Day 12

What a view we had from this B&B in Kamouraska.

The Auberge Foin de Mer is located right beside the trail with nothing between the buildings and the water. The tide moves over this shallow tidal flat creating a wonderfully rich environment for a diversity of life.

The journey today was relatively short with a total of 40 km. so we had lots of time to linger over breakfast and stop at roadside attractions.  A stop at this local site gave us quite a different sense of history.

The graves had been lost over time until a local group in the 1940’s researched what archives they could access and eventually garnered enough community support to restore the site.  It was extremely well done and gave one a reason to ponder the depth of written history here compared to Western Canada (note the dates).

There has been quite a change in the forest as we have moved east and north.  The vibrant colors of the sugar maples have given way to more subdued, dry crinkled yellows and browns of the poplars and birches and probably many others I don’t know.

While preparing my shutter for the forest I became aware of an overhead symphony showering down from a V of migrating snow geese.  At first I could not see them as I was looking into the sun but following the sound and waiting until they emerged into the light this brilliant white image emerged against an azure blue sky. My soul seems restored in some small way each time I experience the trill of observing this semiannual migration process.

We pulled into Rivière-du-Loup quite early, located our B&B and prepared for a long walk to explore the town, pick up supplies for lunch tomorrow and have some supper.

Nice touch with the pillow chocolates.

As we left our host asked us if we needed any work on our bikes.  His son is a bike mechanic and they include free work on your bike.  Not much was needed but we did get a tire check, chain cleaning and minor adjustments.  Nice touch.