|

Biking the Shoreline of Lac-Saint-Jean

Three hours north of Quebec City, the mountainous ridges and anonymous lakes give way to a sylvan valley surrounding the massive inland sea they call Lac-Saint-Jean. Bright yellow fields of canola mix with the rolling green hillside, tall silos, and rolled hay that gives this terrain the unmistakable French countryside feel. Everywhere you look are cyclists biking on the celebrated Véloroute des Bleuets, a 256-kilometer bike trail that circumnavigates Lac-Saint-Jean, or fat-wheeling on mountain bike trails, even biking through sand on one of the 15 public beaches found around the lake. 

 
We chose to spend the first day and night at Parc national de la Pointe-Taillon, a peninsula that juts into the lake and offers its own 45 km circuit. We parked in the lot, grabbed sheets, blankets, bikes, and a small mini-trailer to carry all our belongings and off we went on a short ride to our lodging for the night, a Huttopia tent. Available in 17 of Quebec’s 24 national parks, these canvas tents are equipped with four beds, heating, and everything you need to cook a meal. We dropped our belongings and continued to bike along the peninsula looking at desolate beaches, large beaver dams, and a thicket of tall birch trees. This is prime moose country but we wouldn’t find the big fella this first night. After our ride, we dined on picnic tables overlooking the water, washed down with a local Riverbend pale ale. A perfect start to our week of adventure in the Lac-Saint-Jean, Saguenay, and Charlevoix sections of Quebec. 
 

Similar Posts

|

Camping Area Conserved on Cape Cod

One of the last items the late Senator Kennedy worked on was protection of the North of Highland Camping Area. Located in Truro, this is an area of Cape Cod that still retains the charm of yesteryear, with its wild dunes, stretch of sublime coastline, and patches of forest. Unlike much of the Cape these days, Truro has resisted overbuilding. In 2005, North of Highland’s owner expressed interested in retiring and selling the 57-acre property, which the family had owned for over 50 years. The Trust for Public Land stepped in to prevent its sale for residential development and just announced they secured a conservation easement that will be managed by the National Park service. This makes perfect sense since the property lies inside the Cape Cod National Seashore, a half-mile walk from Head of the Meadow Beach.
 

 

|

Enjoy Fondue on the Rooftop Bar of Yotel Boston

Celebrate Winter Solstice by dining on fondue in the Seaport at Yotel Boston’s rooftop Sky Lounge. It’s supposed to hit a balmy 60 degrees in Boston tomorrow, but even if it does get a bit nippy, you’ll be under overhead heaters and sharing big thick blankets. The Quattro Formaggio Cheese Fondue combines Gruyere, Blue, Swiss, and Cheddar Cheeses with cherry brandy, white wine, and secret spices. Order a cocktail and then watch the sun set…at 4 pm. 

 
|

Peru Week with Abercrombie and Kent: Philanthropy Day

Philanthropy Day is always a highlight on any trip I’ve taken with Abercrombie and Kent. In the Masai Mara, I had the chance to talk about my life as a travel writer to the first group of women to ever attend school in the region. One of the girls who I met was continuing her education at Oxford! In Livingstone, Zambia, we visited a village, where wells were built so people didn’t have to walk five miles in the bush to get a pail of water. We also visited a health clinic and bike shop, all built thanks to Abercrombie and Kent and their generous clients. You can read it about it here. The company’s philanthropy is built into the fabric of the experience and it’s no voluntourism gimmick. On the contrary, it’s a meaningful and poignant day that often exceeds any other memory on the trip, including being on safari in Africa or seeing Machu Picchu in Peru. 
 
