Day 6 August, 27, 2007, Monday
Acton Vale to St. Francois-Du-Lac
Historically Drummondville, which lies at a strategic point on the river was used by the British during the War of 1812 as a military base to prevent invasion from the south by the Americans.
By 1920 it became a center for industry with the building a large (at that time) hydroelectric dam right in the middle of town. This area of Quebec is known as the Centre du Quebec and is at the southern end of renown maple syrup producing regions. The area is also famous for the foret de Drummondville, a beautiful forest park next to the river about 6 miles out of town. Once entering the town of Drummondville we would continue along the river to the town of Saint-François-du-Lac, which is almost at the river junction to the Saint Lawrence River.
The town figures prominently in the French and Indian War in 1759, having been destroyed by Roger's Rangers. (For a historical reference read The French and Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America. Library , Amazon)
The first six miles of the trail were straight out of town due north towards Wickham. The trail resemble that shown in the picture above for the first few miles straight and surrounded by trees while traveling through some of the most beautiful agricultural land around.
Once we reached the outskirts we had two objectives get some form of lunch and caffeine, and stop by the bike shop. By this time in the trip I had devised a way to find my way around any French-Canadian town. First upon entering any town look for the highest point in town which is usually the church steeple or bell tower. In most of these towns the oldest church, and therefore the center of town is always the most prominent point. And in the center of each Quebec town is a tourist office staffed at all hours of the day during the summer. We found tourist offices in towns as small as 300 people.
Well in Drummondville, the center of town with the obligatory church also contained a great pastry shop and a bike shop located just down the street. So while Dave made a trip to the bike shop I got the morning paper and my cup of coffee. In no time at all we were back on the road trying to find our way out of town along the Saint-François. It is a little confusing at first trying to find the bike trail out of town. It would have been helpful with a local city bike map (see page 2 for detail view of bike map in Drummondville).
Just outside of town is the foret de Drummond a regional park with lots of trails for hiking or mountain biking. After a brief stop in the forest it was back on the road along the river. This part of the Route Verte is called the Circuit des Traditions. The regiom is a verdant agricultural part of the province and is quite evident all along the river. The photo at left is just one of the many farms that lie along the river. Although we rode along the two lane Rang du Bassin traffic was almost non-existent. We saw a couple of other cyclists and that was about it.
We arrived in town to have enough time to do laundry and walk down the road for dinner. Tonight was the first time I was to try the Quebecois favorite; Poutine, a mixture of French fries, heavy gravy, and cheese curds. Supposedly Drummondville is the birthplace of Poutine, but heah, you've got to be famous for something. It wasn't bad but I could only imagine eating this dish sparingly.
The first six miles of the trail were straight out of town due north towards Wickham. The trail resemble that shown in the picture above for the first few miles straight and surrounded by trees while traveling through some of the most beautiful agricultural land around.
Once we reached the outskirts we had two objectives get some form of lunch and caffeine, and stop by the bike shop. By this time in the trip I had devised a way to find my way around any French-Canadian town. First upon entering any town look for the highest point in town which is usually the church steeple or bell tower. In most of these towns the oldest church, and therefore the center of town is always the most prominent point. And in the center of each Quebec town is a tourist office staffed at all hours of the day during the summer. We found tourist offices in towns as small as 300 people.
Well in Drummondville, the center of town with the obligatory church also contained a great pastry shop and a bike shop located just down the street. So while Dave made a trip to the bike shop I got the morning paper and my cup of coffee. In no time at all we were back on the road trying to find our way out of town along the Saint-François. It is a little confusing at first trying to find the bike trail out of town. It would have been helpful with a local city bike map (see page 2 for detail view of bike map in Drummondville).
Tomorow we would see and then cross the St. Lawrence River for the first time.
50 miles
285 Cumulative miles
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment