Magog, the French, and Georgeville

Magog, the French and Georgeville

August 31, 2006

The government of Quebec decided to use only French on their traffic signs. For some reason in Montréal, they also decided that it would be fun to have all traffic merge and continue to merge until all French speaking Canadians and people with Texas accents were all in one lane. It took us a week to get through Montreal.

We selected a campground near Magog for our last night on the road before Maine. Unfortunately the government of Quebec decided to exclude Elmo (and all other dogs) from all Quebec provincial campgrounds. Elmo was not pleased. We considered, but not for long, a private campground. Instead Annie and the lady in the information center in Magog selected Maison McGowan sur le lac, which boasts “Cet ete laissez-nous devenir votre passeport vers la douceur de vivre,” which loosely translated means, the living is easy in Georgeville, and that Elmo is welcome.

Magog is a beautiful town on the shore of Lac Memphremagog, and Georgeville is a tiny village about 12 kilometers down the shore of the lake. This is obviously a popular tourist area, and for good reason. Our hostess at Maison McGowan said that Georgeville was originally the major town in the area. In the 1800’s the primary route from the US led through Georgeville and Magog was just a couple of houses. Now Magog is a bustling tourist center filled with restaurants, auberges, and shops; Georgeville has country homes overlooking the lake down narrow tree lined lanes, white clapboard churches with pointy steeples, a general store, and a small boat harbor in front of Maison Mcgowan.

Annie said, “The town reminded me of the town of Milford in the book series. The Anglican Church was there and all the beautiful small cottages.”

Great place for our last night on the road before Maine.