Cross-Canada: Day 13
Montréal to Rivière du-Loup Distance: 468 Kms Time: Approx. 6.5 hours
We exited the Island of Montreal by means of the Louis-H.-La Fontaine tunnel, we then took Hwy 20 east, towards Lévis. We were fortunate that it was early on Sunday morning and traffic was really light, a rare driving treat for the Montreal area. Our first Shell fuel stop of the day was in the town of Beloeil, which sits on the banks of the Richelieu River and is overshadowed by Mont Saint-Hilaire, a huge, isolated tree covered rock hill. We followed along the riverbank admiring the large period houses that graciously look out over the river.
Our friend the rain had returned to harass us once again and made any sight seeing on either side of the highway difficult, if not impossible. Thankfully the road works that littered the length of the Highway were closed down for the weekend and didn’t hinder our progress too much. We commented that if this had been a regular workday, our journey 
would have been extended by several hours especially with the addition of the rain. We passed through the towns of Saint-Hyacinthe and Drummondville before we reached the town of Lévis. This town sits on the south bank of the mighty St-Lawrence River directly across from the City of Québec. The view across the river is stunning with the Château Frontenac taking centre stage, standing stately over-looking the old city from its perch high atop the bluff. Here the river was bustling with freighters, tugboats and Cross River ferries.
Once outside of Lévis, the rain stopped and we started following the south shore of the St-Lawrence. In the distance, beyond the north shore, we started to see the appearance of mountains, although we were still traveling on a flat straight highway. It is at this point the river starts to open up and forms the Gulf of St. Lawrence and it is here that 
all the Great Lakes empty into, forming largest river estuary in the world. As we drove along we could see a mist starting to form over the water. It started rising until you could only see the mountaintops, peeking over what was now a heavy white cloud hovering over the dark brown rough waters.
As we approached Rivière du-Loup the flat land, that had surrounded us for the last few hundred kilometres, started to blister with large rock hills protruding from the earth. Each hill had been individually formed and towered above the 
surrounding flat farmland. This landscape was totally different than anything we had seen on our journey so far. Tomorrow we head into the Maritimes, we are both looking forward to the rugged countryside and meeting the people that are known to be some of the friendliest in Canada.
Don’t forget, if you see us on your route tomorrow give us a honk and a wave.
We will be stopping at the Shell gas stations in the following locations, so if you see us gassing up why not come over and say Bonjour?
Gagetown Route 102
Moncton Harrisville Blvd.
A big "hello" goes out to the people we met on route today!
Amel in Saint-Hyacinthe, Audrey-Anne in Drummondville and Jean Christophe in Lévis,
