman to me… I had the chance to live with you, to love you, to cuddle you and to live in intimacy with you. We have shared beautiful moments and it has been an absolute joy to be close to you; me who has always loved you.

Today, I came to see you just before I left, before leaving to live this longed-for adventure. You were there, present during this difficult moment of my concussion; we were on the same wavelength: me with my head trauma, and you, a beautiful aging woman, with all the difficulties that this can involve. Luckily we had this third woman, my mother, who supported us in our difficulties.

Today I am leaving this room, where you now live alone; I am leaving with a heavy heart, but happy to have had you close to me in order to know you better in order to know myself better.

I leave with a lot of you in me and a lot of understanding of myself. Thanks to you. You are now 96 years old and maybe this will be the last time I will have seen you… you may not be there when I return !

I love you Grand-Ma !