We arrived in Saguenay Fjord late last night; this morning, we opened our curtains and saw the village in the first light of day.
After breakfast, we bundled up (the temperature was about 4º (Celsius, fortunately) and it was windy) and set out for “A Cultural Walk in Saguenay” with our local guide Lise.
We started at the shore of Ha! Ha! Bay where we learned a little local history; the biggest industry used to be pulp and paper, but now it’s smelting aluminum. Bauxite ore is shipped from all over the world to take advantage of the very low energy prices here, thanks to copious hydroelectric power (Lise mentioned that her fully-electric house has an annual energy bill of about $1100 US!).
There are several theories about how Ha! Ha! Bay got its name. Was it because the French mariners who first found it were surprised? Or was it derived from a French term for an “unexpected obstacle”? Or was it a First Nations name that got changed as it was written down? I like the last theory, but I have no basis for my opinion. :-)
We took a very welcome break from the wind at Auberge des 21 (named after the original 21 French settlers here), where we had a morning snack of local wild blueberry pie and Labrador tea.
It was a lot warmer by the time we left Auberge des 21 for the short walk to our next stop, Créations ANICKO. Anicko told us how she left Saguenay for college and eventually returned to make art and run her boutique.
She mostly sells clothing and accessories with her designs on them, but she also creates and sells original paintings; she was willing to let me show the one she is currently working on.
Our next stop was just down the block at Savonnerie Chèvre-Feuille, where Yvon makes goat milk soap. He’d made a fresh batch yesterday and showed us how he takes it out of the press, cuts it into reasonably-sized bars, and puts it aside to dry for a month before it’s ready for sale and use.
Our final stop was another artist’s boutique, “à Moi de Moi”, where the owner Mélanie showed how she paints on fabric and creates everything from tea towels to purses to lots of clothing. I didn’t get a chance to take any photos in the boutique – our group filled it up pretty well!
After that, Lise brought us back to the port, showing us a few other interesting sights along the way.
Diane and I took another walk through town before returning to the ship; we stopped at the Magasin Général du Quai, but didn’t find anything there we really wanted (I even passed up all the local candy!), but I didn’t feel too bad about that, since we’d already done our part to support the local artisans (the paper bag contains four bars of goat milk soap).
We had a light lunch and then went back to our cabin to work on photos. While we were there, we heard a squadron of Canada Geese flying overhead on their way south for the winter.
We left the village of Saguenay Fjord around 2:30 and sailed back down the fjord to rejoin the St. Lawrence. The highlight of this segment was a chance to see the Statue of Notre-Dame-du-Saguenay, which was originally built in 1881 to honor a vow that Charles-Napoléon Robitaille, a traveling salesman made after he was miraculously saved from dying after he fell into freezing water when the the ice broke under him while he was heading towards Lac Saint-Jean. He struggled in vain and finally asked the Blessed Virgin to save him; he was miraculously able to get out of the water and was saved.
The statue wasn’t the only thing worth photographing on this leg, of course.
Cap Trinité, which holds the statue, was quite impressive on its own.
We had hoped to see some more whales on our way back to the St. Lawrence, but it got too dark before we reached the likeliest area to see them, so I put the camera away and we went to dinner.
