Leaf Peeping Day 3 &4 - Bar Harbor to Tadoussac to Québec City

Once again our day began very early.  We had a solid 6 hours in the car to get to the ferry that would take us to that night's destination.  If we missed the ferry, we'd be stuck on one side of the St. Lawrence and miss whale watching the next morning.  We wanted a good cushion of time to ensure we had no issues.

Driving out of Bar Harbor in the wee morning hours, we encountered fog and it was rough going for a while on the country roads.  But the farmlands, the fog settling in the valleys, and the beautiful autumn colors made for dramatic scenery.  We stopped just before the Canadian border to get some gas and some coffee and then crossed into New Brunswick.  We weren't there very long and then we crossed into Québec.  There was a lot of car time that day but arriving in the little village of Tadoussac was worth it.

On the ferry ride across the St. Lawrence river we saw three blue whales.  We had lots of attention from the Québecois boathands and enjoyed our crossing with their narrations and recommendations for things to do in Tadoussac.  We stayed at the lovely Hotel Tadoussac which is the prominent fixture of the town.

As soon as we arrived Christi went to do laundry and I went for a run/hike around a point and up to a scenic viewpoint overlooking the Saguenay Fjord.  Later, we enjoyed a nice dinner at Cafe Bohème.  It was cold at night and the next morning we went for a chilly but beautiful run along a road out to the massive Tadoussac Sand Dunes, created a long time ago by glacial friction along the rocky coast.

The only thing on our agenda that day was to go whale watching and we were scheduled to go at 9am.  We departed and got on our boat and took to the river in search of large marine life.  It didn't take long before we spotted our first whale, a fin whale, and progressively saw one other fin whale, three humpback whales, and lots of harbor seals and minke whales.  (Sidenote: all the French-Canadians kept saying the word "minky", referring to the minke whale, and all I could think of was Inspector Clouseau.)

My pictures are not awesome because I wanted to stop trying to take good pictures and just enjoy watching in person. The captain and officers on the ship invited Christi and I into the wheelhouse and showed us all the books of the different whales that hang out around Tadoussac.  They let us sit in the chairs and steer the boat.  One of them invited us out to his house in the country "to see his herd of horses".  

Funny story: they were asking us about our travels and they asked us how we had arrived at Tadoussac.  I said that we had taken the ferry over from Trois-Pistolets.  The town is actually called Trois-Pistoles, meaning three coins.  I had called it Three Pistols, as in, guns.  The captain laughed and laughed.  He kept telling all the officers to watch out for me because I was packing heat.  I loved that he was making fun of me in french.  When I disembarked he and I both made guns out of our hands like so...

at each other when we said our goodbyes.  Then we put our respective weapons back in their imaginary holsters and shook hands.  A worthy adversary, I'd say.  I'm still laughing thinking about it.  

While in the wheelhouse, chatting it up with the crew and being invited to their country manors, we learned a lot about the whale population in Tadoussac.  Specifically, we learned that there are several that are well known and they have names: Snow White, Blizzard, and one of them is even called Casper.  These are just the humpbacks because their various tail markings are easy to identify.  It was a really great morning out on the water.  But in my life, whenever water is involved, things are pretty great.  

The naturalist guide who went with us on the tour and narrated and told us all about the environment and the whale life common in the St. Lawrence River was also funny in that socially awkward, dorky way that absolutely kills me.  When Christi and I were in the wheelhouse with the other crew, he came in to radio another boat about which humpback we had just seen and he just randomly sang the beginning of the song "Tequila" but instead of the title, he said "BELUGA!" and then kept singing the song.  I could not have asked for a more fantastic group of crazy Canucks to hang out with for three hours. 

After the whale watching, we docked, took a quick trip around the town and around a scenic path to look at the fjord.  Then we hopped in the car to head to Québec City.  We arrived late afternoon into our tiny hotel room in the Old City, right on the walls overlooking the port.  We went out to dinner at a Provençale restaurant and after a good meal, went to bed pretty quickly.  The next day we would finish up in Québec City and head to Montreal.