After a great sleep in the municipal campground, we drove the short distance to the ferry terminal to be first in line as we didn’t have any reservation. This ferry is extremely busy this year because of strikes at other crossing points. We arrived at 11AM for the 3PM crossing and were told we’d have an 80% chance of getting on. We were put into the number 1 standby parking spot. The nice thing about having a van is that you have your home with you, so it was time for a nap.

The ferry arrived and by now many more vehicles had also arrived and there was some concern we might not be able to board after all. Luckily, after measuring the van length, they managed to squeeze us in. Any by squeezed, we mean squeezed. There were barely 4 inches between vehicles. Getting in and out of the van was quite challenging. The contortionists at Cirque du Soleil would have been proud.

On board we quickly made friends with Rufus and his mom. The dog was pretty stressed and a loud mouthed woman nearby didn’t help. He did finally manage to settle down with reassurance from the three of us.

We continued to Rimouski and stayed in the parking lot/informal campground on the pier right next to the Empress of Ireland museum and Onondaga submarine. We were pretty lucky to still get a spot as the place was packed with RVs of all kinds, even one from the North-West Territories!

The morning started with a swim, this time at the sandy beach which is more suited for children because the water there is rather shallow. It was quite windy this morning and we were warned by two different people that the rocky area where we had gone previously was dangerous.

The weather forecast for today included rain and a risk of thunderstorms, so we chose to drive on rather than go for a hike in this beautiful area. We ended up having to stop at a roadside rest area because the rain in the mountains had become quite severe.

Our plan is to switch over to the south shore of the St. Lawrence River and we chose to take the ferry at Les Escoumins, QC. We arrived at the ferry terminal but there was no chance of getting on today, so we took advantage of the again free municipal campground nearby and will try again tomorrow. There is more demand for this ferry than usual because of strikes at other ferry crossings.

The campground is right next to a river and has very clean washrooms and great sites with picnic tables. The security camera at the entrance is the biggest we’ve ever seen!

We extended our stay in Roberval for one more night to partake in the city’s dinner festival of 10,000 people. Really 10,000 people! The city blocks off the main street and sets up tables and chairs. We used our handy Apple Watches to walk from one end to the other and the watch claims we walked 600m. In most places there are two rows of tables, and in some, three rows. In addition, there are tables in parking lots.

You can bring your own meal and drink or you can purchase Lac Saint-Jean Tourtière, along with salad, dessert and a bottle of water for $20 from the IGA. Pickup starts at 5:30. Other restaurants had different selections – one had two large rotisseries with pork and beef.

We still had a bit of time before dinner, so we wandered through town and ended up at the former Ursuline Convent, previously home to 55 nuns. Part of it had burned down some years ago, but some of the wall has been preserved.

Nearby is a museum that offers a glimpse of life during the time of the convent, including tools and historical photographs.

Of particular interest was that the grandfather of one of the women on our tour had lived in this house and there was even a photograph of him from the time. The last owners of the house were artists and there is an exhibition of some of their work upstairs.

Some enterprising people had set up a lemonade stand on the main street and were selling $1 drinks, only to be crushed by a mega-corporation, Tim Horton’s in this case, who served free drinks just a block or two down the street. The little guy always loses!

Tourtière time had now arrived and we were among the first in line to pick up our order. Unlike some other tourtières, the Lac Saint-Jean version includes potato chunks. It was delicious! Dessert was a chocolate cupcake with a blueberry mousse. All in all, a great meal with great company and a chance to practise our French. It was super fun!

No map for today.

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.

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 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 was a more relaxed day, starting with breakfast outside and catching up on our blog posts.

The main activity today was going to see Cirque du Soleil’s KURIOS show. What a spectacular, mesmerizing, and memorable event!

The performance featured amazing feats of strength, precision, skill, story telling and humour. The show captivates you and takes you into a magical, surreal world where the impossible is make possible. One act started with performers sitting at a table and building a tower of chairs at least 8m high and one of the performers then climbing this tower while a second tower was assembled downwards from the ceiling of the tent in an almost mirror-like way.

One of the cutest and most comical acts featured an audience member sitting on a sofa on stage while the “suitor”, tried to impress her while taking on the roles of a bird and cat, communicating solely through gestures, sounds, and movements.

Acrobats performed gravity defying feats that really must be seen to be believed. The precision was astounding! Imagine being launched, flipping backwards and landing on the shoulders of team-mate who himself is standing on the shoulders of two others.

The show, like every other Cirque du Soleil show we’ve experienced, is definitely worth seeing.

After the show we scurried down to the ferry terminal to make it home before the dark skies above opened and released buckets of water. We didn’t quite make it, but were able to take refuge under a tent at the pier. When we arrived at the other side half an hour later, the rain had mostly stopped.

Later in the evening we heard explosions and went out to investigate. There was a massive fireworks display on an island nearby. We had a great view from the shoreline.

No map for today.

Today’s Challenge: Learning to make Montreal Bagels with Will Paquet at the Bagel Class! If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to make this tasty Montreal specialty, this is the place to go! Will was entertaining, a great teacher with a sense of humour and all 12 of us succeeded in almost mastering the art of bagel making. Ruth and Martin represented Team Canada, while the other 10 participants were all from Team USA. Team Canada made the better bagels according to our totally unbiased instructor. 😉

At the end of the class we got to devour our freshly baked, savoury, beautiful creations. Best of all, we got to take home the recipe, so we can now have fresh bagels anytime. We might even share…

Now the looonnngg walk back to the ferry was before us which made Ruth miserable. A calorie rich (and expensive) milk shake helped somewhat and we made it to the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique. A bit of rhythm gave us the energy to continue to the ferry dock.

Cirque du Soleil has a show by the ferry terminal with big tents and we purchased two tickets for tomorrow to see KURIOS.

No map for today.

Today was a day of exploring Montreal and doing a bit of shopping. The campground we’re staying at is right next to the river shuttle that runs from Longueuil to Old Montreal. While waiting in line, a squirrel butted in front, climbed up on a little step stool and begged for its morning Cheetos from the lady in the ticket booth.

We had chocolate croissants at a cafe and Ruth indulged in a latte macchiato before continuing on our rather lengthy 19km walking trip today. Nearby, a Scottish marching band wasn’t quite ready, but the bagpipes were getting warmed up.

Pierres Saint-Denis is Ruth’s favourite bead store and we spent a good hour selecting beads, tools and accessories. We only need to spend another $200 and then Ruth gets the 30% member discount for life. The owner was amazingly helpful and gave us great advice on some more advanced techniques.

Next up was supposed to be a chocolate supply store that has a vast selection of molds, packaging and, of course, chocolate. That would have to wait a bit, because we got side-tracked at Maison de l’Astronomie, a fabulous shop featuring pretty much anything you could ever want in telescopes and related accessories. Henri-Julien Chartrand enlightened us on the various telescopes and assured us that he would only sell us something when we knew what we were buying. Martin was given homework to watch some YouTube videos and read an instruction manual and was told that there would be a test afterwards. Ruth is already slightly worried about how we’re going to fit a telescope in our van. 😉

We finally made it to Chocolate-Chocolate and were overwhelmed by the number of different chocolate molds and packaging available. Fair warning to neighbours and friends – six different molds and a scraper ended up in our basket and so there will be lots of chocolate making to come this fall.

Now hungry like bears, we headed back towards Old Montreal with a stop at Schwartz’s Deli for Montreal Smoked Meat sandwiches. It is always a pleasure to eat there, although this time there wasn’t a huge lineup as there usually is. This was great for us, because otherwise we would have missed the last ferry back to our campground.

No map today.