Ontario – Québec – New Brunswick – Prince Edward Island – New Scotland

Thursday 1 August 2024 (1st day)
Flight LX 086 ZRH 12:40 – YUL 15:00 (delayted)

Unfortunately, we had some delay and we arrived in Montréal later than expected. At the Rental Car Dollar our reservation was given to someone else but after complaining we got an upgrade and received a Jeep Compass from AVIS. We spent the first night at the Big Private Room MidMontreal.

Friday 2 August 2024 there was NO recording on Google but fitbit give me 19,16 km walk

Very early, we took the Metro to reach down-town, for a stroll into Le Plateau and Mile-End, a nostalgic reminiscent of bohemian Europe.
The Plateau Mont Royal Park was filled with thousand of grey squirrels, careless of the presence of humans. We reached the The Vilage and its neighbourhood, then cross the Vieux Port to see the Tour de l’Horloge. In the Marché Bonsecur we had lunch at a brewery and after we took a stroll heading to the Basilique of the Notre-Dame. The heat was suffocating, reason why we did not go up the hill to the Oratory Saint Joseph (it would still have been impossible to walk to it without taking a couple of hours, we realised that the next day!)

Saturday, 3 August 2024 (Day 3) Time 9:52 – 19:29 9h 54′ ¦¦ total 488 km + 1,8 km 46′ walk

After breakfast, we packed our bags and went up to the Oratory. The Belvedere Park is immense and overlooks the city which was, however, shrouded in smog. The air was fresh up there and we took a long walk before setting out again for Toronto where we spent the night at the Cozy Home – Markham. After dropping off our luggage, we took our first walk around the city and had dinner in a Thai restaurant.

Sunday 4 August 2024 (4th. day) Time 8:58 – 17:54 8h 56′ ¦¦ total 32,9 km + 21,6 km 3h walk

We took an huber to reach Kennedy’s Metro station (~20 min. ride). We got out at Quenn’s Station and started our tour from the Financial District. A must see is the CN Tower which is perhaps Toronto’s most famous landmark. It stands 553.33 metres tall and is the sixth tallest freestanding structure in the world, also named one of the seven wonders of the modern world. You can take a glass lift up to the glass platform with a view from 342 metres down (not for me, I suffer from vertigo). We reached the pier and skirted the Lake Ontario for quite a bit to the Distillery District where we had lunch (St.Lawrence Market was closed). The historic district includes 40 buildings and 10 streets, and its historic preservation houses the largest collection of Victorian-era industrial architecture in North America. The heart of the district is the Gooderham & Worts distillery founded in 1832 (considered the largest in the world at the time). Stores within the market sell everything-being a cosmopolitan city Toronto can cater to anyone’s culinary needs. The presentation of fresh goods was accurate and the prices comparable to those in Switzerland. The St. James’ Cathedral was built in Gothic style over 24 years in 1874 and features the tallest bell tower in Canada.

Monday 5 August 2024 (5th. day) Time 7:56 – 18:23 9h ¦¦ total 594 km + 1,1 km 1h 28′ walk

After an early breakfast, we departed from Toronto heading to the Niagara Falls (Canadian side). Many years ago I had seen these falls from the American side, but indeed from the Canadian side one appreciates their grandeur more. They were not at their maximum capacity, but in every way impressive to admire the force of the water whose deafening noise instills respect in you. We had a quick lunch there and after it, the trip toward Greater Sodbury took place solely on Trans-Canadian HWY N° 400, a comfortable highway with relatively little traffic. The landscape has changed quite a bit, giving way to small lakes, rivers, streams, bogs and marshes. Traveling further north, there are very few villages scattered in the wilderness. You must always keep an eye on the gas tank to avoid running out of gas! On this route, we passed hundreds of pickup trucks and cars and RVs that had canoes with them, reason why this is undoubtedly a resort region where Canadians spend their leisure time in cabins with access to the lakes, which are countless. After a total of 7 hours drive, we reached the Northbury Hotel and Conference – Sudbury. There, we had a couple bears and some snacks before going to sleep.

