It has been a year since the night French adventurer Paul, pitched up at our hostel after riding his bicycle more than 250 kms from Tobermory to Toronto in a single day.
It was just another leg of his epic ride across North America from Vancouver to Quebec City. He camped out every night, cooked all his meals over a campfire and had 22 close encounters with Canada’s ubiquitious bears.
After months alone on the road, he was met here in Toronto by Candace and Guillaume friends from France. They planned to ride with him from Ontaio to Quebec on a route through Northern Ontario covering more than 500 miles.
Guillaume brought his bike and the plan was for Candace to purchase a bike in Canada. As luck would have it, we had a bike at the hostel (a Nakamura) that was equipped with saddle bags and ideally suited for long-distance travel.
We loaned thhe bike to them and they purchased a guitar instead.
Candace and Guillaume are a popular singing duo from Marseille in Southern France called Tabernac. They planned to scout out possibilities of playing around Quebec.
The first thing they had to do, was to change their name. Tabernac in France simply means “Tabernacle”; but in Quebecquois, it is used as a swear word.
Paul is now working as a kayak instructor at Tadussac, Quebec where he guides adventurous people on whale watching expeditions in tiny sea kayaks.
Candace and Guillaume are back in Canada as Paul has organized several “gigs” for the folk duo in Quebec.
The guitar they bought last year has been autographed and donated for the hostel guests to borrow and is kept at the front desk.
The duo had to change their name to something more acceptable in order to play in Quebec – Tabernac!
Paul will be returning to the hostel next month to begin his next adventure. He has purchased a camper van and plans to drive from Toronto to Panama which is as far as it is feasable to drive because of security issues.
His plans beyond Panama are open but he is considering sailing around the “danger zone” from Panama to Colombia.
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Paul’s late night arrival in the summer of 2010
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Paul (rt.) with Guillaume and Candace of “Tabernac!”