Day 25 Tadoussac

After a good night’s sleep, we ate breakfast, made lunch and set off for Tadoussac (about 2 1/2 hours away) 215 kms  north of Quebec on the west side of the St Lawrence River. It is a long weekend here. The 138 Highway was amazing. Lots of traffic, including an incredible number of motor bikes, and a significant number of these were three wheeled bikes, a few trucks, but it all flowed really well.

At Baie-Sainte-Paul, we took the inland road. There were some incredibly steep ascents/ descents of up to 17 %. 

Steep gradients on the road

You knew the really bad ones when you saw the brake check places at the top and run off ramps down the hills. Some run off ramps ended up with some kind of compression material after the gravel pits.
Sarah was very disappointed we didn’t see any moose on the journey. However we did see lots of small and larger lakes on both sections of the road. A few lucky people had houses right on the water’s edge. Along the river bank there was the usual range of stunning to ordinary homes. Again most people had well maintained grounds and each town had baskets/ pots of flowers to brighten the area.

We crossed the Saguenay River by ferry.

The Saguenay is actually a fjord, 105 kms long and between 2 and 4 kms wide, but an average depth of 210 M> 270 M at its deepest. Typically of most fjords the sides are very steep. Tadoussac was inhabited by natives for over 8,000 years. Jacques Cartier arrived in 1535, followed by many other explorers. In 1600 it became a fur trade settlement, then they logged all the white pine, followed by tourism including currently whale watching. It would be a great place for a long weekend.

Tadoussac Hotel

Lots of places to walk, or to “do coffee” and relax. We did a short walk. The two huge hotels were so beautiful- reminiscent of early 1900’s. We even saw a wedding on the beach. But it was much cooler up there 15C compared to the low 20’s when we left Quebec. I had packed my jumper, the others hadn’t. It tried to rain a few times, but was basically just gloomy up there.

The Saint Lawrence River was so wide up there. 5 kms at its widest point. It was hard to believe it was a river. It is tidal but there were no waves. Large tankers and cruise ships go up and down the river and require pilots to guide the ships, because of the shifting sand bars.

The St Lawrence River is tidal

We set off for the return journey at about 3:30, but this time we used the coast road. Once again some incredible scenery. The aspens were already yellow in many places, with just a tinge of red on other trees. Of course most towns had their own church with the usual spire. Lachie was so good on such a long journey, spending many hours in the car, with only a few chances to get out and run. We drove the last part of the journey with the sun setting, stopping to buy some take away and get a few groceries before heading off for the last few minutes to home, just after 8.

A few hours of working on my photos. It was disappointing to see the ones on the return journey where the light was getting so poor, but the rest were fine, despite most being taken from the car at high speed. Another late night for all.