Tuesday 6 August 2024 (Day 6) Time 9:29 – 19:40 6h 30′ ¦¦ total 455 km + 3,8 km 3h walk

Again we got up early and after having the breakfast at the hotel, we continued the trip (this time again south) to Ottawa. The landscape presents again as yesterday many small rivers and lakes. Along Trans-Canada HYW No. 17, we skirted the north shore of Lake Nipissing which is much larger than those seen, but being a very “flat” area one does not appreciate it equally unless one makes stops and walks a little stroll…but for that, we lacked time. We encountered countless camping places, equipped and with their own boat docks in short, a paradise for those who like to be in nature! We did check-in at the McGee’s Inn arount 18:00 and , since the place isn’t too far from down town, we visit the various structures in the vicinity of Parliament Hill, which dates back to 1865 (the Government Parliament) entirely in the Gothic style, with the Peace Tower surpassing in height every other structure in Ottawa. Ottawa has been the capital of Canada since 1857 and is located in the province of Ontario on the south side of the Ottawa River. We did a tour of the various buildings 1. Senate of Canada, 2.East Block, 3.Peace Tower, 4.House of Commons, 5. Parliament).
Skirting the last bit of the Rideau Canal that flows into the Ottawa River, we arrive at Major’s Hill Park, the capital’s oldest urban park dating back to 1875. We then went down the Rideau Canal, a system of locks to allow boats to come back up from the Ottawa River to the Rideau River, and finally followed the pedestrian path around the headland and had dinner at a romantic little spot on Major Hill Park (and unfortunately caught by curiosity I wanted to taste a crappy white wine from the Niagara region!) With sadness, we regretfully noticed that like any big city Ottawa has many homeless or addicted people. Two streets away from our guesthouse, it is best not to venture out late in the day…

Wednesday 7 August 2024 (7th. day) Time 9:56 – 19:41 7h 11′ ¦¦ total 13 km walk

After a huge breakfast at the Inn, we head back to the centre. On our way to the river, we stopped at the St. Patrick’s Basilica. It is the oldest church followed by Ottawa’s English-speaking community, founded in 1855 in the Gothic style. Skirting the St. Lawrence River, we walked to Remic Rapids Park, a total distance of 18 km which we did not without some fatigue especially on the way back. As the name suggests, there are small rapids in this arm of the river, resulting from the erosion of what had once been waterfalls. Before reaching the park, we stopped to look at the rock sculptures by artist John Felice Ceprano, which appear to rise from the water like alien spires from another planet.
To return downtown and to the Inn we walked through Little Italy and Chinatown, finding with surprise and joy a vegan restaurant where, at last, we could taste something healthy! Indeed, a negative point of Canada, very pronounced outside the cities that are more “flexible” as far as nutrition is concerned, in small towns one cannot find vegetarian/vegan restaurants; one is saved if one goes to an Asian restaurant… but it is not the long-term solution.

Thursday 8 August 2024 (8th. day) Time 9:35 – 17:12 7h 36′ ¦¦ total 235 km

We had delicious crepes for breakfast at the Inn and then resume our journey. Now begins our “real” on-the-road adventure as we will no longer be visiting cities but will be in contact with the wilderness on roads that are not all paved, full of potholes and with a myriad of road construction sites. From the state of Ontario we return to Québec by crossing the Ottawa River, and then we headed north towards Lac-Saguay on the N° 317 and after again South on the N° 117 direction Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm and the final destination Saint-Côme. We were sorry we didn’t have more time to visit the parks as well, skirting the Réserve faunique de Papineau-Labelle, we imagined how exciting it might have been to spend a few nights in a cottage or go for walks. Also for this part of the journey, sensational and breathtaking was the succession of broadleaf forests initially and then dense coniferous areas with gloomy pine forests into which no light filtered. Although there were informative signs everywhere concerning the presence of elk and deer, we did not see any (alive) as they move when it gets dark. We took many more hours than Google maps indicated, precisely because of the bumpy roads. In the Hébergement La Belle Époque – St.Côme we were on our ownn with the whole appartment for us. I was very tired but Massimo took a little walk around.

