St. Faustin to St. Jerome: The final leg of le P'tit Train du Nord - Exploring the Route Verte in Quebec, Canada by Recumbent Tandem - CycleBlaze

July 28, 2010

St. Faustin to St. Jerome: The final leg of le P'tit Train du Nord

We had a wonderful rest day at the campground - swam, visited with many of the locals who holiday there. We got an early start and as we were leaving the train station we met a couple, Terry and Raymonde from New York who were riding a Burley Rock n Roll tandem with a soft ride seat for the stoker. We enjoyed sharing our common love of tandeming and hearing a bit about their travels and Terry`s experiences as a guide for Bike Vermont cycling trips. This last leg of the trail was spectacular. This section is not paved but the surface is very good. We enjoyed the variety of the scenery, following the Riviere du Nord, crossing many bridges and best of all enjoying a wonderful downhill grade from Sainte-Agathe for many kilometers. A highlight was stopping in St. Agathe - a city known for its beautiful architecture. After touring the city by bike, we had lunch at La Gourmandine and it was one of the best meals we`ve had so far. Joanne, our server was full of personality and made our visit there special. The baked goods, soup and bread were excellent. Val David has an amazing bike shop at the train station. Like so many of the stations we passed through in the past few days, St. Jerome is very important to the community. Events are regularly scheduled for locals. When we arrived at the end of a long day of cycling, the station was filled with hundreds of people enjoying live music - not waiting to congratulate us on our arrival!

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Every night people staying in our campground came out to play petanque.
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We loved staying at the Camping Desjardins campground for two days. The special sites for cyclists were private and well planned.
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All along one street in Saint Faustin the homes had a variety of sculptures in the yards.
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On the same street was an art school
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We have noticed religious shrines in the yards of homes
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We met Raymonde and Terry at the train station in Saint Faustin
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Beaver dam
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Saint Agathe cathedral
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We had a great time with Joanne, our waitress at the La Gourmandine bakery/deli in Sainte-Agaste.
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Hearty chicken soup
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Our delicious lunch at La Gourmandine
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We followed the river for miles
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The train station at Val-David housed an amazing bike shop and bistro/pub
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Piedmont train station
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A sculpture built out of bike wheels at the Prevost train station
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We are riding into the Saint Jerome train station. A talent night was taking place in the centre of the station grounds
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Today's ride: 81 km (50 miles)
Total: 315 km (196 miles)

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