Whirling Through French Canada

Packing a French dictionary, we’re off to Saguenay-Lac St. Jean, an hour’s flight from Montreal. Our experiences extraordinaire begin along the shores of Saguenay fjord at Nouvelle-France.

Inside its Huron longhouse, we admire clay pots and gourd vessels, finger plush furs and model ritual masks. Outside, slender saplings form a palisade surrounding flourishing gardens of corn, beans and squash; a fish drying rack and meat smoker stand nearby. We’d seen this fascinating setting before in Black Robe, a Canadian movie depicting early Jesuit priests struggling to convert natives to Christianity. Also an active archaeological site, over 100,000 artifacts have been unearthed, some showing habitation from 3000 BC.

Chris chats with a reenactor inside a historical Huron longhouse. Photo by Rick Millikan.

Seated on wooden benches in a small church, a formidable nun describes her harrowing voyage here, vexatious arrival and nursing duties. Surmising our own ailments, she sternly prescribes herbal cures; wearing 17th century attire, actors re-enact early Quebec’s daily life. Inside Champlain’s replicated trading post, a buckskinned gent expounds, “Need an axe? Shovel? Trade your furs for tools; eggs or produce for beads, cloth or utensils. Christians can barter for muskets!” Above the shoreline in a lean-to covered with pelts, a Montagnais woman in a beaded deerskin dress proudly relates her nomadic life. Dramatically drumming, she tells us a legend; her haunting loon calls echo across the fjord!

Inside a gigantic barn, music soars as workhorses and small ponies, once essential in New France, perform intricately choreographed dressage; colonially dressed riders execute extraordinary acrobatics. A thrilling Cirque du soleil-style aerialist, comedic bon vivant and show stealing dog heighten this entertainment. This equestrian extravaganza earns our standing ovation!

The rustic cafeteria offers us a taste of regional cuisine: savory oven-simmered tourtiere and soupe gourgane, thick with hardy broad beans. In the days ahead, we enjoy crepes, croissants spread with local cheeses, herbed northern walleye and cheesy poutine. Saguenay’s tiny potatoes, carrots and beets quickly become veggie favourites. Abundant after July, fresh blueberries inspire scrumptious desserts: pastries, parfaits and tortes.

At Musée du Fjord in La Baie, we bone up on fjord science, facts, and even fanciful myths! We also check out soap making and glass-blowing studios across the street then return to our bayside auberge to spruce up. That evening, Theatre Palace Arvida stages Quebec Issime, tracing Quebec’s musical history. Though far from fluent in French, we immerse ourselves in the power, passion and pizzazz of this sensational review.

Chris and a Huron reenactor discuss while viewing the beautiful shoreline of the fjord village. Photo by Rick Millikan.

Next morning a narrated cruise acquaints us with Saguenay Fjord’s pristine beauty. “Though one of the world’s longest fjords, it’s one of the least known,” announces the captain. “Carved during the ice age, Atlantic and Gulf of St. Lawrence seawater flows into this fjord. Freshwater fish like trout and smelt as well as saltwater species like cod, Atlantic redfish and Greenland shark flourish here, along with 410 species of invertebrates.” Basking seals cluster ashore, but alas no belugas, other whales, or monsters!

Sheer granite cliffs include imposing Cape Eternite, rising 457 metres. The Virgin Mary gazes over the fjord from Cape Trinite, just below. Charles-Napoleon Robitaille installed this 33-foot (10-metre) statue in 1881, in appreciation for surviving his fall through the river’s ice.

Once pictured on $1,000 bills, the port village of L’Anse Saint Jean offers us million dollar views. And inside its covered bridge hangs a dazzling array of local landscapes. Up a winding road through the woods, we look far over this spectacular fjord from its lofty viewpoint.

