28-June N. Hero to St. Jean

Edwina meets Madame Boutin

If you build it, they will come?  Well, besides the vision it takes a lot of politicking wrapped up in a tiny, but determined frame.   Twenty years ago, Madame Boutin decided that a hotel catering to cyclists along the Richelieu canal would be a fantastic idea.  They told her she was crazy.

Today, 40% of the guests at her 80-room hotel are cyclists and the miles and miles of sign-posted bike routes and bike paths are the result of the vision and work of Madame Boutin.  And at 70 is she tired?  You’d never think so if you met her.  Greeting her guests personally, you’d think that Auberge Harris was a 12-room B&B not a busy 80-room hotel. A great place to be located for two nights.

Today's ride took us from Vermont into Canada with lunch at Fort Lennox.  After lunch we took a tour of the island fort where we not only learned about the fort's history and the life of a British soldier, but for just a moment, we English-speakers who struggle with consonant-less French, learned that having consonants in our language doesn't mean a non-English speaker can parse our language, either.

To the English speaker, French is a difficult language to grasp--so many consonants disappear to the point that French is almost a tonal language.  To us, vin, vingt, and vent sound exactly the same.  To make matters worse, when Americans learn French, we learn the dialect of Paris which is as different from Quebecois as a Southern Drawl is to the rapid-fire speech of California.

However, during the tour of the fort, we also discovered that the Quebecois-speaking Canadian can feel the same way about English:

• Al: That’s a well at the center of the fort?
• Guide [native French speaker who gives Al the look that says, ‘What planet did he drop off from?’]: Uhhh…nnnoooo.
• Al [pretty sure he’s right, but really just wants to verify the fort's layout]: Under the sundial.  Was that the well for the fort?
• Guide [now very confused]: What?  What are you asking?
• Al [getting embarrassed, but forced to continue forward]: A well.  Where they got their fresh water supply.
• Guide [chuckling, but now looking as embarrassed as Al]: Oh yes, water.  Yes.  A well.  Sorry. I thought you said whale… 

Overall, a pleasant, very flat ride out Lake Champlain and down the Richelieu.  Rain in the morning, sun in the afternoon—the forecast called for 50% chance of rain.  Yep.  Half the day -- 50% rain. The trend of rain continues.

Group dinner on the river.   No veggie option on the submenu, but they whipped up a pretty good pesto for the three vegetarians.