On the ups and downs of Placentia

For some reason, I slept badly last night. My pet theory is that yesterday's aches were at play or maybe the indifferent bed in the motel.

Fortunately, today was a short day. However, it had its ups and downs, some quite literal. It started with a somewhat imprecise sign saying Placentia was only 32 km from the Trans-Canada Highway. This convinced me that it would be fun to use a bit of the Trailway, especially as the feared rain was much less than what Margo, Chris and I had suffered back in the day. The Trailway wasn't bad but it took effort to navigate the puddles. Then it turns out the city limits of Placentia are some 10 km before the actual town.

Then there is the nature of the town. Placentia is on both sides of a steep-sided fjord. The setting is very dramatic and beautiful and steep. As are the roads. This is ironic as downtown Placentia is built on a low-lying sand bar at the mouth of the fjord. However to get to it, the roads do a lot of up and down. Prior to descending, I visited the Newfoundland and Labrador tourism office aimed at people getting off the ferry. There, I scored a map of Placentia as I really didn't want to make an unnecessary climb!

I then visited Castle Hill National Historic Site using my Parks Canada pass acquired in Dawson City (about as far as you can get from Placentia in Canada!). This was all about the French presence in Placentia (Plaisance pour les francophones) which ended in 1713 and the treaty of Utrecht. The French in their manner built several small forts to defend the entrance to the fjord from the English and the Dutch. Afterwards, the British pretty much neglected the place, only paying attention when wars broke out. Standing on the ruins, I couldn't help feel that it would have been a miserable place to be a French soldier in 1700. The light rain rain helped this thought. The walls were substantial and thought of hauling the stones, cannons, etc, up to the location (some 100 m above the sea) made me glad I wasn't around back then.

I rolled down to Placentia proper where I found Philip's Café. This was a welcome relief from both the rain and Newfoundland's...vernacular cuisine. It was also associated with my B&B (Rosedale Manor B&B) as both were owned by the same people and breakfast is served in the Café. The two are separated by less than a kilometre and a lift bridge. They also form two of three food and lodging entries for Placentia in Lonely Planet. Linda recognized me from my cycling grab based on our phone conversations as I went into the Café. I had a simple but good lunch there. I leafed through the selection of books for patrons as I munched. The B&B is great, tastefully decorated by someone who knows when to stop! Seriously, I give the place a rave.

The rain intensified, so the rest of the afternoon was a shower and a toes up. Ferry tomorrow.