Distance: 25km
Elevation: 174m
When I went to the washroom near my tent at night, I noticed that my power bank had been stolen. I needed it for a little refrigerator for my daily medication. Who does something like that?
I was shocked and disappointed, especially because I was thinking so highly of Canadiens and Quebecers – and I was not ready to change that.
So, I packed up and was on my way out of the campsite when a gentleman approached me.
It was Claude, 75 years old, retired since over 20 years. He invited me on a coffee at his „fifth wheel“ as they call their trailers here.
We chatted a little and he wanted to understand about my project and my background. He had been working as a manager in IT in HydroQuebec all his live.
It was very healing to experience the typical Quebec friendliness after such a bad start into the day.
My reserve battery had meanwhile died as well and it was getting warm. My medication has to stay below 8C all the time.
So, I rushed into an electronics store as I entered Quebec City and bought a new one. When I arrived at Pierre’s place, I could put my stuff in his fridge and was instantly relieved.
Pierre and I had been working together 22 years ago at Bombardier Transportation in Belgium. He had been an important leader and mentor to me who I looked up to. We were together in a very difficult and political SAP implementation project and had pushed me to grow like hell.
In the end, he left 2 years before I did. Those had been traumatic but also formative and even pivotal years for me. My life had turned out very different and much better after my time at BT.
Also, this project had been the reason for my very first book „Surviving SAP Projects“ which was most self-therapeutical.
It was a walk down memory lane as we went for lunch together. I had my first Poutine – and maybe my last. It‘s a little like German „Currywurst“ without the sausage but with squeaky cheese instead.
After a quick nap, Pierre showed me the upper part of the city. I was truly impressed about the beauty of Quebec which I had not expected.
In my mind, Quebec had been an uncultivated Redneck place in the middle of the woods. Quite the opposite was the case.
The city had been founded already in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain, a French explorer. It had been the first capital of Canada and today still hosted the provincial government.
In many spots it looked just like an old French town.
After our return and some laundry, we went to dinner together with his wife Marianne. We went to their favorite pizza place which was run by Marco, a Mexican Immigrant.
It was a beautiful evening.
This picture was an unintentional lucky shot on our way back home …
