Ille D'Orleans

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This is a little island that connects by bridge to Quebec City. The whole island is 20 miles long by 6 miles wide, but it's apparently where Quebec gets all it's fresh produce from. I'd wanted to see the island as I heard it was just a beautiful little spot to explore. I had no idea how absolutely beautiful it would be.


It made me feel like I was in an Anne of Green Gables movie. It was that beautiful country landscape. Of course pictures just don't do it justice.

It was covered in vineyards, and apple trees falling over from the weight of the apples. There were stands everywhere for fresh berries, apple ciders, all kinds of homemade produce. I would have loved to buy a ton of it if I'd been able to. Instead we drove the island twice, stopping to take pictures along the way. We were told that the chocolate on this island was some of the best around, so of course we went in search for a Chocolaterie.

And we found one. And had the best chocolate of my life. I still dream about that chocolate. And the soft serve ice cream that we had with the chocolate is unlike anything I've ever had. I'd fly back there for the weekend just to get another one.
 
 

Old Quebec City

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Old Quebec City is a beautiful tourist area that they've kept restored rather well. While it's all tourist shops, it's still fun to wander through and see. I did feel like I was in a little French town wandering the streets. Once again I will let the pictures speak for themselves. The food and pastries were wonderful and we had a great day hiking up and down the hills. This little city is not a flat place.

They were also getting ready for a big bicycle race that was happening a few days after we planned to leave. I imagine that would be fun to watch, bus so much chaos to get around. But it is a beautiful little city definitely worth seeing.

 

Hiking in Rimouski

Rimouski is a pretty small town with not much around it. It's not exactly a tourist destination, so finding things to do around there that involve your typical type of sightseeing wasn't really an option. There aren't art museums, or big European style events. So we looked at other options that I don't often get to take advantage of while traveling. Hiking. I love being out in nature and hiking. It's not something I get to do often in Texas because the heat is unbearable for me 9 months out of the year, and it's flat and full of mosquitos. I wanted to take advantage of seeing some new and beautiful places in a country that had perfectly cool hiking weather. And it wasn't flat.

Because this trip was my dad and I , and I was going to be running a full marathon, we had to be careful in how much strenuous activity we did. I didn't want to wear out my muscles before I destroyed them in a marathon. But we found some beautiful hiking spots to enjoy. The weather was absolutely perfect, the trails were so well maintained, and I definitely want to go back to Canada and do only hiking trails. So many gorgeous places! So I will just let the pictures do the talking of the fantastic scenery we enjoyed the day before my race.

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

Rimouski Lighthouse. Quebec Canada

Rimouski is a very small town that most people probably haven't heard of. While there isn't much there, it is surrounded by beautiful countryside and many big national style parks for camping and hiking. I had no idea that Canada was this beautiful.

The only reason I made the trek to this tiny part of the world was for a marathon. I'm a strange duck I know. However, it was a charming little town to pass through.

Rimouski is set along the St. Lawrence River, which is actually a salt water river with tides. I had no idea. They even have the second largest lighthouse in Canada. Turns out this part of the river could be quite treacherous as it was notorious for fog and full of rocky shores. The lighthouse was used until the early 20th century when GPS took over navigation for those sea faring ships.

 Not exactly sure what to do with our time as evening approached, we (my dad and I) decided to drive out to the lighthouse and watch the sun set over the river. It was beautiful.

The sky was clear with a slight breeze and the evening was absolutely lovely. I would later run past this lighthouse twice during the marathon, but it was still a beautiful icon to see. Who doesn't love a lighthouse? Pictures just don't do this part of the world justice.

As this particular day also happened to by my dad's birthday, we stopped at a small Chocolaterie for some lovely pastries and chocolates.