Eric Stendal

Date: Saturday, 4 September 2026

City / Region: Winchester –> Rivière-du-Loup

Weather: 17° to 19° for most of the day

Morning Summary

Final check of the house and unplugging stuff. Making sure everything is packed and ready to go.

We are excited to be on our way through to Québec today to reach Rivière-du-Loup later this afternoon.

Downed a protein shake and some coffee / tea before heading out.

Afternoon Summary

We stopped for some gas and ate at A&W (used the washrooms there as well). A&W has one of the best breakfast sammiches around; and Maggie loves to ‘help’ us out too.

By about 2:15 pm going through Kamouraska the wind was blowing exceptionally hard. That wind started back at around 12:27 in Lévis where we had stopped. It was so strong Shelley was tugging the wheel to get the vehicle to remain in its lane. She did a great job but its was tiring.

We stopped at the Berceau-de-Kamouraska where my 7th great-granduncle (Augustin Roy dit Desjardins [1701 – 1790]) donated part of his land to the building of the second church for the area. The white cross which stands in the corner of the property set aside for the memorial marks the spot of this church. The history can be read at the above link for those interested.

We then travelled another 25 mins down the highway to Rivière-du-Loup to our hotel.

We’ve arrived at the hotel and it’s 3:30 pm. It’s nice to be off the road and we’re relaxing a bit before we head out to scrounge up some supper.

Evening Summary

Shelley, Maggie, and I went to St Hubert for supper tonight! Dad always joked, “St Hubert! My patron saint!” whenever he saw one when visiting here from BC.

Our waitress spoke French ‘n nuthin’ but. That was great for me to ‘practiquez’ so we enjoyed that. I ordered a Stella Artois to accompany dinner, and they brought me a 75th anniversary glass to bring home. Very cool.

We had to have the ‘traditional’ coleslaw; I sent a photo of it to my friend Jean who used to make his own and bring it in to work – his was so much better – or maybe his wife Carole made it? hmmmmm…..wondering now……

Supper over with, we filled up our tank with gas, and then we took a quick spin through town, coming back to the hotel to relax and get to bed at a decent time before our trip tomorrow to Moncton.

Photos

A few photos taken at the Berceau-de-Kamouraska in the wind!

Daily Highlights

• Our best moment of the day? Shelley said, “our dinner tonight,” but we also thought the views of the towns, mountains, rivers, etc…on the way here were beautiful.
• Our funniest moment? See below regarding the ‘addition”.
• Biggest surprise? How much construction there is in Québec right now EVERYWHERE. Highway lanes going down to one lane creating an extra 45 mins to our drive.
• Something we learned? It’s not a “facture” here for the bill, it’s an ‘addition”..!! And those around you laugh when the waitress asks you if you’re ready for the bill and you say ‘no’ all in French!

Logistics

• We didn’t walk around too much today with the majority of it going to driving.
• We bought gas – the receipt was not working but it was $1.78/L roughly. We also bought some breakfast at A&W. The gas price in Rivière-du-Loup was $196.9 but with our CAA card at Shell we got it at $193.9.
• Looking forward to a good drive to New Brunswick tomorrow after a great rest tonight.

Closing Thoughts

A long day of driving for us but aside from the construction it was really pleasant and the scenery especially once past Lévis was beautiful.

I found it especially profound to be walking on the same ground and area that my ancestors from 1665 came to from France. Thinking back on what that entailed and the circumstances surrounding life back then is staggering to contemplate.