Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac to Edmundston, New Brunswick

We know this site reads more like a food blog at times, but last night was amazing! We booked a table in the dining room of the Auberge du Chemin Faisant for 6:30 pm and left there 3 hours and 8 courses later! The emphasis is on regional cuisine and sensory experience. Every course was a work of art! One course, for example, included a tiny bowl of corn soup, one grilled jumbo prawn with curry mayo, a tiny corn/curry muffin and a miniature ice cream cone with curry-flavoured ice cream (see photo album). It went on like this. We had indicated that we did not want to drink much alcohol, as we were cycling the next day. They offered to do 4 wine pairings of 1.5 oz each. After the chef had finished in the kitchen, he came out into the dining room and played the piano for his guests.

After breakfast at Le Pub du Lac (yes, even after last night Paul needed porridge!), we bought fresh 9-grain bread from the boulangerie to have with local cheese for lunch and headed south-east on the bike trail. Yesterday evening we were told that road works on Highway 85 made this the best choice. The trail was better than it was south of Rivière du Loup, and it took us along Lac Témiscouata where people were fishing, swimming and boating. On cycling through Dégilis, at the south end of the lake, looking for non-existent espresso, we saw lots of flags which we did not recognize. Then we noticed a poster about an Acadian festival. Later we also found that the 2014 Congrès Mondial Acadien will be held in this part of New Brunswick, Quebec and Maine (which is just across the St. John River from here).
After Dégilis, the trail was disrupted by road works, so we spent the rest of the day, and entered New Brunswick, on Highway 2, the Trans Canada. We can see Edmundston from the viewpoint of our hotel up the hill above the town. The pulp mill unfortunately dominates the community.

We passed the Madawaska Malécite First Nation community. This was one of three important villages on the Malécite annual migration route from the Bay of Fundy to the St.Lawrence.