A Journey takes always longer on two Wheels

Sep 5: The direct route would have been 280km and no more than a three hour drive. I somehow managed to make it more than 350km and got six hours of saddle time. Well, to my excuse I can say that I tried hard to make it as fast out of Dodge (Montreal) via Highway 40 as I could, but this was hindered by heavy (long weekend?) traffic, endless construction and two traffic jams.

However, this gave me the opportunity to expand my walking speed riding skills on that new to me motorcycle. The bike handles ok, the clutch is pretty easy to manage, and the gears clunk in precisely but the front wheel seems a bit ticklish, and doesn't want to go straight naturally, hence counter balancing is needed. I hope it is not going to be a tire pressure issue because the front tire (not tubeless) seemed to lose its air quicker than a tubeless one (my Sportster doesn't lose that much in three months...). Good, I packed David's air compressor.

After Trois Rivières and refuelling I finally wanted to add some value to today's trip, and left the highway in order to meander along the St. Lawrence River on the 138. The road was packed with all kind of bikers, posers, riders who all seemed to have the same idea. The scenic byway went through pristine looking villages with shiny little churches, and followed the path of the river (hence the extra mileage).

Shortly after 3pm I arrived safely at the Chateau Bellevue in the heart of Old Quebec, and likely braking the law by doing so, because this hotel is located within the fortification, and motorcycles are not allowed within the city walls. Oh, well. But they didn't tell me when I did the booking...

Alas, my room wasn't ready yet. Meanwhile I was shown, where to park my bike. It was an uncovered and unkempt lot with soft gravel, and I told them that this is not what I expected for 19 bucks per day. Needless to say, I got another parking spot for the Honda.

I was lucky that I had booked ahead my stay, because most hotels didn't seem to have any vacancies left. It was Labour Day weekend, the weather was awesome, plus there was some festival ongoing, so the old city core was jam-packed with people.

Space galore!

At 4pm I could finally move in and freshen up. Let the walking tour begin...

Quebec City sits on Cape Diamant, overlooking St. Lawrence river. The city is old, very old for North American standards. Its first settlement had been founded 1608, and is one of the oldest European settlements, and the only fortified city in North America.

View on Chateau Frontenac

A welcomed break on a park bench

Open air galleries

 Moose themed two-wheelers

Art or Graffiti? or both?

Did some restocking of vegan bars here.

Way too many people for my taste.

The main strip is a bit overloaded with people and activities, this is not how I remember it from my last trip back in 1998. So I strayed afar, left the main artery, and peeked into a few of the side streets: all empty. So I continued my tour with much less people around.

The architecture is very similar to what I have seen in Brittany, France.

I was finally at the bottom of Cape Diamant, and had to climb it all up again. I stopped counting at two hundred something because breathing and brain functions started to decline, but I made it back to the top.

 ... where I rewarded myself with a luxury dinner plus a glas (or two) Merlot at Cafe de Paris. The restaurant even had a separate vege menu. Bummer, I must have switched a wrong button on the camera, because the food porn didn't turn out well. My pick of the menu were vege spring rolls, and rice pasta with a variety of stir fried veggies.

Cafe de Paris is obviously not a restaurant that gets often frequented by solo travellers. Most guests were couples, and the candle light setting was quite romantic. It felt a bit odd, when I was extra nicely treated by the staff, they made conversation, made sure that I was happy, and were overly attentive (I have a feeling, that they must have taken pity on me...). Anyway, the food was great  ;-)

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