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  One Word Sunday

September 2022 - Victoriaville Quebec

Day 2 Sep 5 Victoriaville QC to Edmundson NB

Sep 5 2022 - Labour Day Monday Victoriaville QC to Edmundson NB
WEATHER  Sunny  TEMP 14C (57F) - 22C 
TIME 1 hour time ahead 1:36 PM Toronto 2:36 PM Edmondson NB

We were on the road at 8:30 after a free mediocre breakfast at the hotel. It is Labour Day Monday so it is very quiet as we decide to take a ride around town, nothing was open. 

This tree is already turning!

Quebec persists in doing everything in French, certainly doesn't encourage tourists!

There are elections taking place as we leave town.

It takes forever to get out of Quebec. Some traffic signs.

God forbid if you are are a tourist!

Interesting saints!

Quebec City is the capital.

The mass majority of tourists would not be able to read this. It basically says that this section of highway is fenced to ensure the moose cannot cross the highway, but in case of a sighting (or worse) call 511.

Lots and lots of construction - scheduled to be finished in December 2025.

Construction begins on final phase of Autoroute 85 redevelopment between Saint-Antonin and Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!
The project cost of Phase III is nearly $942.9 million. The Government of Quebec will cover $553.2 million of the costs and the Government of Canada up to $389.7.

Interesting that they don't want to be part of Canada but they certainly take our money.

Finally we are in New Brunswick! We lose an hour as we are in Atlantic Daylight Time ADT

Edmundston is our resting place for the night. It is holiday Monday and everything is closed as we walked around looking for a place for a late lunch.

We take to car to a Boston Pizza. What a pleasure to be served in both languages. New Brunswickers  FR: Néo-Brunswickois(e) switch between English and French effortlessly often mixing the two.

Our server was great. There was a rather disruptive older customer annoying a young person. He then came over to our table bragging that he "had just put down another Generation Z for us"?????

The manager quickly (he had been watching on the camera in his office) came and threw him out and apologized to us. He then told us the guy had come in with a taxi driver who was driving him from Moncton to London, Ontario (1,700 km) and they had stopped for food. The older man had been annoying since he came through the door.

View from our hotel.

During the early colonial period, the area was a camping and meeting place of the Maliseet (Wolastoqiyik) Nation during seasonal migrations. From the mid to late eighteenth century, one of the largest Maliseet villages had been established at Madawaska and had become a refuge site for other Wabanaki peoples.
The settlement was renamed Edmundston in 1851 after Sir Edmund Walker Head, who was Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick from 1848 to 1854 and Governor-General of Canada from 1854 to 1861.




Day 1 Toronto to Victoriaville QC

Day 1 Toronto to Victoriaville QC

 Sep 4 2022 - Toronto to Victoriaville QC

WEATHER cloudy then sunshine   TEMP ranged between 15C (59F)to 20C (68F)

 TIME no time difference to Toronto

We planned on leaving at 8AM and pulled out of the driveway at 8:30. Easy drive, not much traffic.

Leaving Toronto. It is Sunday morning of the long Labour Day holiday. A lot of cars were Quebeckers returning home.

A rarity, no traffic on the Don Valley Parking Lot Parkway.

401 or Trans Canada Highway.

OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) were out in force for the long weekend. We saw 8 marked and unmarked police cars with people pulled over, one even called for a tow truck.

Crossing into Quebec. We had a 10 bio break and a 20 minute lunch (packed) by now. We also gassed up at $1.47 a litre in Ontario as gas in Quebec is ar $1.70.

Coming to the toll $3 - no cash taken. It was really slow as people tapped their cards.

I spotted this sign, that was so weird I didn't get a photo but found it online. I couldn't figure it out.

There are some interesting descriptions online, not all polite. Floating head man blows arrows erratically at a ladder, is not rude.

The answer? Cross winds....

A truck on fire.

Egg distributor.

You have these very French names and then you come across something so English.

A fellow Ontarian probably also going to the Maritimes.

We stayed in Victoriaville Quebec for the evening. 

Our story starts over 70 years ago with a visionary dairy producer from Victoriaville, Quebec. His name was Lionel Beaudet. His passion was all things nature. And his mission was simple: preserve the wholesome goodness that brings out the best in fresh dairy.

We were not happy campers when we arrived at our hotel at 4:30 to be told our room would not be ready until 5:30 "due to staffing shortages". My request for some sort of compensation fell on deaf ears, well her English was almost nil. 

We parked ourselves in the lobby and watched others being told the same story. At 5:15 she beaconed us with our keys. We did end up with a large sunny room.

Le Victorin