Friday 9 August 2024 (9th. day) Time 10:17 – 17:12 6h 55′ ¦¦ total 378 km

We left St.Côme relatively early because of the torrential rain, hoping that the bad weather would be short-lived. We were heading North-East towards Trois-Rivières and after a while, we turned North on the partly unpaved and pothole-filled highway No. 155. It was not the best idea, while the parts of the road where there was asphalt were forming puddles and there was a high risk of aquaplaning. We didn’t enter the Réserve faunique Mastigouche, but instead drived aside the Par national de la Mauricie. Therefore, a long route was planned, doubly tiring because of bad weather. For this reason, we did not stop anywhere. It was planned one night at Les Gites Makadam – Normadin.

Saturday 10 August 2024 (day 10) Time 9:31 – 17:55 8h 24′ ¦¦ total 403 km

After a nice, hearty breakfast in Normadin, but not without first greeting the owner’s kitty, we took the road again towards the East in the direction of Baie-Comeau, where Sunday at 17:40 we had the ferry that took us to Prince Edward Island. Because of this, we had all day Sunday to drive along the north bank of the river St. Lawrence. It had finally stopped pouring rain, so we were able to stop here and there to admire the view that kept changing giving us unforgettable images.
This was, once again, a very long journey again on gravel roads the most part, and in total some 400 km. We drove first along the East shore of Lac Saint-Jean and after along the River Saguenay to the South. Our final destination to spend the night was the Motel du Rosier in Baie-Comeau.

Sunday 11 August 2024 (Day 11) Time 8:49 – 20:42 9h 56′ ¦¦ total 340 km the ferry ride to Matane is not included

We left relatively early from the Motel du Rosier in Baie-Comeau wanting to make the most of the day, we followed State HWY No. 138 to the northeasterly direction on the north bank of the St. Lawrence River. Along the way, we stopped for a snack and then followed a path into a pine forest to reach an observation post. Reaching a remote beach surrounded by smooth rocks with pools of water of different colors, we took some somewhat unusual photographs. In total we walked approx. 4.5 km. The initial plan was to go as far as Sept-Îles, but after roughly two hours drive we arrived to Rivière Pentecôte-Port Cartier and decided to retrace our steps considering that the ferry to Matane of the Société des Traversier du Québec was sheduled to leave Baie-Comeau at 17:30 and we had to be there at least 1h 30′ before. The crossing took approximately 2h 10′ and we arrived in Matane at 19:40. The procedure of disembarkation from the ferry was rather long and we arrived quite late at 20:42, at the hotel Oberge Bruine Océane where we spent the night.

Monday 12 August 2024 (12th day) Time 9:03 – 17:12 8h 09′ ¦¦ total 395 km

We had a quick caffée at the Auberge Bruine Océane, the journey from Matane to Port-Daniel was an up and down on slopes of 10-15% not properly passable and, again, with a lot of construction sites. It is possible that the condition of the roads so deteriorated over much of the Canadian territory is due to the harsh winter period where temperatures drop below freezing, ranging from -10° in winter to a maximum +20° in summer. We followed State Road No. 132 along the coast of the Gulf of St Lawrence from north to south and stopped at Mont St.Pierre for an ice creem.
The south coast has beautiful cliffs and savage beaches. We had few stops for photos at the Plage de L’anse au Nord (with a view of the Rocher Percé) then at Cap Canon. Next night we booked at the Motel de l’anse- Anse McInnes located before Port-Daniel, turning left onto the Route de l’Anse Micinnis. All restaurants were much to far and we were tired of the long journey, the receptionist suggested to get something to eat at a local facility: les “Casse crôute” are alike a family cooking were people can eat some little food or use the take-away facily. Again, nothing vegetarian but potatoes/french fries or pizza are to be found allover the planet.

