It's 10 am by the time I leave the house after speaking with friends in Australia and Scotland. Back in the city I head into the lower old town, the oldest part of the city, and then to Notre-Dame and the Church of the Holy Trinity. A pianist and male singer are practicing for an upcoming concert at Holy Trinity. They are both very good. I find a shady spot on top of the city wall and read my book while some street performances are going on below.

I spend the morning walking the perimeter of the old upper town on top of the city wall and fortifications and the afternoon wandering the old town itself. Le Festival d'ete de Quebec (10 day music festival) is in full swing and Kathy has a spare ticket. Mathieu and I head in to the city and meet up with some of his friends to see MGMT and Weezer.

It's lunchtime by the time I've packed up the bike and said goodbye to Emily and Kevin. It's great to be back on the bike after almost two weeks and tracing the north bank of the St Lawrence River towards Quebec. Arriving in Trois-Rivieres I take a break and scam some wifi to send some messages. I return to the bike and find a parking fine. Apparently i paid for the empty bay next to mine. A $40 mistake. Arriving in Quebec at 6pm I'm given a warm ...

I wake up to a worried message from a friend in Scotland. Overnight there has been a train accident in Quebec that has resulted in an oil transporter exploding and destroying the vast portion of the small town of Lac Megantic 200 km from Montreal. In coming days it would be discovered that 13 died. The Montreal Planetarium is spectacular. I spend most of the afternoon exploring. Interactive wall and table screens provide a myriad of information about everything b...

My bike is meant to be ready today but I haven't heard from the garage. I give them a call and find out that they haven't started on it yet and it won't be ready until Monday at the earliest. I haven't moved for almost a week and while Montreal is a great city, my feat are getting itchy. I cancel the service but get the guys to fit the tires. The bike mechanics are cool and we chat about bikes and travel as they swap the tires. With the old knobby...