Saguenay Fjord

Sunday, September 18, 2016
Tadoussac, Quebec, Canada
I forgot to mention in my last entry that we had a yummy dessert when were on Îles d'Orléans called "pouding chômeur" (Poor Man's Pudding). It was a lot like something Mom used to make called blanc mange - a white cake with a warm white custard sauce on top. This one had a maple-flavoured custard. Mmmm. :)

From Beauschatel, we headed north on autoroute 175 to Saguenay . Along the way is Jacques Cartier National Park, where we spent a little time enjoying the beautiful scenery along Jacques Cartier River. Most of the rest of the drive took us thru the Reserve Faunique des Laurentides (Laurentides Wildlife Reserve), which is a very forested area in the Laurentian mountains . There were lots of "look out for moose" signs, but we didn't see any. :(

The weather has turned more fall-like (mid-teens) but, although we see coloured leaves on the ground, the trees are hanging on to their green leaves. I'm seeing posts on Facebook of the wonderful fall colours at home in Saskatchewan, and am jealous. As my sister Lorraine would say ... waaaaaaa! :(

The city of Saguenay is at the west end of the Saguenay Fjord.The fjord runs 105 km east to the St. Lawrence River, and is only 1-4 km wide. It's one of the longest fjords in the world, and one of the few that doesn't empty into an ocean. It's 93% salt water - salt water from the St . Lawrence River flows under a layer of freshwater originating from Lac St. Jean, a large lake west of Saguenay. There are many species of marine life in the fjord, including four species of whales (including the blue and beluga whale) and Greenland sharks. The Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park protects the marine environment of the area. There are whale watching tours that go out from the lower end of the fjord at Tadoussac, where we ended up on Saturday. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

On Thusday, we got our first glimpses of the fjord at Ha! Ha! Bay at La Baie. Apparently, haha is a French saying for dead end, which would have been the case for explorers sailing up the fjord into the bay. It's a very scenic bay with a promenade and a market, catering to the many St. Lawrence cruise ships that stop there. Then we curled back around to the north side of the fjord to the small village of Ste. Rose du Nord (population 397). It's billed as one of the prettiest villages in Quebec, and the "Pearl of the Fjord" . We stayed at the rustic Auberge du Cafe de la Poste, located midway up the road into the village center, less than a km walk to the water. Nice views of the fjord and surrounding pastureland. Basic but comfortable rooms. Our host Stefan provided a tasty hot breakfast - omelets, toast, waffles with local blueberries, French Toast with maple syrup. 

The village is tucked between the Marine Park and the Saguenay-St. Lawrence National Patk. It's a small peaceful village with beautiful scenery. We spent a nice day on Friday exploring the village and the trails along the fjord.

On Saturday, we continued along the north shore to Tadoussac, where the fjord empties into the St. Lawrence. Along the way, we stopped at the Ste-Marguerite section of the National Park, where we hiked in hoping to see belugas in the bay (n'est pas). 

Just a little further down the road is Tadoussac . A longtime Indian trading center that hails back to the 1500s, it is now a pretty community of about 1,000 people, it thrives on the tourist trade with many boutiques, cafés, auberges, and whale watching tours. We spent some time walking in the town, and entertained the thought of going whale watching, but the timing didn't work out and we were a little concerned about re-activating my dizziness. Not to mention the rains set in later in the afternoon. We stayed at an "antique" house that is part of the La Galouine Auberge, right in the center of town. Great location and very comfortable room.

On Sunday, a heavy fog had settled into the bay at Tadoussac. We attended French mass at the Église de la Ste-Croix (Holy Cross Church) across the street, then we were on the road again, east along the whale route to Baie Comeau (about a 3-hr drive). At Baie Comeau we'll take the 2-hour ferry crossing at 6 pm to Matane, on the south side of the St. Lawrence. The ferry is quite expensive - $48 for S.K., and $19.70 for each of us. The ferry will take us to Matane, where we will start our tour of the Gasp Peninsula.

Comments

Lorraine
2016-09-18

Sounds like you really liked this area? I did too.......;o)

roganna
2016-09-18

We did. It was a relaxing break from the cities. :)
On Sep 18, 2016 4:44 PM, wrote:

Lois
2016-09-18

Yup does look peaceful

Ed
2016-09-19

Looks great! How are you doing with the language ..... beaucoup de Francais, moins d'Anglais! C'est dommage!!

roganna
2016-09-19

It's getting tougher and tougher! Have to resort to Google translate to
understand each other. ;-)
On Sep 18, 2016 9:48 PM, wrote:

Eva & Doug
2016-09-19

Wow! Loved this :-) Fantastic that this Canada! Loved Jumbo too!

2025-02-15

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