Friendly Quebec

The first time we visited Quebec was close to 30 years ago. At that time, we were researching a new manure spreader. I am guessing we have been back a dozen times or so. For the past few visits, we have said to each other, "This may be our last visit." Today it felt the same. I wanted to hang onto their beautiful culture and places.

We decided to end our trip with a bang, going to our favourite Farmers' Market, Marché Godefroy in Becancour. This market has the benefit of being just over the bridge from Trois-Rivières, population 130,000. It is a very stable market, with many vendors being there for decades. It is a well-developed market in that not only are there vendors selling produce like vegetables, fruits, and meats, there are also many vendors selling prepared meals and wonderful baking. There is always a musician singing familiar French songs in a large eating area. In the summer, they have cooking classes and you can camp right next to the market. Amazing!

The Market had that after-Thanksgiving-before Halloween look to it today.

There were witches selling vegetables....

... and chocolate eclairs dressed up for Halloween.

We always bring home some meats that will become memories when we get home. When I was paying for our purchase, I told this young man that Godefroy was our favourite market. Immediately he responded, "Because we are so kind."

I thought, "You are right! Everyone has been kind to us."

For lunch, Ted and I split a poutine made by a king.

And, every lunch needs a dessert. The young lady on the right spoke excellent English and she recommended a...

... pistachio cookie. Ted & I split it for dessert. MMMMM....... lots of butter!

Below is a glimpse of the market's eating area. As we were eating our lunch, we saw this gentleman carrying a tray with some steaming food on it. He was going from table to table offering a sample of his pumpkin soup. Yum! It was good and an unexpected bit of loveliness.

Heading back home, we decided to follow Hwy 132 which snuggles up to the south side of the St. Lawrence River. There's the bridge going over to Trois-Rivières. We decided to do what all of us love to do, poke around and see what is presented to us.

And presented we were! What a gift! Le parc écomaritime de l'Anse-du-Port. We were driving along, minding our own business when we saw a lot of cars parked along the road and in a parking lot. There was an Interpretive Centre next to the parking lot and wondered what was being interpreted? Time to park the truck and find out!

An 823 meter boardwalk made its way through wetlands to the shore of Lac St. Pierre in the St. Lawrence River. We often say that we go to Quebec to visit our tax dollars. This year, Quebec will receive almost 25 billion in transfer payments from the rest of Canada. I am guessing that some of those dollars were used to build this amazingly well-built boardwalk.

We had hardly started walking on the boardwalk when someone offered us some black sunflower seeds. You could tell that birds are regularly fed on this bird walk: they were calling to us as we walked along.

Chickadees and white-breasted nuthatches.

Dave has been learning French. At every opportunity he gets, he speaks French. One day he was talking with a lady about chickadees. She was telling him that in French chickadee is mésange, She would say it and he would repeat it. Back and forth. Then she asked him what mésange was in English? "Chickadee. Chickadee-dee-dee", said Dave. She replied, "Tres facile." - very easy.

Isn't this the most beautiful boardwalk?

This gentleman comes every day to feed birds ground up cashews. Even when it is -40°C in the winter. He told me how many vitamins and minerals and other nutrients were in cashews. He has even named two woodpeckers who he feeds daily.

The board walk came to an end at the shore of the St. Lawrence River. We walked up 8 flights of stairs to get to the top of a lookout tower. And, looking south, this is what we saw.....

.... and turning north, this is what we saw. The St. Lawrence River!

I'll end with two pictures that Dave took. Living proof that if you are friendly like Quebecers, you will be rewarded by the soft brush of a chicadees' feet on your hand.

And smiles and conversations and a sense of community.

And, if you are not friendly.......

Au revoir!