Day 7 7 - Québec et New Brunswick 2023

And there you have it, another day has just flown by. The asphalt rolled out under the tires of my motorcycle to go from Matapédia to Rimouski. Remember, I had to interrupt the course yesterday due to very heavy rain!

The advantage of having a smaller route is that you don't have to follow it to the letter and that gives you more time to finish. This is how we toured the covered bridges in the Matapedia valley. They are old 1909 and 1912, it seems to me. Just like the bridge for the exclusive use of pedestrians at “Le Quai-à-Lessard” which is really pretty. And while you're there, why not stop to look at the river and go see the Philomène waterfall. I tell you, plenty of free time to browse everywhere the splendor that nature and other things offer us.

Then, finally arriving in Rimouski, we went to visit the Empress of Ireland museum or more precisely its shipwreck. The St. Lawrence River remains a dangerous place where fog can suddenly rise (we experienced it today). And it was in such conditions that the Empress of Ireland was struck by another ship carrying coal. Which opened a gaping hole in his blank, causing him to sink in 14 minutes!!!! For comparison, the Titanic sank in 2h30. It caused 1012 victims out of 1477 people on board. It is the largest maritime disaster in Canada. The museum is full of artifacts brought to the surface by divers. Due to strong diving activity and "recovery" of objects and parts of the ship for resale, the site has been declared a protected area and nothing is allowed to rise to the surface. The looting is over.

Of course, there is also a lighthouse to visit right next door, as well as the Onondaga submarine. Seriously, go take a look there if only to understand to what extent human life in this environment is secondary and that the submarine takes precedence above all as well as its function/mission. It's very informative with the audio guides and you really have time to inspect it.

In short, all that remained was to walk the seaside promenade in Rimouski to end the day on a pleasant note!

Merci à toutes et tous de me suivre.