Farnsniente

Pausing by the Saguenay Fjord on our hike

Spending the day near Saguenay

—

in
📍 National Park of the Fjord of Saguenay, Quebec

Photos

Trip index

Summary

We spent the day in one of the three sectors that make up Saguenay Fjord National Park, the Baie-Éternité sector. We did a nice wooded hike at Cap  Éternité then went to L’Anse-de-Saint-Jean for an al fresco lunch overlooking the fjord. Later we did a little exploring of the town and beach and viewed the art under the protection of a historic covered bridge. On the way back to our hotel we stopped to admire the Pyramid des Ha! Ha! “This 69 foot tall pyramid is composed of 3,000 reflective ‘yield’ signs. Named after the nearby Ha! Ha! River, this landmark was built to commemorate the Saguenay flood of 1996, a disaster that flattened the town of La Baie.”

Details

Today we’re checking out the greater Saguenay area for the day and that’s it. No relocating, no changing hotels. Breakfast is included with our room and everyone’s room, it would seem. The place is crowded. The normal fare. On TV is news (a lot about Canada’s neighbor to the south) and sports, including Paralympic hockey. They love their sports up here, especially hockey. 

Dressed and fed we head out. We’re headed for the National Park of the Fjord of the Saguenay. Apparently this region was really carved out by glaciers, back in the day. The mountains around us aren’t terribly high but supposedly the Saguenay river is like 300m (1,000’) deep. It’s connected to the Saint Lawrence River which is connected to the Saint Lawrence Seaway which is connected to the Atlantic Ocean. As such, the water at the bottom of the Saguenay River is way colder and way saltier than closer to the surface. Whales and other ocean-going marine mammals, and sharks, travel between the Atlantic and where we are (or at least close) due to this access to cold, salty water. 

We’re land-based mammals, so we drive to the national park, pay our entrance fee, and head out for our hike. Our choices end up being a 1.5 mile (km?) hike or a six mile hike. We opt for the shorter trail. It alternated back and forth between a dirt path or a boardwalk. There are little detours, now and then, going out over the water. It’s pretty but where we are there are no aquatic mammals. We do see some birds and signs of a woodpecker. Lots of mushrooms and mosses. 

Mission accomplished we push on. It’s lunch time so we aim the car towards a cooperative micro brasserie named La Chasse Pinte, which we think is a play on words for “The Pint Hunter” which is pretty good. The waiter is charming and funny and the food is excellent. 

In nearby L’Anse-Saint-Jean we check out a wooden covered bridge with some sort of back story. Karen just learned that her great grandmother’s French Canadian and so now everywhere she looks (like inside this covered bridge) she sees that family name. I guess Karen’s a big deal around here. 

A short drive down the road, in St. Fiacre, we park and check out the marina and families enjoying themselves. There’s a soft ice cream shop making hay while the sun shines. They seem to be doing a good business, taking everyone’s money, including ours. 

We pass more pretty, small mountain lakes before we get back into the civilization that is Saguenay. Before we head back to our hotel we stop by the pyramid in Grande-Baie. It’s there as a tribute to all the people killed in the big flood of 1996. The structure is very serious as it commemorates all those killed or whose lives were disrupted, which makes it strange that it’s the Pyramide des Ha! Ha! The explanation is that it was a flood of the Ha! Ha! River. The more anyone tries to make this not funny, the more I’m laughing. I guess I’m going to hell. 

Laughed out we head back to our room and eventually back out for dinner. We’d found a likely place that was well reviewed and for which we have a reservation: Bistro D. It’s a small place on a happening street. There are a few diners in there already and just a few tables open. We are seated and have drinks and eventually dinner. The waitress is fun and nice and it turns out it’s her restaurant and she’s the only one ‘out front’ and her husband is in the kitchen (which we can see). It’s a good choice. 

Photos

Done with breakfast we drive to the near by national park of the Fjord of Saguenay for a hike.
We don’t see any aquatic mammals but we do see birds and evidence of other birds (specifically an industrious wood pecker).
The hike isn’t that long but there are occasional detour to go out over the fjord. At one there was a couple from Montreal and we did the exchange of picture taking.
If we’re not going to see too much wildlife we have to satisfy ourselves with plants, in this case the key part of a mushroom omelette waiting to happen.
At one point Karen’s quite a ways ahead of us, hiking along. If there’s a bear I guess she’ll know about it first. Very selfless of her.
Having hiked an entire 1.3 kilometers we feel we’ve earned a big meal (another big meal).
Such good food. Karen and I split the reuben.
The region is known for geese who give us their livers in the form of Foie Gras, for which we’re appreciative. The restaurant logo is a chill goose, floating on its back, with headphones on, rocking out to some music.
Nearby we see signs for a covered bridge. They’re rare enough that they’re worth a stop. Inside is some art and the story of the bridge.
The bridge straddles a good looking river, one of about a zillion in the area.
At the end of the road is a marina and parking. Apparently they have whale watching boat rides that leave from here. It’s one of those fast inflatable zodiac boats and the passengers all have on matching orange overalls to keep them warm and maybe to help them be more findable if the zodiac springs a leak.
The small but picturesque marina.
Across the street is something even more attractive, an ice cream shop.
I can’t decide between the vanilla soft serve or the chocolate so I get a swirl. DQ’s better but you take what you can get.
On the drive back we see more attractive road-side lakes. They’re pretty but never seem to photograph well at 60 miles per hour.
The not so funny memorial to those who died in the Ha! Ha! river flood.
The menu for dinner. So good!
Across from where we parked for dinner is another restaurant, a steak house. They have “BRING YOUR OWN WINE” in letters almost as big as the name of the restaurant itself. Four times. Like, we mean it.