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I felt that the Sept-Îles youth hostel was great but this one was even better. The place was full up with people from all over the world but I got in for I had fortunately made a reservation before leaving Montreal for Greenland.
Here is the large common room with the dining tables on the left.
This hostel is a not-for-profit organisation with an all volunteer staff.
In this picture, the dean of volunteers, André Tremblay, and a Belgian tourist, Véronique Stucker are cutting up seal meat into titbits so that everyone can sample it as an extra to the evening meal.
We had a huge spaghetti for dinner. I enjoyed the seal meat, it must have been eating kelp for it had a unique iodine flavour.
This colourful restaurant was just next door to the youth hostel...
while this more conservative bed and breakfast stood across the street.
This small chapel, a Tadoussac landmark built in 1747, is said to be the oldest wooden church extant in Canada.
Tadoussac has made the whale watching business its speciality. Some 60 vessels from 200 passenger ships to the 10 passenger zodiacs seen here, hold licences to chase after whales where the relatively warm sweet water from the Saguenay river meets the ice cold salt water of the St-Laurence estuary.
Instead of whale chasing, I chose a six hour cruise up the Saguenay river aboard the Cavalier Royal.
Most passengers were on the top deck when I took this picture.
Here is the entrance of the fjord.
The 70 km long, 280 m deep fjord was carved out of the ancient Laurentian mountains by glacial action during the last ice age some 12 000 years ago.
Anse-de-Roche on the north shore of the Saguenay is a favourite destination of campers and trekers.
The fjord can be as much as 2 km wide at places like here. Warm sweet water from rain runoff flows over the ice cold heavy salt water that invaded the fjord at the end of the ice age about 6000 years ago.
Anse-Saint-Jean on the south shore is also a favourite destination for nature lovers.
The glassed-in boat tied up at the end of the marina is evidence of tourist activity.
Finally we reach the two highest cliffs of the fjord, the abrupt, wooded Cap Éternité and the three level more rocky Cap Trinité a short way upstream.
Here is a closer view of Cap Éternité.
And a closer view of Cap Trinité named for its three level profile.
The 1000 foot Cap Trinité is impressive close up.
Here is another view.
It was too windy to stop at Baie Trinité so the Cavalier Royal continued upstream for another hour before turning back.
Here we are looking forward as we sail towards Sainte-Rose-du-Nord.
And in this picture, we are looking aft, halfway back to Tadoussac.
Here you can see power lines moving vast amounts of hydro power from the Manicouagan and Churchill stations to Montreal at a once record breaking 735 000 volts. There are three such crossings.
Finally, we can see the open expanse of the Saint Laurence estuary in front of us.
I was delighted to have had such nice weather for this cruise after all the rain and fog I had just traversed.
Back to Tadoussac with the big multi star Hôtel Tadoussac with the red roof on the right. If you look carefully you can just make out the small historic chapel on the right edge of the photo.
There was a good bunch of people in the youth hostel and the atmosphere in the bar was just great!
We had a last gab in the sun the next morning before leaving for Montreal with Matthew Davis (in the center) and Ouali Berkane (in the red jacket) in Matthew's rented car.
The region between Tadoussac and Quebec city is called Charlevoix. We enjoyed driving through this rural zone of small farms and wooded land that scores high among the most beautiful in Québec.
After crossing Quebec city we sped down 250 km of dull super highway reaching polluted Montreal all too soon.
I was glad to get back to my comfortable apartment but I soon started to wonder where I would like to go after I get my new steel knee!
