Cote Nord: Getting in the groove

In my previous post, the trip to the North Shore in Quebec started with a bang, with stops at Montmorency Falls and Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. The next day wasn’t as exciting, and had it’s own trials, as it was the Friday of the long weekend and I was still in tourist-land. As I got further away from civilization, it got grander and grander…it just took time.

---

Departing from Sainte-Anne, I drove through the Charlevoix region. I didn’t specifically have any plans to explore here, but did stop at a few viewpoints. It’s bit more mountainous, and quite scenic. However, there was some fog/haze over the area that diminished the views. It was unclear if it was haze from forest fires or actual fog, but it seemed too warm for fog.

Early on, in one of the picturesque towns, I pulled over and considered getting out to walk around…but it was so crowded that I decided to move on. Further down the road, I stopped for a short bit by a pier with some nice views, but generally I just drove until the Saguenay Ferry.

The Saguenay ferry is an interesting ride as far as free ferries go. It’s a bigger ship than usual for short ferry trips, and there is a chance of seeing whales!(I briefly saw one on the way home) This was actually the third time I’ve ridden this ferry. Once in 2010 on a visit to the Saguenay area, and in 2017 on my way to Labrador.

On the other side is the small town of Tadoussac. Back in 2010, I visited briefly and remembered it as an interesting little seaside town. The plan was to stop and wander around for a bit, but the town was incredibly crowded, and all the parking was full. There were so many people, some walking on the roadside, some crossing the street; that even driving around was a slow affair. I looked for parking for a bit, eventually deciding it wasn’t worth the trouble…and moving on. Didn’t take any photos either. This was the beginning of the long weekend, which explains the crowds.

Just beyond Tadoussac is a really interesting set of dunes. Back in 2010, my brother and I accidentally discovered the dunes and spent some time exploring. Starting here and along the rest of the Cote Nord, it seemed like there were spectacular sights that weren’t really advertised…or maybe my inability to read French signs just made it seem that way. Back in 2010, there were very few people and it seemed there was just open parking on top of the dune. This time there was more people and the top of the dune was fenced off with more official parking, but it wasn’t as busy as Tadoussac.

It’s not quite what you might imagine for a sand dune. It’s more like a sand cliff that is actually a hundred feet high. The parking is on top, and in 2010, we slid down and then had to climb all the way back up(which is a lot of work in shifting sand). Initially it didn’t seem like there was a nice way to see the dune otherwise. Then there was a parking attendant in a golf cart that came running up. I don’t speak much French, and she didn’t know much English, but she excitedly pointed at my camera and then off in another direction. With a little bit of charades, and a few understood words in both languages, I understood that she was trying to tell me there was a trail to a lookout. There really wasn’t much signage otherwise, and if she hadn’t pointed me in the right direction I might not have found it.

So I walked the trail to the lookout, which was quite spectacular. The photos are merely ok, as it was still very hazy/foggy/smokey, which made it hard to get the colors right.

On the way back down, there was a couple that asked me in French how the viewpoint was…and I had to ask them to repeat in English…which they did. At the trailhead there was also some stairs down to the beach, but I wasn’t feeling like climbing a ton of stairs again after Montmorency, so I moved on.

The weather was starting to look stormy, and it was mid-afternoon so I started looking for a spot to spend the night. There was a small campground near the dunes, but it was full, and there didn’t seem to be much else in the area. I had expected finding a campsite might be harder due to the long weekend…so I drove on until I got to the campground at Bon-Désir. It was also full, but they told me to go back to the nearby town(Grandes-Bergeronnes) and ask at the information building. So I drove back and had an interesting conversation with the man at the info centre. He spoke reasonable English, and we just had to go back and forth on some words that he didn’t know the English for, but often I would understand the French word. He was very apologetic and friendly and it was fun chatting with him. Anyway, apparently the camping in the area is often full on long weekends, so there is an overflow area(emergency camping, as he called it). It was just a large grass field next to a small air strip. I was the first one there, but by nightfall there was about a dozen groups.

Shortly after setting up the camper top, it started raining. So I enjoyed sitting under the awning listening to the rain fall. It didn’t last long, but it was nice to be able to enjoy it outside, instead of being stuck in the tent like old times.

The coast was a short walk away, so after dinner I went to check it out. It wasn’t the most spectacular, but it was nice. The sun going down made the haze look better too.

I really enjoyed the ambiance of the quiet evening, walking by the low tide with the sun setting. And then I got to the pier, and didn’t want to walk back…so I climbed up some rocks to the roadway. It was a little sketchy…

I wouldn’t say any part of the day was a highlight of the trip, but it was still a good adventure. Over the past years I’ve gotten more into explorational driving and less into hiking/walking…and I think it’s part of the reason recent trips have been lacking. There is something awesome about walking along a coast that can’t be replicated by driving. I went into this trip intending to spend more time walking and it paid off big time.

This was also a great intro to communicating with the Quebecois. I’ve always been a bit nervous about Quebec because I’ve had trouble with the French in the past. Maybe things have changed in the past 15 years(have I really been road tripping that long?!), but on this trip I found not only did people know at least some English, but they were very friendly and went out of their way to help. Maybe I’m just used to the snobby big city Quebecois. haha

I think in the past, a day like this would have been a disappointment. The haze “ruined” my dune photos, I had a less than ideal camp spot, and two places I wanted to explore were too busy. This time around, I kind of enjoyed rolling with it. I’ve learned a perfect trip/day just isn’t as adventurous. A little bit of trial makes the highlights seem so much better, and it makes for a better story.