Our fear of being blocked-in due to street closures associated with the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec caused us to awake early and get ready to go. As it turns out we had nothing to fear and our route was not impeded.
I had drawn the ‘short’(?) straw and was to lead us out of the city, so I entered our destination into my GPS and we set-off. The first few corners went well & then it came time to access the highway and I was directed to turn right where there was no right turn lane. I checked my mirrors and saw that our traveling companions were in the left turn lane so I swung across 3 lanes and we made the turn. A few hundred yards later we were on the highway and my GPS told me to turn left and take the pedestrian underpass!!! I then realized that my GPS was still in walking mode and not driving mode. Yikes! A quick adjustment and we were back on track. Phew.
As the highway narrowed from four lanes to two we passed Montmorency Falls and the Sanctuaire de Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, neither of which we stopped at as we visited them both when we last visited the area in the early 1980’s. A little further East we turned off of Highway 138 to visit La Ferme Québec-Oies where we bought some Foie Gras and a Tourtiere pie.
Venturing back to Highway 138 we travelled a little further and then at Baie-Saint-Paul we turned onto route 362 which would take us along the north shore of the St. Lawrence. It was on this stretch that our companions passed us to lead the way as they prefer to hurl their 3.6l non-turbo van at the uphill sections of the road (quite a few of these and steep) whereas I prefer to use the power and torque of our 3.5l turbocharged engine to pull us up the hills in a less aggressive manner.
We soon arrive in Saint-Irénée-les-Bains where we stop on the roadside and take a walk out into the river on the pier. The girls paddled in the water from the sandy beach and then we enjoyed a sandwich for lunch at one of the many picnic tables.
As we continued along the coast the scenery became more breathtaking and the hills steeper. Before long we were waiting in-line at the ferry that would take us across the Saguenay River and into the Côte-Nord region of Quebec. While waiting (only a brief wait) we saw a pod of beluga whales swimming in the river, our first whale sighting of the trip!
The ferry is free as it is considered part of the highway system, it takes about 10minutes to cross the river and we arrive in the village of Tadoussac. This is a popular seaside resort destination in the Summer months and the nice weather had drawn people here again this weekend. We drove down to the waterfront expecting to park near the marina only to be told that as we are in RV’s we would need to go the municipal RV parking lot near the entrance to the village. Hmmm.
So we did and we walked back down to the waterfront through the trees on a shady trail. We set ourselves up near the Marine Mammal Interpretation Centre and looked across the river looking again for Beluga whales but alas they had moved on. Barb & I decided an ice cream was in order and so bought a soft serve and enjoyed it on the boardwalk that overlooks the beach and marina. We then head back up through town to the van. Our day ended with us driving the short distance up route 138 to Camping Tadoussac where we had booked in for 2 nights.
Bon nuit!
