vicarious travelling: Maritime roadtrip - Guelph, Ontario to Magog, Quebec

I stayed over at Nicola and Dave's in Guelph and we were up bright and early. On the road by 8:30 and took the 407 right across Toronto.

Then it was on to Hwy 7. Drizzled or rained all the way but

we listened to the radio (driver chooses), chatted and

stopped in Perth for coffee and a visit to the LCBO .

We popped in to Almonte (where the river was impressively high) to see Emma on her last day of work at the Art Shop. Some really interesting pieces of rug hooking mounted on porcelain. I also bought a pair of shoes at Vamos.

So nice that both the girls were home and we got to catch up with the whole family in Pakenham.

Wine, chat, an excellent sweet potato chilli, hot tub and lots of dog cuddles/entertainment.

Not so early getting on the road, 10am, and this, I suspect is the first of many silver church spires. The one in Pakenham.

Nic has come to the "dark side" and actually defied the GPS (I regularly argue with it and it is rare that the car GPS and Nic's phone agree anyway) (at one point Nic "gave the finger" to the rather insistent google maps on her phone) so we could get down for our first glance of the St Lawrence, at Cornwall.

Lunch, in the car, overlooking the St Lawrence. Still drizzly. We have a cooler in the car packed with pate, cheeses, crackers, boiled eggs, dips, carrot sticks, grapes and dates.

Into Quebec and across the river south of Montreal for a period of boring highway driving through the flat, agricultural St Lawrence valley.

The landscape started to get more interesting, hills and forests, conifers contrasting with the mist of early spring, green foliage

The first of many. Translation; "I am unpredictable"

Still some snow on the ski runs.

We drove into Magog, Quebec at about 3pm, checked in and then went for a walk as it was not raining and we wanted to stretch our legs. This is our hotel from across the river

We commented that this must be a very busy place in the winter (ski season) and summer - lots of condos, boat slips, boat houses.

Lake Memphremagog with ski hill.

Loon

We climbed that tower for a view up the lake. The boat is also a restaurant and cruises the lake which is 50km long. There are 7 lighthouses on the lake and a serpent like monster has been sighted as recently as 2000.

Up Merry Road from the lake there is St Patrice Catholic Church (not a silver spire but a beauty non the less)

Saint Patrick (390-461), patron saint of Ireland, but also of engineers, is both a historical and legendary figure. Born in England or Wales, he became a monk and then a bishop and went to Ireland, where he evangelized. He founded the first diocese of the country, Armagh, in 455. Legend has it that Saint Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity. The color green and the shamrock thus became the symbols of Ireland.

The parish of St. Patrick was given the shamrock as its patron saint at the time of its foundation, in reference to the Irish origins of the first parishioners. However, it should be noted that the name is used in its French form, a way of pleasing the many French-Canadians already present in Magog at that time

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version). From the church's website.