The Destinators

Knowlton/Lac Brome, QC

Louise Penny is a Canadian author. She has written over 20 novels (s0 far…) in the Inspector Gamache series, which are set in Quebec and feature the fictitious town of Three Pines. Each story weaves through more twists and turns than a pass in the French Alps. In addition to Inspector Gamache, there’s a small cast of characters common across the books that become like old friends to the regular reader.

I am an unabashedly proud member of the Louise Penny fan club. If you love a good mystery and haven’t read any of her crime-fiction novels, pick one up and read it. You’ll be glad you did.

Tingwick, QC

I’ve heard about Tingwick, Quebec almost my entire life. It was where my dad’s family was from in Quebec. Imagine being a little kid and the fun of saying the word: Tingwick. Say it out loud! Although there was no family left in the town, my dad wanted to visit when I was quite young, 5 or 6. All I remember from the trip was my dad taking me to the barn and fields. He said I could touch the cows, but never touch a bull – they could be dangerous. When I asked him how I could tell the difference, he paused and said something like: ask your mother.

Montréal

We’ve been to Montréal before – it’s only a little more than a 2-1/2 hour drive from our house – though it has only once made it into the blog. We already knew it’s not a great place to be driving around in an RV (it’s not really all that easy in a car!). We also found out that the city would be hosting the 2026 UCI Road World Championship bike races during the time we were looking to be there – this was certain to complicate getting around in the city. However, Montréal is great for pedestrians (as well as bikes), the city has world-class public transportation, and, probably most helpful for us, it is home to a large and thriving community of Uber drivers. There is also a very reasonably priced RV park at the marina in Longeueil, right across the river from Vieux-Montréal, and it had quite a few open sites (after Labor Day…). Reviews of the park mentioned a water taxi from the marina – romantic and convenient to be sure, but, alas, no longer running. Fortunately, it was an easy Uber ride across the Jacques-Cartier bridge to anywhere we wished to go.

Rivière-Beaudette, PQ, deux

La dernière fois qu’on a visité ma cousine Louise et à son mari Daniel, c’était en 2018, et on voulait absolument à les voir pendant notre séjour au Québec. Comme je l’ai mentionné dans un précédent article, la mère de Louise et la mienne étaient sœurs – nos deux familles vivaient pas loin l’une de l’autre (avec la frontière internationale entre nous) et nous nous rendions visite régulièrement. D’âges assez proches, nous, les cousins, avons appris à bien nous connaître durant notre jeunesse.

English version follows, or click here.

Prévost, QC

Doug et moi comptons de plus en plus d’amis sur les forums grâce à nos programmes respectifs de cours de musique en ligne : Blues Guitar Unleashed et Musora (anciennement Drumeo et Pianote). C’est toujours un plaisir de pouvoir rencontrer quelqu’un en personne lorsque nous sommes dans le voisinage. Sylvie a mentionné un jour qu’elle habitait près de Mont-Tremblant. À retenir !

English translation follows or click here…

Mont Tremblant National Park

Mont Tremblant National Park is the oldest national park* in Quebec, the 3rd oldest in Canada and the 6th oldest in North America. Created in 1895 as Parc de la Montagne-Tremblante, its original purpose was to ‘conserve’ this beautiful area within the Laurentian Mountains, meaning manage reasonable use of resources like logging, which had been underway since the 1850’s. (This is as opposed to newer national parks’ definition of conservation which is to protect park resources from exploitation.) As a park employee described to us, all of the lakes were flooded in the spring to allow logs cut during the winter to be floated down long chains of lakes to the larger rivers to feed the lumber and pulp mills downstream. This form of logging was destructive to river ecosystems. That, along with the development of modern logging trucks, skidders and rail transport ended the log drives in the 1980’s. The area became officially Mont Tremblant National Park in 2001 with conservation (new definition) as its central focus.

Mauricie National Park

As Jacques Cartier National Park was all about protecting the river, Mauricie National Park is all about protecting the lakes. Yup, 150 of them…

Quebec City, partie 4

On a rendu visite à mes cousins Suzanne et Normand deux fois en 2023. Dans des articles de blog précédents, on a raconté comment nous nous sommes rencontrés et retrouvés. Ces visites étaient si agréables que nous avons décidé de remettre ça : même lieu de rendez-vous, même restaurant avec terrasse, mêmes pizzas, partager. Suzanne et moi avons ri à la fin du déjeuner en réalisant que nous avions toutes les deux mangé la bonne stuff, laissant la croûte ! On doit être de la même famille ! Ce qui n’était pas pareil, c’était notre niveau de français, à Doug et moi. Suzanne et Normand ont tous deux remarqué nos progrès en trois ans, des remarques qu’on a parfaitement comprises et auxquelles on a répondu avec toute gratitude. On était rayonnants de fierté ! Un grand merci à tous les membres de notre club de français MRV !

English version follows, or click here.

Jacques Cartier National Park

Jacques Cartier National Park was created in 1981. Like other national parks around the world, its raison d’être (we’re in Quebec…) was to protect the natural resources of the region while balancing access and recreation. Although the entirety of the river is over 160 km/100 mi long, the area protected by the national park features a 54-km /34-mi stretch of a magnificent glacial gorge that is 550 m /1,800 feet deep. Water sports – canoeing, kayaking, tubing, and fishing – are top of mind at Jacques Cartier. There are also 100 km/ 62 mi of hiking trails throughout the park.

We’ve been confused before about national parks in Canada, particularly in the province of Quebec, because all but 2 of the national parks in Quebec are under the umbrella of SÉPAQ, a provincial organization that operates 23 national parks in Quebec, including Parc National du Jacques-Cartier and Parc National de la Gaspésie, among others. Huh? Inquiring minds…

Gaspesie National Park, deux

This is our second visit to Gaspesie National Park. Our first visit in 2023 was amazing and we knew we’d be back. Well, here we are! Last time we did 3 epic hikes in 3 different regions of the park – Mont Jacques Cartier, Xalibu, and Mont Albert – likely our favorite hike in a North American national park. This time we did one hike, not as spectacular as the others, yet it was still magical!