We started the day a little later than expected. It was hard to leave the view and the sunshine. The day before we travelled 361 km to Pearce Rock and the ride to Matane was 374 kms. Despite the similar distances, Day 3’s ride seemed longer and we were a little more tired when we arrived. No heat but lots of construction and of course wind as we skirted along the coast of the Gaspesie.
We made a little stop in Gaspe to have a coffee and snack. This was the same coffee shop that we had stopped at in our previous visit. They have great coffee and pastries and were also nice enough to give us some baguette slices for a snack of smoked salmon that Thy had bought the previous day.
The coffee shop is small and the day was sunny so we opted to sit out on the patio in view of our bikes. In true maritime fashion, a nice couple walking along the street noticed our bikes and asked where we were from. After exchanging pleasantries and jokes, we asked if he was from Gaspe...”from Edmundston” he responded, to which Larry’s next question is “do you know.....”...but of course he does, they are best friends...and then they know, you know, we all know the same people....Terri looks at me and says isn’t that crazy? Two days in a row we run into folks that someone knows...my response was that we are only a conversation away from connecting with people. The world is not small, our circle of friends are larger than we can imagine.
We take off towards the park (missed the turn off for the tip of the park but oh well, another trip) riding along villages and coast line that is breath taking and beautiful. We stopped in a small place called Grande-Vallee and set up a lovely lunch at a picnic table...we had baguette, smoked salmon, roasted chicken, watermelon, grapes, oranges, smoked gouda, and chips...a little something for everyone....we cleaned it up and set out again.
The afternoon ride took us along the sea wall..as we ride along the sea wall the temperatures drop to 18 and then as you move up and to the communities away from the water and a little sheltered, it rises to 20-22 degrees. Great temps for riding. The sun shined on us all day!
We arrived at our final destination in Matane later than we had planned but still in good time. We settled in to our rooms which were all next to each other with a beautiful view of the water and close enough to hear the waves all night long. We had a couple of drinks and went down the to the dining room for supper. This little spot has a fine dining establishment and all of their meals are made from scratch...they grow their own herbs and edible flowers as well as smoke their own salmon and make salmon mousse. This mousse is served at the table with the bread, pita crackers and butter....so good was it that we now have some for boat ride tomorrow across the St. Lawrence where we will have a two night stay in Baie Comeau!
As the sun set, the water calmed. We left our patio door open all night so we could hear the waves, feel the breeze and ease into sleep...it came easily tonight.
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