After four days in the Montreal area it was time to move on. (For those following along, without a telescope). We decided to head up to the Lac Saint Jean area as we haven’t previously visited there.

Since we don’t plan our trips we have the freedom to stop anywhere we like when we see something of interest. Today that was Les Forges Du Saint-Maurice, a National Historic site operated Parks Canada. The Saint-Maurice Ironworks was the first industrial community in Canada and was active from 1730-1883.

The construction of the Ironmaster’s house began in 1737. Like all other building at the Forge du Saint-Maurice, it was abandoned when the production stopped in 1883 and destroyed some years later. It was rebuilt on its original foundations in 1990.

The exhibits at the visitors centre explain the history of the site, its management over the years, the products it produced over the years, and the processes by which iron ore is transformed into usable objects.

A blast furnace simulator allows you to actively learn what it was like to work there.

No visit to Quebec is complete without a visit to Rotisserie St. Hubert and today was our day. For those accustomed to Swiss Chalet in Ontario, beware, the Quebec chickens are substantially larger. Order accordingly!

For tonight we found a little park right at the lake in Shawinigan where you’re allowed to stay for up to 24 hours free of charge. Can’t beat that! We had a nice walk along the lake, considered going for a swim or kayak but ultimately we talked at length to a young woman who had two husky mix dogs.

Today’s plan was to visit La Cité de l’Énergie before moving on to the Lac Saint Jean area. As usual, things sometimes take longer than expected. This museum gives a fantastic presentation of the role of energy and its forms, starting with an immersive 360 degree presentation. We learned about the various sources of energy (oil, natural gas, nuclear, solar, hydro, wind, biomass, marine, etc) that we consume on a daily basis and pros and cons of each of these types.

Many of the exhibits are interactive and teach concepts.

We could even take a selfie.

The museum incorporates a former power transmission tower that supported power lines across the St. Lawrence River and now encircles an observation tower. One can take an elevator up to a viewing area and see the City of Shawinigan and the five hydroelectric generating stations that are located here.

Power generation in Shawinigian dates back to 1898 with the creation of the Shawinigian Water and Power Company. The town was a company town and was laid out modelled on New York and thus has its own Broadway Ave. The city once had an aluminum smelter and a number of chemical industries that profited from the bountiful electricity.

The last part of our visit was a tour of one of the historic generation stations where we learned a great deal about the water pipes and alternators that make up a generation station.

A great deal of the electrical equipment was made by Canadian Westinghouse in Hamilton, Ontario!

Now famished after so much science and learning, we had to replenish our own energy at the cafeteria. A hamburger, fries and Haagen-Daz ice cream did the trick!

The facility houses the Jean Chrétien Museum and gives a great overview of Canada’s role in international affairs. Ruth was happy to see a section devoted to Aline Chrétien that featured many of the outfits she wore at official functions but more importantly spoke to her personal accomplishments internationally and nationally.

It was now too late to continue to Lac Saint-Jean so we returned to our free camping spot by the lake and spent most of the evening talking with fellow travellers Marc and Aline instead of going for a healthy swim.

After saying goodbye to our new friends and with a great hint on where to spend tonight, we departed Shawinigan for Roberval on Lac Saint-Jean. The highway along the river offered beautiful sights and wasn’t too busy with only two construction sites. Surprisingly, the gas prices in the towns along the way were $0.10/litre cheaper than in Shawinigan. Martin was rather upset about this, having had just refuelled up this morning.

We arrived at the Parc de la Pointe Scott in Roberval which offers a public beach as well as a free municipal campground where one can stay for up to three nights. There was an event on and we weren’t allowed into the park until 6PM, so we drove back to the town and walked around exploring and eventually having a late smoked meat lunch at Restaurant Emporte-moi.

While having lunch, a stage was being set up for a concert later that evening. We listened to the sound check and decided it would be worth coming back in the evening.

There were already quite a number of RVs and trailers in the campground but we were able to find a spot. This weekend is the Traversée International du lac St-Jean, a 32 km swim across the lake and 10,000 people are expected to arrive in town to watch the event.

While we’re probably too late to register for the 32 km swim ourselves, we thought it is never too late to train for next year, so we went for a drip ourselves. The water was warm and the rocks not too slippery. (We didn’t go to the sandy beach area as that is perhaps more suitable for children).

Refreshed we walked the 2 km to the downtown area to listen to Majestyx, a Styx tribute band. The area in front of the stage was packed with people and the band played hit after hit while the audience danced, clapped and sang along.