May18 – May 22, 2023
From Quebec City we followed the south bank of the St Lawrence. We went through green pastures with cows in the fields. It was nice to have some open space after being surrounded by forest for the last week or so.
We drove to Saint Joseph-de-Kamouraska, a small village where, right in the centre, stands an exceptional group of beautifully preserved religious heritage buildings, including the church with its iconic bell tower; the presbytery, the old ice house; and one of Québec’s few remaining tithe barns (grange a Dimes). The catholic religious ensemble dates from the early XXth century and is typical of a popular custom in Quebec whereby the local parishioners gave the priest a portion of their harvest so that he did not have to tend the land to survive and could devote all his time to religious duties. The grain was stored in these barns.
The ice house (glaciere) where perishable goods where kept cool in summer with ice burried in the ground and topped with hay.
Rimouski
A small town near the estuary of the St Lawrence River, we did the Littoral Trail, partly wooded with some access to the shore of the river which looks more like the sea at this point!
We drove on and veered east. We were now in New Brunswick. We came across a number of old covered bridges over rivers. They usually have a small car park to give access to the river for fishing and camped overnight at a couple of them.
The weather was not great and we took a two nights break at an AirBnb in Moncton.
