Really need to have an auto save on this phone…and maybe there is but I haven’t found it yet. Sigh. Lost my notes from this morning. Good thing there were not many to lose and I still have enough mental acuity to recreate them. Anyway… Walked around Saguenay (to be totally accurate, this is La Baie) a little bit and learned a little bit.
Saguenay is a city, but not one like you would expect. Originally comprised 3 little towns: La Baie (where our ship is docked and we are walking about), Chicoutimi and Jonquière (plus a few other surrounding municipalities, Laterrière, Tremblay, Lac-Kénogami, and Shipshaw.). This happened in 2002. Since then it has been further organized into 3 boroughs, Chicoutimi Borough (Chicoutimi, Laterrière, and Tremblay), Jonquière Borough (Jonquière, Lac-Kénogami, and Shipshaw) and La Baie Borough (which is the former town of La Baie). All distinct locations that we would look at as being their own little town, but really all part of a bigger picture.
Saw that we could have taken a helicopter ride departing from the info center near the ship. It was only $140 Canadian tax included per person for 10 minutes. So…5 minutes out, 5 minutes back. Hmmm… Or we could have gone for 17 minutes at $215 per person. Yeah…I don’t think so. Decided on a 4-Hour tour around the area instead. Hope it doesn’t turn into a Gilligan’s Island adventure. 😉
Natalie is our guide for our tour and Michael is our driver. He doesn’t speak English but she is fluent in English, French and Spanish so no communication problems are likely. 😊
Saguenay has a population of about 15,000 but as many as 10,000 can flood their gates when they get 3 cruise ships in port, which they sometimes do during the summer.
It definitely gets hot in the summer…35c is not uncommon and winter temps go the complete opposite with -40 showing up from time to time. This morning was about 12c when we left the ship with a little breeze. Coming off the water, it did nothing to make us feel warmer.
Their biggest industry here is aluminum which is processed from bauxite which is shipped in from Australia, Brazil and Guinea. So much aluminum processing goes on in this area it’s sometimes called the ‘aluminum valley’. The bauxite comes by way of container ship into this same area our ship is at.
In July of 1996 there was a massive flood here in Saguenay. Within a 48 to 72 hour time frame, approximately 275 mm (closing in on a foot) of rain fell. Ten people died, 16,000 evacuated, almost 500 homes destroyed and over 1,000 more damaged. One house that survived was La Petite Maison Blanche (The Little White House). The owner of the home, seeing all the rain and destruction happening around him, started praying. Intensely. His house was the only one in the immediate area that was spared. Right after he had a statue of Jesus put on his front lawn which has been there ever since. As an interesting side note, he has also since won (yep…checked it out) $40 million in a Canadian lottery. Still calls Saguenay (and that house) his home but does a LOT of travelling now.
A significant reason for the flooding was that a dam broke which then let one of the rivers pour into the area. That breakage happened due to poor maintenance and non-compliance of some safety standards. Needless to say, there were a number of inquires after the fact that also led to more rigorous emergency planning.
Another outcome was the Pyramide des Ha! Ha!. It is built from 3,000 yield signs and stands as a symbol of resilience.
During the winter, this area where the ships come in (til about the 3rd week of October) freezes dramatically. So much so the entire area becomes an ice-fishing village. People all over have their own personal ice houses, complete with bed and kitchen. Most keep them in their yard, beside or behind their regular home. As long as the ice gets to be about 40cm (around 15” and normally it gets to be about 20”) everyone pulls out the house onto the water. There are about 60 varieties of fish so no shortage of lunch/dinner choices. In the summer, they often have beluga whales and, sometimes, even the odd blue whale will show up. Typically, because it’s lost, but still…
There are about 150 lakes in this immediate area with a total of about 35,000 lakes in Saguenay. That number is accurate; I did some fact checking. Hard to (wait for it…..) fathom. 😊
Blueberries are very popular here. Blueberry festival hosted in later October (which we will miss ☹ ). Beer, ice cream, cheese, chocolate covered…and so many other choices.
Old school bread oven (the ones that look like an outdoor pizza oven) are all over. Sign of older times when electricity was not so prevalent.
Now we’re at the Parc National du Fjord-du-Saguenay. Going to take a short hike to for some picture opportunities.
Saguenay has its own flag: Green –> nature; Grey –> aluminum; Red –> blood line in our veins; Yellow –> agriculture
WAAAAAAAAAY back when, regular transportation was horse and rider. In winter, while crossing bridges, horses would sometimes slip and fall into the water along with their rider. Hence…covered bridges. This particular bridge was the one that was shown on the Canadian $1,000 bill (which is no longer produced as of 2000). Inside, along the walls, are paintings and pictures by local artists. And yes it is very much a working bridge. We had to get out of the way many times.
Back to the ship, well in time before sail away. We’ve been very fortunate in that it has Never been Us holding up the ship, or missing it entirely. In fact, this time everyone was on board early so the ship managed to leave port a few minutes ahead of schedule. That’s rare.
Unfortunately, because the very front of the ship is no longer accessible, we can’t get the same sail away views that we have had in the past. However, our balcony affords us a very nice view as we are leave La Baie down the St. Lawrence River. The people that live in this particular house must have the most amazing year round views!! However, getting to and from their home may also present its own challenges, especially in the winter.
Tonight’s dinner will be at ‘Catch by Rudi’. So far, and we’ve just barely gotten to the appetizers, it has been totally worth it. Absolutely outstanding. If it weren’t so impolite we would lick the bowl. Sparkling wine with a blueberry when we sat down. Capinado with fresh baguette to help peruse the menu.
Then on to the appies…Seafood Tower (crab claw, raw tuna, salmon) for my dear wife. Panko crusted calamari with a spicy aioli for myself.
Chalk Hill Sauv Blanc and Penfolds Chardonnay for our main. Both very good…step up from the other night. Not downplaying last nights wine, it was just Not Quite as delicious as this evening’s choice.
Main for both of us will be Shitake Crusted Halibut with bok choy, fava beans, scallion, teriyaki glace served with sides of ratatouille, fingerling potatoes and cauliflower puree.
The plates are completely empty. If I was really pushed to make one slightly negative comment, it would be that the halibut was a little dry. However. to be totally fair, halibut is not the juiciest of fish to begin with. And when you have a shitake crust, it tends to suck out additional moisture. That being said, it was on the plate, and the plate is empty. That should speak for itself. Cappuccinos are coming. So is dessert. Not that we need it, but it’s included, and it would be very impolite to say no. And my mother did not raise me to be an impolite individual.
Chantilly Love for dessert which is Croquembouche with chocolate sauce drizzled over top. Our waitress left the cute fish carafe that still has chocolate sauce in it, so that it can be poured into our cappuccino. Please don’t let there be anymore.
Feeling much a like a stuffed pig (and bearing some resemblance to same I suspect) the room beckons as does the bed with a little tv watching before nodding off. It’s been a long day so please accept my apologies for a delay in getting this posted.
Night night….