Back to Derby Line, Vermont

We crossed the border back into the U.S. at Stanstead, Quebec / Derby Line, Vermont today, the same place that we entered Canada just ten days ago.

As always, no matter how much we enjoyed our travels, it was good to get home!

While there's no doubt that the scenery of the Gaspe coastline and Lac St. Jean region is beautiful and dramatic, what made this trip interesting was not so much just the scenery, but the culture of Quebec province.
Of course, the language was a challenge to be dealt with; for someone like me who enjoys small talk with everyone in the supermarket line, it was strange to be rendered essentially hearing impaired and mute. (Speaking of supermarkets - it's always difficult to shop in an unfamiliar one, let alone when the aisle signs are in a foreign language --- although I did understand the sign for "bon-bons"). I will say that everyone that we encountered was very helpful and patient with our lack of French, and that the language barrier should not stand in the way of visiting a very pretty part of North America that is also within easy driving distance for most of us, $5.00+ per gallon gas notwithstanding!

Heading South

Leaving the farm and fishing communities around Lac St Jean behind today, we turned south and drove through the "Reserve faunique des Laurentides" - miles and miles of forests, rivers and hills - beautiful, but not too much change in scenery. The fence you see at the bottom of this picture is a barrier to prevent wildlife (moose, specifically) from running on to the road. The fence runs along the entire 60-70 miles of road, with signs (from what we could gather in French) giving the public a phone number to call if any moose are spotted on the road.


The row boats in the above picture are provided by the provincial park for public use - there are no rental fees or registration desks; the boats just sit there for people to borrow at will

Peribonka, Quebec

Late Tuesday afternoon brought another adventure in trying to find a campground for the night (note to self: in the future, do not try camping in Quebec the first week of August); we even drove 10 miles on a bumpy dirt road to a campground that had a beautiful ad in the official regional tourist guide, only to find that the place was not completed yet and not yet scheduled to open.
We eventually landed at the municipal campground in the small town of Peribonka, on the shore of Lac St. Jean. It turned out to be one of those unexpected gems – clean, well cared for, and uncrowded. We were given a site in a new section that had only two other RV’s, occupied by two friendly bilingual French Canadian families travelling together. Their children took an instant liking to Gracie and Abby, and vice versa, so we were invited to join them around their campfire; Julie and Derek provided the guitar music and singing, and the evening was spent laughing and telling stories, the way camping should be!

Val Jalbert, Quebec

On Tuesday, we set out to drive around Lac St. Jean. The highlight of our day was a visit to Val-Jalbert, a restored lumber mill town of the early 20th century. Val-Jalbert was first established in 1902, a true “company town” built just to accommodate the mill employees and their families.


At its peak in the early 1920’s, the town’s population was just over 900. Quebec being a predominantly French-Catholic province, the town had one school run by Catholic nuns, and the Catholic church in town loomed large in its influence on the citizens.
An economic downturn closed the mill in the late 1920’s, but the mill, downtown, and employee houses have been either preserved, restored to their 1921 status, or left standing in ruins. Interestingly, the town’s homes were equipped with electricity and running water in 1902 – 25 years ahead of the majority of Quebec.

They're All Fun....But, Some Days Are Less Fun than Others

The morning started out with the remnants of some overnight rain, which was all but done by the time we had to take the dogs out at 6. We repeated our walk of the campground from last evening, including the "vue panoramique" of Tadoussac harbor (see yesterday's entry). All in all, a good beginning to the day.

Meanwhile, John's eagle ears had detected a problem with the motor home a day or two ago, and he determined yesterday that the cause was a broken sway bar bolt (I'm quoting here). Although the situation was remedied with $3.00 worth of parts from a local hardware store and our own travelling master mechanic, it delayed our progress up along the east side of the Saguenay River and its well-advertised fjord.

Once we got going, the scenery along the Saguenay was beautiful, particularly at a village called Ste.Rose-du-Nord:

It wasn't long, however, before the wind picked up and the storm clouds started to roll in. These pictures were taken just minutes before we reached our campground for the night; the downpour, of course, waited until just as we got to our destination.