Want A Charming QC Village You’ve Imagined? Try Chambly (by Bike Even!)

*Intro*

If you’ve stopped in random places along the Québec autoroutes between Montréal and Québec, you might start to believe that the towns and villages of la Belle Province have about as much charm as a rest stop/exit on the New Jersey turnpike only en français, with casse-croûtes (greasy spoons) selling steamés (a glorified garnished hot dog) at some, or a blend of car dealerships, Walmarts and McDonald’s at others.

*Biking to Chambly*
Yesterday, I put on my bike helmet and set off across the cyclist portion of the Jacques Cartier bridge, probably the toughest part of entire ride, what with two parabola to surmount… quite a vertigo-inducing experience despite the protective railing. The Jacques Cartier bridge path deposits one on boulevard Lafayette in Longueuil, on which one can cycle 4 blocks away from the water so as to join up with one of the Route Vertes, the extensive system of cycling paths that criss-cross many areas of the province. From here, one is on Route Verte #1, bike path, all the way to Chambly.

The Route Verte path at first a designated lane of the road through suburban Longeuil, but before long there’s a path separate altogether from traffic. It was really quite something to start in urban Montréal to pass through the mega-suburbia that is Longueuil/St.Hubert and then perhaps an hour-and-a-half from starting point to find oneself (on mostly empty path, few fellow cyclists) in forest and countryside. About 2/3 of the 40km distance to Chambly, the back wheel started giving me trouble, mysteriously going clankity-clank when I would pedal and in my utter incompetence in bike repair, I thought “uh-oh”, but I managed to (somewhat noisily) push along to Chambly.

*Chambly itself*
The initial vision of Chambly was unprepossessing, with a roaring, not-so-unheavily trafficked main road to behold with car dealerships, a vision not unlike the autoroute exits I was bemoaning earlier (and perhaps all some know of Chambly). However, after a lunch at a Tim Horton’s, whose employees’ advice lead me to a 15-minute pitstop at a thankfully nearby bicycle repair shop, I and my sounding-good-as-new bike continued to the waterfront area.

Quickly after the striking Hôtel de Ville, the Richelieu River became visible, which provided a beautiful panoramic view with a silver-steepled church at left, a marina at right, and Mont-Saint-Hilaire and Mont-Saint-Bruno prominently visible in the distance across the water. A few restaurants overlook the Richelieu and waterfront activity is available such as kayaking and canoeing. As for me, I pedaled appreciatively past all of these, crossed the canal de Chambly and stopped by the Fort de Chambly. This ended in a magnificent way to spend an hour… reading my book, looking out at some rapids of the Richelieu (Saint-Bruno in background), while sitting in a leafy green park (courtesy of Parks Canada) next to a beautiful stone fort. A quick cycle beyond the fort was also in order, revealing some well-preserved, handsome homes where some of the upper echelon of the military once lived and perhaps the most charming former boulangerie I’ve seen in Québec.

Anyhow, Chambly, although perhaps on the cusp of being called a Montréal suburb, just might offer that peaceful Québec village ambience that many of you visitors of la Belle Province have wished to experience, but somehow have not been able to find.
… And thankfully, travel time is such that it would be an ideal day trip from the city.

Happy travelling, Daniel