Hiking from Saguenay National Park’s interpretation centre, we follow the shoreline to a huge monolith sheered from the mountain eons ago, along shaded boardwalks bordering marshes and up tranquil forested trails. Just off the highway in Parc Municipal des Artistes, Quebec’s artisans have created a surprising crèche collection of 20 life-sized nativity scenes, impressive any time of year!

For the next six days, we morph into nomads and cycle around Lac Saint-Jean on the Véloroute des Bleuets. Immersed daily in splendid sights and sounds, we rest our sun-kissed faces, strained muscles and tender tushes each night! Snapping photos of brilliant roadside flowers and sunny vistas, we whiz past fields of golden grain, canola and beans, meander through tiny villages with silvery church steeples and twist through birch, pine and aspen forests with mossy glens carpeted in wild blueberries.

The beginning of the Veloroute des Bleuets. Photo by Chris and Rick Millikan.

This hardy fruit inspires locals to fondly call themselves blueberries, presenting similar sweetness and tenacity. Some of these gracious blueberries appear as red-shirted volunteer ambassadors who shepherd us around this region’s bikeways.

Starting from Alma on Lac Saint-Jean’s southern shore and pedalling hard to Parc Nationale de la Pointe Taillon, we enjoy a much-needed break on the park’s golden beach. Forested trails lead onward to our first welcoming chalet.

Remarkable stops lie ahead. Peribonka’s Musee Louis-Hemon introduces us to Maria Chapdelaine, his blockbuster novel portraying harsh pioneer lives in this rural area. At St. Jeanne d’Arc, our picnic overlooks a 1902 watermill, one of over 200 once used. Inside St. Felicien’s Zoo Sauvage, our tram passes through a heritage farm, fur trading post and native village, all recalling the past. Black bears, caribou, moose, white-tailed deer and muskox appear in their natural habitats. Stopping alongside a prairie dog colony, we breathlessly watch a mama bison. Circled by calves and other cows, she coaxes her newly born calf to stand, patiently licking it clean.

St. Prime’s Musee du Fromage offers us an understanding of the Perron’s 100-year-old process for making prized cheddar, and luscious samples. Along the shoreline in Mashteuiatsh, a museum docent shares her Montagnais heritage. Then after spinning above the shimmering lake through picturesque Roberval, we come to the historic village of Val-Jalbert.

Abandoned in 1927 when its paper mill closed, performers now role-play early villagers amidst 40 restored buildings. On a verandah, a guitar-toting mayor leads us in rousing song. Riding the park gondola to the top of a bluff, we contemplate the roaring waterfalls and spectacular Lac Saint-Jean. Our delicious dinner is served in a section of the refurbished mill. Returning through this ghostly neighbourhood, we bunk in a cozy room on the general store’s third floor.

Lac St. Jean, as seen from Val Jalbert. Photo provided by Chris and Rick Millikan.

Rolling from Desbiens to St.-Gedeon, a popular microbrewery provides a timely spot to refuel for the final push to Alma. Our 256-kilometre odyssey complete, we relinquish trusty two-wheelers and drive to a downtown hotel.

Before leaving Alma, we stroll through an Eden of glorious flowers bordered by cultured forests. The owner transformed an abandoned farm into Jardin Scullion, one of Quebec’s most beautiful gardens.

Moving on to Chicoutimi’s historic centre, our 1899 heritage hotel proves ideal for investigating the city’s early architecture. Hopping a red tourist bus to La Pulperie, we sight this pulp mill’s monumental granite structures. Once nicknamed industrial cathedrals, the most prominent of these buildings is restored as a museum enclosing captivating exhibits. One reveals the city’s enterprising past and the mill workers’ difficult lives. The main gallery showcases self-taught local painter Arthur Villeneuve, whose folk artwork and home vividly detail local life.

Wandering amid fresh produce stalls at Vieux Port’s Farmer’s Market, we find boxes of prized chocolate-covered blueberries for homefolks. Though wishing to bask longer in this region’s splendour, beguiling culture and hospitality of 270,000 sweet “blueberries,” we bid au revoir, until next time!