Sun July 31 - Tues Aug 2: Tadoussac - Anse St Jean - Baie Eternite - Tadoussac

We felt light-hearted heading up the Saguenay River - it was a pretty day, and current matters less in the enclosed fjord.  According to Oxford, fjord means 'a long, narrow, deep inlet of the sea between high cliffs, typically formed by submergence of a glaciated valley.' This is the only fjord in North America!

Pretty quickly the depth finder lost its sh.....er....rag, and was giving us a rapid set of readings - everywhere from 5ft to 444ft.  It turns out to have a limit, 600 ft, beyond which it can't register.  So as soon as we hit 600 it just couldn't take it any more! The fjord is over 900 ft in places, with cliffs rising over 1500 ft. After we stopped panicking, we had a good laugh over the poor depth finder.  We didn't know there was a limit, as we've never been in water this deep...

 

On this little jaunt we went from Tadoussac up the Saguenay  River to a marina in Anse-St-Jean, and on the way back to Tadoussac we detoured a bit more - up the river to see Baie Eternite, where the Fjord National Park is.

That's us - on the Fjord Route!

 

It was a gorgeous day to go up the river - lots of sail boats out.

Part way up the river sits the Baie Sainte-Marguerit, which is a big shallow area, protected for Beluga.  It's like a big bath tub, and as we went by (At the required distance - which we know from our online whale training.  Yes - that's a thing.  We have a certificate and everything.) we could see so many Beluga whales hanging about, many white lumps accompanied by little grey lumps!

The Anse-St-Jean marina was small, but full of super nice people.  Our FL home port caught the attention of several, so Rick got to chit-chat his little extrovert heart out.  (It's hilarious that we both put on slight accents when speaking English with French-speakers.  As though it might make it easier for them to understand us if we use a made-up accent!) Then we dusted off the bikes and went to see the area.

Rick is working HARD to get up the steep marina ramp!

 

The first stop was to see the (locally famous) view of the area (including covered bridge) made famous in the '50s when it appeared on the $1000CD bill.

 

 

The area was lovely and pastoral, with fertile fields and a burbling salmon stream - all cupped in the palms of the steep hills. Since I've turned into a survivalist I am always on the lookout for a safe place to go when things fall apart.  This seems like a perfect solution.  We'll be able to grow our food, hunt and fish - plus there is running water, and it stays cool in the summers.  There is the unfortunate matter of winter, tho......when, we told, they get 22+ fr of snow.😡

We had a great bike ride along this river, where salmon run.

This covered bridge (pont couvert) is called Pont Couv-art because the interior displays a wide variety of paintings.  Super cute idea, and a great tourist attraction.

 

In our usual altruistic way, we decided to support the local economy and went to the local crepe place (Cafe du Quai) - and BOY are we glad we did.  It was AMAZING!  So much so that we went back later for dessert crepes. The young woman at the counter looked at me, the second time, and said 'ah, a Crepe Day', in an adorable accent!  We had a lovely chat with the owner, who comes from Brittany.  That got us interested in that area of France, and now that we've looked at pix we can't wait to go!!  It's gorgeous - and, also, crepes!!

What a terrible sign!!  Although, I must say, it certainly gets one's attention.

Tues was overcast and a bit threatening, but Mr. Weather was prepared so 'la-la-la' said my brain, and off we went.  Sylvian, the dock master, took this picture of us leaving.

The area was just stunning, even in cloudy weather. The walls drew closer together and climbed higher, and whisps of clouds/fog clung to the pine trees.

Baie Eternite - the location of the Fjord National Park.

 

We felt lucky to see it at all, and very lucky not to have see it through a veil of rain.  When we headed out the view in front of the boat looked like this:

But the view directly behind us, starting at the Baie we had just left, looked like this.  Yikes!  We picked up the pace, but ended up doing some miles in rain.

It's gorgeous and dramatic, even with the clouds.  Maybe because of the clouds.

Back at Tadoussac it was blue skies again - I'm getting weather whiplash.  And there to welcome us back was a large pod of Beluga.

In the afternoon we stocked up on groceries (again).  Three bags cost $199 CD.  We are thinking of ending this year's trip mid-Sept, when Rick does his next bike trip, a bit early due to high fuel prices, etc. 

Anyway...the rest of the afternoon Rick poured over current and wind charts.  To be supportive I asked him to talk it through with me, but that just made every synapse in my brain implode.  I have no idea how we got out here safely.  I have no idea how we will get back to Montreal.  I have no idea how any of this has worked - starting in 2019.  I'm just the IDEA person. I am good at grand ideas - but it's Rick who executes.