For our
9th Wedding Anniversary, we headed off to the Eastern Townships to bike around the countryside with Tanya and Andrew, and Kristin and Patrick (also celebrating their anniversary) - friends that were key in bringing Tom and I together 12 years ago.
We left town on Thursday night with our kids left in our friend, Kelly's, good hands to be passed on to their grandmother, Tiiu, and Papa Peter after school on Friday. Thank you!!
We drove four and half hours and arrived in Magog around 11 p.m. where we met up with Kristin and Patrick at our first B & B of the weekend. Over the next three days, we biked a loop of over a 100 km around Lac Magog and Lac Memphramagog hitting the historic towns of North Hatley, Lennoxville, Sherbrooke, Compton, Hatley and Ayer's Cliff. We couldn't have asked for better weather as we biked from winery to fromagerie, orchard to pub. We laid down our tired bodies in Lennoxville on Friday night and Ayer's Cliff on Saturday night. After our longest day of biking with Kristin and Patrick, we met up with Tanya and Andrew at Auguste Restaurant in downtown Sherbrooke where we had the best meal of our trip. I should say they were all great but this place was the perfect spot to celebrate our and Kristin and Patrick's anniversaries. It took a while to find it and we were ready to give up - thank you for your perserverence, Kristin!
The next morning, after a home-cooked breakfast amidst a tacky 80's time-warp, we got back on the bikes and embarked on the 'Tour Gourmand' leg of our trip. We were blessed with another sunny day but soon found ourselves cycling against gusty head winds. We visited an orchard near Compton that was a hub-bub of activity and picked up some cider and donuts. We headed into Compton where we walked around Louis St. Laurent's childhood home and picked up some baguettes and wine. Then it was off to the fromagerie 5 km up the road. When we arrived at
La Fromagerie La Station De Compton, we partook in some cheese tasting. We bought what we liked (which was all of it), some sausage, pate and other tasty goods. They gave us a cutting board and a knife and we went to a pond across the road and set up a fantastic picnic spread. We ate and drank while the cows responsible for the amazing cheese lined up along the other side of the fence and looked on. We eventually packed up and got back on our bikes once again feeling a little heavier than before. We biked the remaining 16 km to Ayer's Cliff - thankfully it was mostly downhill.
Auberge Ayer's Cliff was our favourite overnight stay of the trip. It was a tilted, antique-of-a-building filled with old, polished wood and each individually decorated room had antique furniture and no televisions. On the main floor was a restaurant and bar where we enjoyed another great meal and on our floor we had what we dubbed "our very own balcony" where we enjoyed a late night drink (or two) after. As we slept it rained through the night. When we woke up on Sunday morning, the sky was still grey and we walked through a misty rain as we hunted for a breakfast spot. After a breakfast at Mary Jo's, we said our goodbyes to Tanya and Andrew who had to head back home to pick up their kids, and we started peddling back to Magog. During our last 14 km of our trip, rain stayed away but the wind and a noticeably chillier air did not. We enjoyed the splashes of Autumn colours as we cycled through some bucolic and pastoral coutryside (eh, Tom?) but were relieved to see the bright blue of Kristin and Patrick's car as we cycled into the parking lot we left 2 days before. We were all soon on the road and on our way back, Tom and I stopped at the
Abbaye de Saint Benoit du Lac. We walked through the impressive place of worship and after buying some monks' cheese and honey crisp apples, we were back on the highway towards home. Looking forward to the next one!
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Enjoying a delicious breakfast at Au Saut Du Lit in Magog with Kristin and
Patrick before our first big day of riding |
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Trying some sparkling wines at vignoble Le Cep d'Argent
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| Taking a break at a Tee Pee campground |
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| Enjoying some French fare at a pub in North Hatley |
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| Walking the pier in North Hatley |
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| Stopping in Compton for baguettes, wine and beer |
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| parked at La Fromagerie La Station De Compton |
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Picked up some cheese, sausage, and rabbit pate at La Fromagerie La Station
De Compton's Store |
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| Resting outside the Fromagerie's store |
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Enjoying a picnic lunch with the cows at La Fromagerie La Station
De Compton's picnic area |
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| Introducing the cheese makers! |
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| Ahhh.....so good. How are we going to get back on those bikes? |
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| cheese doin' their thing... |
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| Apples aplenty... |
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| Stopping to pick a roadside snack |
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| Cabine au Sucre |
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| Riding through Hatley towards Ayer's Cliff |
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| Feeling a bit Tomophobic? |
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| Saturday night stay at the Auberge Ayer's Cliff |
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| On the way back home - a visit to the Abbaye de Saint Benoit du Lac |
