Montmagny to Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec – 13 June 2023
We were pleasantly surprised when we reached Camping Du Quai in Rivière-du-Loup, our last stop in Quebec. We were situated across the road from the St Lawrence river with gorgeous views. There was a trail that started at the end of our road and continued along the river up to Parc du Pointe where there was a harbour, promenade and a ferry terminal connecting the lower St Lawrence and Charlevoix regions on opposite sides of the river saving driving time.
There are various legends about the name of this town. The first legend tells of a French ship “Le Loup”, said to have an anchorage at the mouth of the river in the winter of 1659-1660. The second stems from a tribe of Indians known as “Les Loups” that made their home on the site of the present town. The third legend comes from numerous seals that use to congregate at the mouth of the river. These must have been a while ago as we didn’t see any. We discovered a large Indian Head sculpture near the harbour which sat looking out across the Pointe. Apparently a gift given to a resident who once had a small Indian craft store here. Now a popular photographed spot.
It was a chance to chill a little after all the exploring of the last couple of weeks. I got caught up on work again and we both used the time to practice our new instruments – him in the bedroom and me in the office, going out every so often to take Jax for a short walk in the area. There seemed to be quite a bit of wildlife in the area. Besides tons of birds, we spotted a family of Foxes playing by the water and also quite a few fat Marmots. Rivere du loup is a well known whale watching area but unfortunately it was not quite the season yet and we never saw any.
That evening we ordered in some food from St Hubert as we had not had a chance to do a weekly grocery shop. My chicken and veg bowl was very tasty and so was Derek’s peri peri chicken. We also got a bowl of poutine to share as it was the last time to try traditional Quebec poutine before leaving Quebec. That was very tasty too.
The following day we visited and hiked in the Parc des Chutes (Waterfall Park) which is just steps from downtown Riviere du Loup. The park has about 10 km of woodland trails through a heritage orchard. The focal point of the park is the 109 ft waterfall and a hydro electric power station which was recently restored and is now generating electricity once again. Both can be seen from a bridge as you enter the park. This power station sells its electricity to Hydro-Quebec. Derek was able to take some photos of the hydro electric generator and was also brave enough to look over the edge of platform above the waterfall and take a video. I had to sit down and hold on for dear life.
