moving piem

Sunny Badlands

While in Chicago, I posted an ad on Craigslist, looking for a rideshare towards Yellowstone. Within two days, someone named Trevor sent me a message. Trevor was not only willing to go West, he was interested in going camping and hiking with me! Dora found that a bit odd, and my friends from New York were slightly sketched out. But... why? Driving and camping all the way to the other side of the continent with a complete stranger? Sure, go for it!

Trevor came to pick me up in his gray car from 1988. A Ford Crown Victoria it seems. Exactly the kind of car that I imagine when I think about road movies in the States. Since I still don't know how to drive a car, he had to drive all the way, from Chicago to Yellowstone, more than 2300 km long that is. But we are still friend.

On the way, we crossed the huge prairies of Minnesota and South Dakota, went across the surprising rock formations of the Badlands, visited the Mount Rushmore by night, camped in the middle of the Blackwoods, had breakfast in Deadwood and a look at the Devil's Tower. Given all that, in the end it was not that spooky. ... more

Tom and Dora

Dora was waiting for me outside Chicago's bus station. There is no word to explain how it feels to be awaited by a friend you haven't seen in ten years, in a city you have never been to. It has been ten years already that Dora was studying in Paris, but it felt like it was yesterday.

Dora and Tom hosted me for a good week in their beautiful - and huge - flat, in the middle of sunny Chicago. For ten days it was all about great food, fun, chill, party, music, and swimming pool. We had a go at digging the record crates, went cycling around the city, played disc golf... Awesome.

Dora is a great cook, and she prepared lots of good food: her delicious pulled pork and tons of home made delicacies. In town we found great food places, from Vietnamese pho to Ethiopian injera, Pakistanese Frontier Chicken, or New York style pizzas. ... more

Bob and Doddy's farm

From Dyer's Bay on the Lake Huron, I started hitch-hiking South to Niagara Falls. John and Elisabeth, from Toronto, gave me a ride from Crane Lake Road to Highway #6. I didn't even have the time to find my jacket in my bag, that Bob and Doddy were already stopping their car.

Bob and Doddy have a farm in Ontario where they raise calfs and grow wheat, soya beans, and corn. They gave me much more than a lift. They invited me for diner, offered me a shower, a laundry, and a bedroom in their beautiful farm. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The next morning, their daughter drove me to Orangeville. From there Denis the bartender gave me a ride to Brampton, where I got a couple of bus tickets for Niagara Falls. I climbed in the first bus, changed at Bramalea, and as I was sitting in the second bus, I realised I had lost my diary. The notebook I write in everyday, all my notes since Iceland, plus a lot of contacts, were lost. No way! ... more

Sunrise on Lake Huron

I hiked for three days in the Bruce Peninsula. The trail starts from Tobermory all the way to Niagara Falls, following the Niagara Escarpment for almost 900 km. I did only 60 of them, but enjoyed each and every of them.

Less than 10 km after leaving Tobermory, I met Raphaël, who is travelling around the Americas, hiking and hitch-hiking. He was walking in the other direction, so I went back a few kilometers and we pitched our tents next to each other. We spent a too short evening sharing our stories. I hope we will share the road again!

The Bruce Peninsula is bordered by Lake Huron, vast as a sea, covered by a beautiful forest, and home to quite a few black bears. I learned how to cook away from the tent, remove any smelly object in it, and hang all food in a tree at 3 meters above ground during the night. I didn't see any bear, but the last day on the trail, I could clearly hear a grumpy one, ten meters from the trail!

Downtown Montreal

At first, I was thinking to go West towards the Finger Lakes, Niagara Falls, and Chicago, but Gerardo and Carlis, who live in Montreal, proposed me a ride to their home! So 12 years later, I was back in the city I lived in for one year in 1999. What a throwback!

Gerardo hosted me in his nice flat in downtown Montreal. We went cycling and skating along the Lachine Canal, swimming at the pool and even had a sauna! I went skating around the city, and it was great to see McGill University campus again, the buildings I use to study in, the stadium, the place we used to go ice climbing, the street I used to live in. I also had lunch with my fellow teacher from McGill Music.

After three nights in town, I skated down to the highway and started hitch-hiking. In just three rides, Abdel, who drives his truck around the Island of Montreal to deliver wood, Kim, who studies electric engineering, and Marc, who runs a car repair shop, took me all the way to Toronto. Marc even invited me for a drink on his boat in Pickering. I spent the night in downtown Toronto, in one of Dylan's beautiful loft, in the middle of the hip Liberty Village. Dylan was my first CouchSurfing host ever! We chatted until late into the night.

The next morning, I started hitch-hiking again for Tobermory, North of Toronto. Rick the fireman, Jay the mechanic, and Rosemary the book-keeper shared the road with me to reach the end of the beautiful Bruce Peninsula. Rosemary even made a 70km 'detour' to take me all the way to Tobermory.