Tag: Les Burgeronnes

Canada, Les-Bergeronnes

Cap-de-Bon-Desire, Longue-Rive and Portneuf

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46℉ at 5:30 and high of 70

Monday, September 12, 2016

I would love to keep driving north as there are many things to see and explore, but I need to fly to Baltimore for a few days, so we will turn south tomorrow. With that in mind, we drove north to explore a couple of towns, and it is always interesting. We stopped at Cap-de-Bon-Desire for an hour and then on to Longue-Rive and Portneuf sur-Mer. Both have incredible salt marshes where we learned that Canada has 25% of the salt marshes of the world. There were hundreds of seagulls, and we saw several Blue Herons and a falcon. There were a lot of geese, and we are starting to see ducks migrating. 

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We stopped for lunch at a busy diner where truck drivers were giving each other grief in a dialect that sounded like Creole from New Orleans or a Guinneman on the Chesapeake. They were having a big time and making the busy waitress smile, but we couldn’t understand a word.

Back at camp we did a load of laundry, then took a little wine and peanuts back to Cap-de-Bon-Desire for one more visit, and what a show we saw. It was slow at first, but as the sun set maybe six whales fed along a slick edge or water a hundred yards away. You can only take so many pictures of whale’s backs, and then you just relax and watch the show. The park is only open Wednesday to Sunday now, but you can walk in. It’s probably a mile and a half walk all the way to the water. Maybe it’s less, but it’s a pretty good hike. No matter, there were maybe 25 people there, enjoying a beautiful evening in a beautiful spot where whales, ducks and seagulls pass right in front of you, and the sky turns pink as the sun sets.

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Museums

Centre D’Interpretation Archéo Topo

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Topo means story. This museum is situated at the ferry that crosses the St. Lawrence to Trois Pistoles, which by the way was named for a silver goblet that was lost in the river. It was worth three pistoles (Spanish gold coins). Walking in we met Martin, a man of French and Innu heritage, who has a great sense of humor. Surprised to have walked into a coffee shop/gift shop, I began looking at a couple of taxidermy displays. I read about the world-class taxidermy collection. Surely there was more than this. After Martin finished joking with me, we paid $5 each and followed him into a movie room. He sat on the table and for a while explained his heritage and the native heritage of the region. Although his English was pretty good, I had a hard time getting everything. Native Americans have been here since the Ice Age began its retreat, but there was no scientific evidence until Louis Gagnon devoted 20 years to researching the area. The museum tells his incredible story and houses many of his findings. It also tells the story of how difficult it was to travel and survive in the area, showing many of the ways plants and animals were used for medicines and foods. It is not a big museum, but we found we just could not absorb it all in one visit.

The next room is filled with incredible taxidermy displays of so many of the animals and fish of Cote-Nord. Brilliantly done!

You can click on any picture to see a larger view and/or to comment. I have never seen a mink, but these little rascals look soooo cute!

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