Tuesday 13 August 2024 (Day 13) Time 9:40 – 19:32 6h 25′ ¦¦ total 282 km total 2,8 km walk

We left Port-Daniel (Anse-McInnes) heading south to Grand Falls (New Brunswick County) which is on the border with Maine USA. During the trip we decided to take a walk in a natural park along the way, not to loose the good habit. We had booked the room for the night at the Côté’s Bed & Breakfast – Grand Falls, we arrived there quite early and we went dow town searching for a place where to have dinner. The Saint John River has a fall of 23 metres, not very high compared to other waterfalls we have already seen, but the location was cute. We had dinner once more in a thai restaurant. A curiosity: in Canada is allowed the sale of cannabis and his derivates, indeed you find in every town event the smallest one, a cannabis shop.

Wednesday 14 August 2024 (Day 14) Time 9:55 – 18:05 6h 25′ ¦¦ total 295 km total 5,2 km walk

After breakfast a lovely breakfast at the Côtés B&B , we continued our trip on the HYW N° 108/8 East direction Napan and after we folded on N° 11 South through New Brunswick County coasting along the Konchibouguac Park and the last aside the ocean. The first part on 108 went through extensive forests (always with many road construction sites) but fortunately there was very little traffic. The second part f the trip, stretched through cultivated fields.
We arrived at our destination in the early afternoon and we did a tour of the coastal town. Here we had the chance to find another Thai restaurant as usual, the choice on the menu did not exactly meet our desires. However, the burgers with bean paddies are not so bad.We spent the night at “La Casa en Shediac – Shediac”.

Thursday 15 August 2024 (Day 15) Time 10:04 – 20:39 8h 19′ ¦¦ total 295 km total 1,4 km walk

We left Shediac later than usual to go to Prince Edward Island, which is a Province of Canada. We took the N° 15South to Port Elgin and after the N° 16 East crossing the 13 km ‘Confederation Bridge’ built over the Northumberland Strait in 1997, despite the opposition of the islanders. After checking in at the structure The Home Place Inn – Kensington, where we spent the night, we did the tour of the northern point of the island of P.E.I. following some of the 1.100 km coastlime to search for the many lighthouses present there. We visited the West Point and Seacow Head Lighthouses, two of the 63 “lighthouses” that illuminate the passage through the Northumberland Strait and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, many more we left for the following day. At the Seacow Head Lighthouse we were able to see a large group of seals about 200 meters from the rocky point of the beach, in the company of several black-headed Canada ducks with a white band under their beaks. From the photos I took it is not very visible, but it was a very special sight. Actually, the island of P.E.I. is listed as one of the ten most beautiful in the world.

Friday 16 August 2024 (Day 16) Time 8:59 – 17:40 8h 31′ ¦¦ total 319 km

We had an excellet breakfast at Greg’s Home Place Inn, and we left earli since the day’s schedule includes more ‘lighthouses’ to visit and photograph. The next night-stop il at Chez Nous – Cornwall. It was a really long journey and we were very happy to find a lovely place to stay for the night; Sam, the owner, also allowed us to use the washing machine to do a load of laundry… which was very grateful considering that to pack a change of clothes for 23 days would have been impossible if only for the space required.

Saturday 17 August 2024 (Day 17) Time 9:05 – 17:40 7h 48′ ¦¦ total 312 km total 4 km walk

We packed up our bags, had some choice of breakfast offered by Sam (the fridge was full of goodies to chose from) and after that, once more boarded our jeep: new destination is another maritime lighthouse.
The Fort Amherst Lighthouse is located 20 km 20′ from the Chez Nous Inn. We took a walk to the shore where there was another lighthouse and made a stop at the little gift store where we enjoyed a fantastic cappuccino (La Cimbali coffee machine). After the short break, we continued our journey in direction South to Halifax Nova Scotia, along the N° 1 HYW P.E.I. over the Confederation Bridge (you pay the tool exiting P.E.I.) and on route N°16 crossing New Brunswick to Aulac and take HYW 10° down South and N° 102 to Halifax. We spent the at Vito Place – Dartmouth which is around 23 km from downtown Halifax. We had enough time to go to the town centre , which is a city rich in culture and typically British. We took a short visit to the harbor and Plesant Park, which was very crowded in the afternoon and we saw the Old Town Clock at the top of Halifax Citadel National historic Site.

