Charlevoix 1

This is Baie-St-Paul, looking back upriver to the west, toward Quebec City. From here we drove north along the coast, up and down the steep cliffs, through the picturesque little villages of Les Eboulaments and St-Irénée, to La Malbaie/Point-au-Pic and our destination, Cap a l"Aigle (Eagle Cape.) Les Eboulements has an interesting geological history which I didn't know about until we got back (quotes below are from various sections of the Wikipedia:)

Les Éboulements is located in the centre of the Charlevoix crater. Mount Éboulements (Mont des Éboulements), in the eastern part of the municipality, is considered the central rebound of the earth's crust following moments after the meteor impact some 350 million years ago.

(In the photo at left, Baie-St-Paul is the bay at the righthand bottom of the semicircle; La Malbaie is the bay at the top. Les Eboulements is at the right center, just next to the river and this paragraph.)

The impact origin of Charlevoix crater was first realized in 1965 after the discovery of many shatter cones in the area...90% of the inhabitants of the Charlevoix now live within the crater.

In February 1663, a strong earthquake shook the Charlevoix region and triggered a large landslide down the slopes that characterize the hills of the area along the Saint Lawrence coast. Among the many eyewitnesses that testified to the significance of the event, priest Lalement wrote: "near the Bay called St. Paul, there was a small mountain alongside the river, a quarter of a league in circumference, which was abyssed, and as if it had not done that dive, it came out of the bottom to change into an islet." Thereafter the area was known as les Éboulements (French for "the landslides")

This region is about two hours northeast of Quebec City, five hours from Montreal. The tide reaches Quebec City- weakly, I think - but by the time you are at La Malbaie the river really feels like ocean. It's a saltwater estuary, full of a fascinating mixture of freshwater and marine life, and very beautiful. Ironically perhaps, considering its dramatic formation, the whole Charlevoix region has a reputation for peaceful charm, freshness and beauty, and for the excellence of its fish, farm products, cheeses, and even wine. It's very sparsely populated, and when you look north toward the mountains, all you see are trees: the boreal forest.

This was the view from the porch of our friend's house:

And here are the little fresh trout we had for dinner, brought to her by another friend that morning. I did the beheading and cooking honors, and it reminded me so much of my own childhood, when we used to go out and catch fish and clean and eat them for dinner.

Yes - those are the same as my own plates - an odd coincidence. Unfortunately, we were also someone's dinner: in spite of insect repellant, hats, turtlenecks, and citronella candles, the vicious black flies drove us inside after we finished our main course, and we spent a good while that evening dousing our painful, itchy bites with Benadryl and calamine lotion.

The house was an un-winterized cottage, quaint and rustic. Here's the view out our bedroom window toward the garden wall and street:

And the dining room, with a bowl of fresh peaches, the first we've had this season (these are from Ontario):

I loved this poster on the dining room wall, appropriate because there were birds everywhere. The house had a very warm feeling; we liked it.

Tomorrow, a trip to the beach at Port-au-Persil.

Comments

[Rachel Barenblat]

How beautiful, Beth -- photos and story and the glimpse of this cabin. Thank you for this window into a beautiful place where I have never been!

[Sharyn]

our black flies are pretty much gone by now. Makes it nice to be outside. I remember being in Ontario and they were the size of house flies.