To Rivi�re �ternit� and back�
9:34 a.m.
We stopped at a very nice restaurant in Tadoussac as soon as we got off the ferry for a light lunch. The sound system was playing golden oldies from our youth, which made us feel very good. The cream of leek soup also filled a void. I�m including a link to a map I found which shows part of our trip along the St. Lawrence and the north shore of the Saguenay. It also shows the towns we drove through on our trip back. Just off the left edge of the map is the city of Chicoutimi, which was merged with Jonqui�re during the forced amalgamations to form the city of Saguenay. We found our friends� house without too much trouble (D. guided us in on our cell phone) and they fed us a light supper before they had to go out to a meeting and their son�s soccer game.
Actually, therein lies a tale. N. had prepared a light collation because they had invited the violist in the quartet with his wife and kids to meet us. They too were on their way to another engagement so only stayed for a short visit, but it was nice to see L. again. N. had put out crackers and p�t� de volaille (chicken liver), pitas with babaganouj (I am allergic to eggplant), and mussles in a sauce (I detest molluscs). She felt so awful that there was nothing I would eat that she went ahead and made pasta and salad with ch�vre on toasted baguette rounds. This sort of hearkens back to an earlier discussion where it is a good idea to find out what your guests do and don�t eat beforehand, n�est-ce pas?
Hubby went to the soccer game, but I stayed home and got caught up on diaries and chatted a bit with some people online. I couldn�t update at that point because their keyboard is set up for French, and I couldn�t figure anything out, such as where the apostrophes were and even the question mark. It was just a tad frustrating.
The next morning D. took us on a gargantuan hike to the cliffs overlooking the fjord at Cap Trinit�. We stopped at the IGA to buy supplies for lunch, and then again at the town of Rivi�re d��ternit� (where we saw the cr�ches on our trip homeward) for bottled water. I also bought a cap advertising the grocery store since I had forgotten to bring my straw hat on the trip. We drove into the park along the river, parked near the interpretation centre, and soon were headed upward. Much of the trail has been made more accessible by the addition of stairways, but since it was a vertical climb, I tired very easily and the menfolk had to be waiting for me quite a bit. Damn these short legs! There is a viewpoint near the beginning of the hike that looks over the mouth of the river, showing the delta in all its siltitude. At the end of the trail you encounter the statue of the Virgin placed there in 1881 by C.-N. Robitaille after he nearly died from going through the ice near Lac Saint-Jean. You can read all about it here.
The views from the statue�s berth were incredible, and with our backs to it we could ignore it. However, if you turned around and looked up towards the summit of the point (the statue is only on the second hump, so to speak), you could see where some enterprising, god-fearing Qu�becois had scaled the heights and placed a cross overlooking the fjord. This is the one thing I really detest about my province: you can�t go anywhere (and I mean literally anywhere) without these reminders of its Catholic past. Every mountaintop has a cross and every village has a giant Christ-bedecked crucifix as you drive into town. I suppose I should be used to it by now, but then again, I find religious displays distasteful anywhere except perhaps in a house of worship.
The hike back to the car was more downhill than up this time, and I found it much easier going, except that my knees were starting to feel the effects of gravity. At the interpretation centre we had tea/coffee and a snack, and then picked up a hitchhiker on our way out of the park who had left his car at the entry parking lot. He was a sailor from France who had been traveling all over Quebec on his own.
Back in Chicoutimi, I had a nap before supper, which was fabulous. N. is a great cook. She barbecued zucchini slices and coloured peppers (neither of which I can prepare at home because Buddy Boy hates them), and served them with basmati rice and salmon marinated in ginger and also barbecued. Dessert was apple crisp and ice cream. Yum! We sat around afterwards telling jokes and talking, drinking Grand Marnier and port. We hikers were just too tired to stay up late though.
And you can click back a couple to read about our trip home.
from ladybug-red :
Sounds like you had a great time - quite a lovely trip and some much needed coupling time. It is funny that I just assumed foreign language keyboards were configured similarly to English keyboards - but that is silly assumption! Now I really want to see a Japanese keyboard. Thanks for tickling my brain on that one.
from coldandgray :
so peaceful and pleasant, what a nice trip
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