Sunday 18 August 2024 (Day 18) Time 8:55 – 19:14 8h 18′ ¦¦ total 530 km + 5,3 km walk

With an unpleasant sadness in my heart, I knew that this Sunday was the day I had been waiting for at least 25 years. The next route took us to the place where a stormy sea had witnessed the air disaster of Swissair Flight SR111 that had sunk into the ocean in front of Peggy’s Cove on November 2, 1998. All the 229 person on board died, and in this day I lost collegues which whom I use to fly when I worked for Swissair, four of them, I did quite few flights together.
At Peggy’s Cove were many people, many curious onlookers who despite the informational signs and the presence of law enforcement, ventured all the way under the rocks where tumultuous waves crashed onto the rocks. The lighthouse stood out from afar, a man played bagpipes, and the smell of saltiness penetrated your soul.
After paying tribute with strong commotion, leaving a red rose at the commemorative slate, we continued our trip. It was an up and down the curvy small street passing by little towns just above the cliffs, one after one other. Actually it was beautiful, even if we had to speed up to enable us to arrive not too late al the Covered Bridge Inn & Suites – Sussex.

Monday 19 August 2024 (day 19) Time 10:14 – 16:03 6h 50′ ¦¦ total 432 km

Unfortunately, during the night it had started to rain, and driving in the rain is a big annoyance.
There wasn’t much to see along the route, and I didn’t take any photographs either. We arrived early at the Motel au Fleuve d’Argent – Rivière-du-Loup, which is located on the southeastern bank of the St. Lawrence River.

Tuesday 20 August 2024 (20th and 21st day, two nights) Time 9:17 – 18:15 6h 31′ ¦¦ total 209 km + 2h 27′ walk

Since the drive from Rivière du Loup to Levis/Québec was a short one, we arrived at the hotel Days Inn by Wyndham – Lévis too early for the check-in, so we took the opportunity to have lunch at a thai restaurant (not to lose the habit). We took a walk through the Parc Bernières-sur-Mer, which is at the side of the hotel, then follow the walking route to Chaudière Falls Park. I liked the park with its immense hundred-year-old maples with roots that emerged from the ground like veins or arteries. There were many squirrels jumping from branch to branch, looking for food for the winter’s supply. It was indeed very cold and for sure the last chance procuring acorns and other supplies as winter is very harsh with sub-zero temperatures. The pet pictured, I could not find his/her name as it looks more like a guinea pig than a capybara… but both aren’t tipical of Canada.
Since we had more time, we went down-town Québec to the Plains of Abraham historical site of resistance in French-speaking North America (but didn’t take the tour), took a stroll to the La Citadelle de Québec built on the rocky outcrop overlooking the St. Lawrence River below and reached the Château Frontenac and then enter the old city (Old Québec).

Wednesday 21 August 2024 (20th and 21st day, two nights) Time 9:17 – 18:15 4h 25′ ¦¦ total 49,4 km + 1h 50′ walk

We had breakfast at the hotel and left to visit Mont Morency Park and Falls.
The park is very large and well-maintained, you pay admission for one day with the option to leave and re-enter at will.
There are wooden stairs from the top that allow you to descend to the foot of the waterfall. For a couple of hours we walked the trails at the bottom, but to get back up to the post along the 400-step staircase, we preferred to take the cable car.
Still having plenty of time and being sunny, we returned to Québec City. The vendo was very strong and the temperature had dropped to 12°.

Thursday 22 August 2024 (22nd day) Time 9:19 – 12:43 3h 24′ ¦¦ total 248 km

After having breackfast at the hotel, we left Québec/Lévis for Montréal airport. The procedure to give back the car at Dollar RentaCar wasn’t so quick and fortunately we were there quite in advance. We had a snack at the departure terminal and borded the LX87 with a little delay. Already on board, the departure was more delayed due to landing slots in Zurich as the flight would be faster than planned.