Tag Archives: Lennoxville

Posts from the road

Unusual road trip from Lennoxville to Quebec City

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(Québec City, Québec, Canada)

After leaving the Coaticook Gorge, we stopped at Ayer’s Cliff and North Hatley before our last night in Lennoxville.  North Hatley has a beautiful location but we only stayed long enough to have some ice cream made by the Laiterie Coaticook…it’s extremely popular around here.  Dinner that night was a delicious pizza at the Café Bla-Bla in Sherbrooke.

View from the top of the giant cow at Saint-Georges-de-Windsor, Québec

The next day featured a long road trip through various Québec communities with little in common…other than the fact that they are communities in the Province of Québec. Our first stop was just outside Saint-Georges-de-Windsor. We saw a sign for a “scenic viewpoint” and decided it would be a good time to stretch our legs. We pulled into the parking lot…only to be immediately confronted with a giant cow (see photo at the top of this post)! And the scenic viewpoint was on top of the giant cow!

Another view (you can’t have too many) of the giant cow at Saint-Georges-de-Windsor, Québec

We saw lots lots of huge roadside attractions in Alberta but were not expecting to see them in the middle of rural Québec. Anyway, we climbed the cow, took some pictures, and moved on to our next (planned) stop: the town of Asbestos.

The partially-filled Jeffrey Mine at Asbestos, Québec

Yes, Asbestos is named after the fibre that was once hailed as a miracle but eventually was disgraced because of its deleterious effects on human health.  Asbestos grew wealthy from asbestos, long before it was recognized as a carcinogen, and the mine only shut down in 2011.  It is a huge open pit measuring six square kilometres that comes right up to the edge of Asbestos itself.

The edge of the pit and the slowly deconstructing mining buildings at Asbestos, Québec

In fact, the pit does more that just come up to the edge  of Asbestos.  A large part of the original town had to be relocated because lucrative additional deposits were located underneath it, adjacent to the original mine.  Will the mine re-open?  This looks unlikely, as Canada formally banned asbestos altogether in 2016.  And where does that leave the town of Asbestos and its 7,000 residents?  Apparently, the name now has such negative connotations that the town is considering a name change.  The least harmful option appears to be “Amiante”, which is the French word for asbestos but does not carry as much baggage.

Immense cathedral in Sainte-Anastasie, Québec

After taking some pictures and gawking at the massive pit (now partially filled with extremely blue water), we moved on and made a series of short stops in Victoriaville, Princeville, and Plessisville (to buy lunch, eat lunch outdoors, and refuel respectively).  No giant cows or giant mining pits were evident.   Shortly afterward, we had to stop in the tiny hamlet of Sainte-Anastasie to check out the beautiful (and massively disproportionate) cathedral that completely dominated its surroundings.  After that, even the brilliant silver roof of Saint-Étienne-de-Lauzon’s cathedral was not as stunning as it might otherwise have been.

Cathedral at Saint-Étienne-de-Lauzon, Québec

We were nearing Québec City and our next destination.  Québec City is even more prosperous than the last time we were here:  perhaps too much so, as it was stuffed to the gills with tourists and transport trucks.  It is undeniably unique and a great destination…but maybe not in the middle of the summer.   We saw the Château Frontenac and the walls of the old city but pressed onward to our surprising base for the next couple of nights.  Stay tuned for the details!

Posts from the road

The Eastern Townships: School, Croquet, and Fearsome Gorges

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(Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada)

Our Eastern Townships home base is Bishop’s University in Lennoxville, just south of Sherbrooke.  I had heard about Bishop’s while attending Queen’s University but had never actually visited the campus.  However, university residences are an excellent alternative to hotels for summer travel:  they are generally inexpensive and often have great settings too. Bishop’s is awash in red brick (see photo above) and seems like it would have been a nice place to spend a few years of studying!

The Johnson Science Building at Bishop’s University (Lennoxville, Québec)

The next morning, we ate our first university cafeteria breakfast in a very long time before heading south to our first destination of the day:  Compton, Québec.  I had never heard of Compton before this trip but this village of 3,000 has made a significant contribution to Canada:  it is the hometown of Louis St. Laurent, Canada’s Prime Minister from 1948-1957.

The general store run by Louis St. Laurent’s father (and many other family members), in Compton, Québec

St. Laurent’s childhood home and the adjoining general store remained in the St. Laurent family from the late 19th century until they were acquired by the  Federal government roughly 100 years later.  We visited the site (now run by Parks Canada) and enjoyed both the multi-media presentation and the tour we received of the general store.  The store has been restored to how it would have been at the turn of the 20th century, while the house itself still has most of the St. Laurent family’s furnishings.

Inside the St. Laurent general store (now a National Historic Site) in Compton, Québec

We saw some interesting photos of St. Laurent playing tennis and croquet on the grounds.  While the tennis court is gone, there was a croquet set available for our use!  Of course, we jumped at the opportunity to play croquet at a Prime Minister’s house.

Playing croquet at Louis St. Laurent’s house

From Compton, it is a very short drive to the slightly larger town of Coaticook.  It is known more for its outdoor pursuits and I took advantage of the fine weather to visit the Coaticook Gorge.  However, this is no ordinary gorge…

Starting my journey across the 169m Coaticook Gorge suspension bridge

The Coaticook Gorge is notable for being 50 metres deep.  OK, not quite the Grand Canyon, but still very deep when you’re at the bottom of it and looking up.  However, the Coaticook Gorge has something that the Grand Canyon does NOT have:  North America’s’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge!

Looking up at the bridge from the floor of the gorge

The suspension bridge is 169 metres long.  As a suspension bridge, it does of course move and sway when you’re walking across it.  This is where the 50 metre-deep gorge suddenly becomes quite significant.  Check out the pictures for a better idea of just how small people look from the bottom of the  gorge or the top of the suspension bridge.

View from the top of the bridge…see all the people at the bottom?

A veritable forest of inuksuks has emerged at the bottom of the gorge…there are now hundreds, if not thousands,on virtually every flat surface.  There is also an observation tower located at the very top of a nearby ridge  – again, climbing up an extra 30 metres of scaffolding doesn’t sound like much, until you’re up there yourself and very exposed to the forces of gravity.  There are also many trails through the surrounding mountains and forests, once you’ve defied the gorge itself.

Tourists and inuksuks crowd the bottom of the Coaticook Gorge

While our schedule did not permit it, there is also a “Foresta Lumina” walk that takes you on a special journey on the trails at night with “son et lumière” shows and special effects.  Apparently, you also cross the suspension bridge as part of the show!  It costs more than a daytime visit but I am sure that it would be a spectacular experience if you are spending the night in the area.

Stay tuned – our Québec odyssey is only just beginning!