Our day in Sacred Valley was no different. We started at a mountainous village some 12,000 feet in elevation, where the community is known for their exquisite weavings. They showed us their technique, cleaning the alpaca wool and using dyes, all from nature, like the beet red coloring they would find from squeezing a cactus beetle. The yarn is then used to create hats, tablecloths, purses, and dolls, and sold in the market in Cuzco. We then visited a school serving underprivileged and undernourished children in the region called Children of the Rainbow. It was started by a woman from the Netherlands who was backpacking on the Inca Trail and became enamored with the kids. She came back and adopted 18 children, all of whom went on to college, and have now unlocked the chains of poverty. She then went on to create this school, giving 170 kids ages 3 to 13 and their families hope for a better future. The children were adorable, eating lunch when we arrived. We were shown the new library and the new playground, all recently built thanks to the help of Abercrombie and Kent. Ask the 18 people in my group what their favorite day on the weeklong trip was and I guarantee the majority will say Philanthropy Day. 
 
|

Boston Needs to Take a Good Hard Look at Rotterdam’s New Food Market

Ten years in the making, the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands (less than an hour drive from Amsterdam) has just unveiled a public market that will set the standard for design of food markets for years to come. On the base floor of a horseshoe-shaped tunnel, close to 100 food stalls will sell their mix of local cheeses, meats, produce, and flowers at the Markthal. The largest art piece in the Netherlands, Horn of Plenty by Arno Coenen and Iris Roskam, wraps the curving interior walls of the hall. Projected onto the individually placed screens are larger-than-life images of vibrantly colored fruits, grains, and vegetables. Arching high in the sky and surrounding the massive artwork are 228 apartments with sweeping views of this port city. The city of Boston should take a good look at this multi-use architectural marvel. Set to debut our own public market in 2015, it seems as if we’re settling for far less by just using space in the old Haymarket building. Why not set much loftier aspirations with an emphasis on the future, not the past? 

 
|

Miami’s Wynwood Walls Continues to Mesmerize

Last time I visited that street art museum they coined Wynwood Walls in Miami, I had lunch at the newly opened restaurant, Wynwood Kitchen & Bar. I remember walking inside and being blown away by the massive mural Shepard Fairey painted behind the restaurant’s bar. Just as exciting was the wonderfully whimsical and colorful work by Brazilian identical twins, Os Gêmeos, best known in Boston as the pair who created the beloved 70-by-70 feet mural of a boy in pajamas that overlooked Dewey Square for more than a year. On that first visit, I met the daughter of Tony Goldman, the real estate developer who wanted to do something special for the start of Art Basel in 2009. Goldman wanted to bring the crowd into the emerging neighborhood of Wynwood, nestled between the Design District and downtown. Much of the industry here once centered around shoe manufacturing. When that went into decline in the 1980s and ’90s, those buildings became derelict. That’s when Goldman stepped in and started to buy some of the properties, envisioning a lively arts scene. 

 
Tony Goldman has since died but his vision of a street arts scene in Wynwood has both survived and thrived as I was privy to last week when I introduced my wife and daughter to the neighborhood. When I first came here 5 years ago, there was a slow trickle of avid art lovers. Now it’s a must-see stop on any tour of Miami, as crowds pour in to see the ever changing walls of street art. The beauty of graffiti is that no work is permanent so the roster of artists is always evolving. Thankfully, the works of Os Gêmeos and Shepard Fairey remain. 
 
|

Walk the Freedom Trail in Boston with the Histrionic Academy

May is my favorite month to be in Boston, which is why I just returned from Miami and I’m leaving for Bermuda, DC, and Watch Hill, Rhode Island in the next couple weeks. Go figure? I love the tulips in bloom at the Public Garden and the small of budding flowers and trees after a fresh rain. Several weeks back, my wife’s cousin and her family were in town and we took them on the Freedom Trail, the three-mile walking route that guides you to the most famous historic sites in the city. Toss your map in the garbage and simply follow the red line that takes you the Granary Burying Ground, the final resting spot for Paul Revere, before venturing to Paul Revere’s house in the North End.

This time, however, we booked a tour with the Histrionic Academy and followed a local historian in colonial garb as he taught me a thing or two about a trail I’ve written about ad nauseum. For example, the little hill I always pass in the Boston Common once was home to a large elm tree that was a popular venue for public hangings in mid-17th century. At the Granary, we stopped to salute the great garrison of the colonial era, James Otis, who coined the now famous phrase, “Taxation without Representation is Tyranny.” A brilliant orator, we learned from our guide that he fought passionately against the “writs of assistance,” which allowed the British to enter any colonist’s home without reason. I love learning something new about your hometown, even when you think you know it all.
 

Leave a Reply