Tadoussac, Baie Comeau & Matane, on the Gaspe Peninsula

Curses, foiled again! We headed out from Quebec City northeast along the St. Lawrence but we hardly got started and rain began to drizzle down and the fog rolled in, so what should have been a very scenic drive with some whale watching opportunities was instead a kind of dreary, foggy trip. The beast (truck) earned its keep today, we’d hardly get down one hill and it was up the next, most were 11% grade. Like pulling the Dunvegan Hill over and over again, Denis was worried about the transmission. We started the day with a visit to the Girardin House in the Beauport area of Quebec City. Denis mother’s maiden name was Girardin, but her family came from St. Pierre & Miquelon, so this must have been another branch of the family. It is typical of the French colonial architecture and the museum houses information on the families who settled the area. We also visited the Montmorency Falls, higher than Niagara but a fraction the width, there’s a bridge over them then a lot of stairs down (once again I forgot to count) and then a cable car back up to the top. That’s when the rain started so you couldn’t tell if it was the spray or the rain that was getting you wet. Then we stopped at a copper artist workshop and I managed to resist a beautiful rooster, it was $1,795 so that made it easier. Next stop was Ste. Anne de Beaupre, a huge cathedral and shrine, by that time the rain was pretty heavy and we couldn’t park our caravan within two blocks so we settled on a drive by visit. We were on the lesser byways again and came across Chez Marie, a small shop selling maple products and baking. Along this road we saw some outdoor, brick ovens one was actually across the road from the house. There were also root cellars built into the hill across from the houses, each one had a plaque from a preservation society and telling who they belonged to. We continued down the road and are camped tonight at Tadoussac after crossing Ste. Catharine’s Bay on a ferry. We can hear horns from the ships on the St. Lawrence. From the info I have, Tasoussac is a member of the World’s Most Beautiful Bays Club and the Association of Beautiful Villages of Quebec, I hope the fog is gone tomorrow so we can see it.

Just a little damp at Montmorency Falls

After a gentle rain overnight, we woke up to a clear, sunny morning! Our campground was on the heights above the village and when Denis checked the lookout he saw whales in the bay, by the time I got there they had departed. We drove down and found a place to park, no mean feat, and walked around the bay; took a short hike out to the point between Tadoussac Bay and Ste. Catharines Bay. We saw an old trading post and the oldest wood frame church built in Canada. Then down the road to a lighthouse at Cap de Bon Desir, where we walked out and sat on the rocks and looked for whales again. We stopped in Les Escoumins at a poissonnerie had chowder for lunch and bought some halibut for our supper. We stopped at a truck selling strawberries from Ile d'Orleans and smoked salmon. After lunch we continued on to Baie Comeau.  We dropped the trailer off and drove around town, Denis oogled the Alcoa plant from all angles. There’s also a big Cargill facility and right in the middle of town, a pulp mill! What with the power plant just before town that's four pretty major industries. We headed back to the trailer and decided we'd better make a reservation on the ferry to Matane for Wednesday (day after tomorrow). There was nothing available until Sunday, but we were welcome to come down and wait in the line-up to see if there was space for us. We were a little stressed at the thought of sitting here for 6 days so we scrambled  and headed to the ferry expecting to be turned away but we got on. By the time they measured us and made sure the propane was turned off, we drove onto the ferry and they closed the door and we were under way, a very quick departure from Baie Comeau. Our halibut will have to wait until tomorrow. That puts us in Matane Monday night instead of Wednesday afternoon and Denis didn't get to tour the Manic 2 dam site. Oh well, c'est la vie! I'm sure we'll find some interesting things on this side of the St Lawrence.

On the Gaspe Peninsula