Arrived at the Camping Transit RV park in Levis, QC on Sept 26. Despite being right beside the Aut-20 we figured this place would be a great location to explore the area from. Plus the owners offered a free shuttle to the Ferry in Levis that goes to Quebec City…a nice perk! Another bonus they had an offseason special for week long stays so we figured we’d stay for 7 days.
Turns out this area has 400K of bike trails so between cycling and exploring Quebec city we had lots to see and do.
We had a beautiful, sunny but cool day to explore Quebec. Took the ferry over from Levis from which you get a great view of the city. It was fun to play tourist along with 3 other boatloads full of them. Good thing we went on the Friday when there was only 3 cruise ships at port because we found out that on the weekend there were going to be around 10. As it was, it was crowded, that many more tourists on the weekend would have been just stupid.
Check out our pics. I took a lot of ‘em and did my best to edit them down but be warned there are still a lot….but there was a lot in the city to take pics of!
Found out that there was also falls just outside the Quebec city limits on the east side so drove there one nice sunny day and walked up 487 steps and across the suspension bridge at the top. Great exercise and scenery. It’s also right across from the Ile d’Orleans so drove the 70 K around it in the afternoon. All in all, a good day trip and some great pics!
So while our original travel plans were to go to the east coast of Canada, our timing isn’t really working out for that. Did some research and most of the campgrounds in New Brunswick closed at the end of September or were closing early Oct. Decided that we’d stay at this RV park another week since the price was good and the WIFI excellent. And we had more than enough other things to do to keep our selves busy here.
There are so many bike trails to explore! Terry and Tracey, you two would love the cycling around this part of Quebec. We barely scratched the surface of what was available but managed to get in 3 good day trips on our bikes. Would have been more but the windy days and rainy days limited our options on the days we weren’t going somewhere via truck.
Take a virtual bike trip with us around Levis!
Of course there had to be some good hiking around Quebec city with all the mountains on the north side of the river…but, to get there we'd have to drive across the bridge that goes right through the city. And the traffic at rush hour…well we got stuck in it once our way back on the falls day trip and it wasn’t nice. Jacques Cartier national park is only about 45 minutes north of the city but based on the reviews I read, it’s not really a National park so the Canada 150 free entrance pass isn’t accepted. And, it’s apparently VERY busy at this time of year with people wanting to see the fall colours. So we decided to pass on it and look south.
Found a regional park “Massif du Sud” about an hour south that includes trails in the Chaudière-Appalaches range. Definately off the touristy path, the woman at the info centre there spoke very little English but we managed, with our limited French to communicate and figure out a good hike for the afternoon. She recommended we go up to the top of Mont Chocolat, about 8K return trip and about 3 hours to complete. It was a good choice, it showed us just how much our cardio sucks because it wasn’t all that much elevation gain but more than enough to make us breathe way too hard. Gotta work on that. Check out the hike pics.
We also took a day trip to Kamouraska. Some fellow travellers from PEI mentioned that they always stop there on the way home to stock up on Smoked fish. MMMM we love smoke fish so it was a good excuse for a day trip. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t the nicest during our trip to what must be a very picturesque village during the summer on a sunny day. But it was worth the drive for lunch which included a sampler of smoked salmon, eel, trout and sturgeon. All good but trout was our favourite here. Here’s a few pics from our grey day visit.
As I finish up with this post, it’s another rainy day here. No sign of our little friend Inky….the cutest little black cat that comes with this RV park. She is the sweetest thing, I’m sure lots of the seasonal campers feed and love her. We spent a few afternoons with her curled up in our laps.
The rain is supposed clear out tomorrow which is good because we have to pack up and move south. Heading for Bangor, Maine for only 5 days because the RV park closes on Oct 15th. Hope we find a few more open for a bit longer as we head south.
Oh yeah, Happy Thanksgiving y’all! Think we’ll have some smoked fish to celebrate.
