Obatanga Provincial Park, ON >> Wawa, ON >> Timmins, ON >> Amos, QC 435 miles ridden/8.5 hours
Having finally made it to Quebec today, I noticed something slightly peculiar: While neighboring provinces have road signs in English and French to accommodate potential visitors from Quebec (or France, I suppose), Canada’s sole French-speaking province can’t be bothered to return the favor! All signage is in French only, merci beaucoup… And I was quickly learning how rusty my French had become; I couldn’t even get the gas station attendant to understand my request for a receipt!
Fuel services aside, this far up north, businesses keep some pretty odd hours… The town’s library and only bank were closed at 2p on a weekday!
Also unique to Quebec, at its border with Ontario, there is no Visitor Information Center. Very helpful. I had to ride more than 30 miles until I spotted a sign sporting the universal “Information” marker – “?” – that indicated help was nearby. But when I pulled into the parking lot the “?”s led to, there was nothing but a few picnic tables and a ramshackle, run-down building that looked like it hadn’t been occupied in ages.
I was completely confused. Obviously, this parking lot was meant for something and the old, decrepit, single-story shack certainly could have been a Visitor Information Center at one point, but clearly not in recent history. I walked around looking for signs of… human existence, I suppose, but instead stumbled across Quebec’s snow machine highway system, which is a pretty cool concept. It didn’t help me, however.
After another 20 minutes spent searching for clues, I stumbled across what I was looking for: a lollipop-shaped sculpture on the edge of the parking lot contained an unlabeled map, which was all the information I’d be getting out of anyone in this part of the province, apparently. I took a few photos for future reference and headed off.
Once I made it to Amos, I dashed into the library – which was set to close in five minutes – and asked about the nearest campground. Thank goodness the people working there spoke English! After securing a site and getting lost in the labyrinthine maze of tents and cabins, I headed back into town to grab some grub.
It was at this point I realized the most redeeming factor of being in such a French-infused culture: fresh foie gras at the supermarket! I grabbed 500 grams, some English muffin-type bread and went back to camp to eat like a king while living like a pauper in my petite tent. However, finding it in the dark was even more difficult than before the sun had set, and as I made my second pass through the grounds displeased Quebecers were running up to my bike, shouting at me and telling me what a terrible person I was. (Although I didn’t understand what was being said, it was clear this is what was being conveyed…)
Eventually the campground owner showed up in a golf cart and led me to my plot. For the record, your honor, I want to state that it couldn’t have been later than 9pm, and who goes to bed that early anyway?!??
Earlier today I drove through Timmins, ON – home of Canadian singer/songwriter Shania Twain (a.k.a. the “Queen of Country Pop”) – and Timmins is pimping her out massively! Her name’s on every sign within a 100+ mile radius. Odd then that they don’t offer tours of her home…
I also entered the Arctic watershed, which I thought was funny because I crossed into the Atlantic watershed and the Eastern time zone only an hour after leaving camp in Atikokan two days ago. How does that work? Is it something about the shape of the terrain or the curve of the earth that makes all water flow in one direction or another?
Perhaps even more surprising was riding through the town of Wawa, whose name is attached to a chain of convenience stores in the New Jersey/Philadelphia/Delaware area, and seeing the giant duck mascot. Who knew it had its roots all the way up here? Along those lines, I hate to break it to Canadians, but Boston Pizza is not a thing in New England. And really, is pizza the food “Beantown” is best known for?
