La Route des Navigateurs

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FRIDAY May 6, 2016

Charney to Cacouna (Levis - Riviere de Loup)

The day began well with a good breakfast of clumpy scrambled eggs and bits of fruit lined up around perimeter of plate. All these breakies have too much sugar. Will be cooking for myself soon. The coffeewas delicious and the service was supreme!

Driving thru Levis I was astonished to discover how many office towers were dedicated to Desjardins, the credit union and insurance company.

“The Desjardins Group is the largest association of credit unions in North America. It was founded in 1900 in Lévis, Quebec by Alphonse Desjardins.” Wikipedia



Further what should my eyes behold but a huge Doritos Nacho Truck suspended at an angle …being loaded?, getting rid of outdated bags? or recycling old Doritos into new bags? I will never know because I was in the middle of a somewhat busy six lane traffic flow. These are the Nachos that keep me awake when 14:00 rolls around.

“Nacho Cheese Doritos ingredients (U.S.), in order of percent of product: whole corn, vegetable oil (corn, soybean, and/or sunflower oil), salt, cheddar cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), maltodextrin, whey, monosodium glutamate, buttermilk solids, romano cheese (part skim cow's milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), whey protein concentrate, onion powder, partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil, corn flour, disodium phosphate, lactose, natural and artificial flavor, dextrose, tomato powder, spices, lactic acid, artificial color (including Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Red 40), citric acid, sugar, garlic powder, red and green bell pepper powder, sodium caseinate, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, nonfat milk solids, whey protein isolate, corn syrup solids

In 1996, The Onion, a satirical newspaper and website, featured an article with the headline "Doritos Celebrates One Millionth Ingredient", lampooning Frito-Lay for the sheer number of ingredients found in Doritos.^{”Widipeckia}



Highway 132 improved noticeably after Beaumont (no connection to horseracing but do read about the Kentucky Derby…things you did not know you did not know!). Montmagney finally had a Tim’s so that I could pee. There are no forests along this route…no possibility of deeking behind a bush. Some of the small villages along the way like Kamouraska would have their quaint restaurants and cafes feel the pinch if a Tim’s franchise were to settle in.

A little bit of a forest and already the MOOSE warning sign was up on a hydro pole.

The gas indicator sounded and I hoped my sister was correct when saying another 50km could be driven after the dingdong.

While stopped to take some shots of the river at Kamarouska I heard the drone of a chain saw. The piles of wood near houses suddenly became clear. The wood cutter gets his stripped logs delivered from somewhere. HE CUTS AND CHOPS THE LOGS, piles them up ready for sale and then probably makes perfect piles on delivery once the wood pieces have been sold … must be all in the price … I have been wondering where all the wood is coming from in an area growing hay and corn in vast stretches of flat fields. Once in Riviere de Loup no evidence of any Loup de Loups … only a little Bisson Frieze attempting to outrun his leash almost in front of my van.

A great aspect of driving these backroads is that there are no billboards …no Tim’s… no gas stations … no rushing traffic and enough space to pull over when an anxious local is following the gawking tourist too closely. The route to Cacouna had farm buildings, dung heaps and hay fields on the right side and the river, Auberges and private houses on the left side of the road. Some ploughed fields reached almost into the St. Lawrence … where are the seigneury strips?

The operative colour for today was fuchsia pink in various degrees of intensity. Too many to count rooves were clad in ford-mustang red metal. and the yellow houses have not been left behind. Add to that collection one place completely purplr and another ver turquoise.

Arrived at the Gite (rural accommodation) early because today there was no problem with the signage …that or I am getting used to the partially clear info on the green shields. There is a little greenhouse in the backyard filled with seedlings and when you look over the edge of the garden a water treatment plant comes into view … no smell. The room is lovely and I have the shower to myself because the second room is standing empty tonight.

Went for a walk along the river …found no public access but lots of private driveways. Read about the Malecite Viger First Nation group that is left with a corner lot and one small sliver on the river. A map shows how vast was the territory of these former nomadic people. Picked up a nice piece of slate … who said no rock collecting?

Watched a glowing red sunset at 19:30 – 20:00. Drank a beer and ate food from my cooler which gets plugged in every night and am now ready to watch anything online. May even read a little. Have not knit a stitch in four days.

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Photos

A Chicken Farm
This is the first chicken farm I have ever seen in all my years of travel ...thought eggs must come from under a bush LOL