Ever since Covid started, Quebec has been blasting these tourism ads encouraging me to see the wonderful beauty across our province.
As I’ve started driving more out into the Eastern Townships, I have come to appreciate the neverending forests draping mountains that prove Mount Royal is a hill. In the past I’ve been to a few nature parks and experienced some of the amazing nature out there. Today however, we drove farther across Quebec than I have ever been.
I am writing this sitting in a quaint bread & breakfast styled hotel in Grandes Bergeronnes, a town about a 15 minute drive away from Tadoussac.
Tomorrow we’re going to go whale watching and this place seemed as good as any to spend a couple of nights.
Basically I’m about 506 KM away from Montreal and the nearest Couche Tard is literally 90 minutes away.
The Drive Part 1: Montreal to Quebec City
I had lofty hopes of buying a dash cam until I realized there was no good plug & play dashcam option, a realization that I accepted standing in a Best buy in Quebec City.
We left around 7:30 in the morning with a desire to stop at a few places along the way, no plans, just desire. The ride down to Quebec City had minimal traffic and was quaint, we took the route below the St Lawrence river, which I’ve never taken before. Arguably it’s a pretty mid drive, mostly farmland and homogenous views.
Once we arrived we went to Best Buy but I have no idea where to plug a dashcam into my Nissan Sentra, yes I Googled it, no I couldn’t find an answer. We then drove over to Old Quebec City, with the intention of stopping at the nice brunch spot. It had a crazy line so we got breakfast Poutines at a spot called L’Omelette.
Old Quebec City is like a less good version of the Old Port in Montreal, but it does have a fort. I’m a sucker for a fort next to a famous battle like at the Plains of Abraham. Anyway I’d go back and see more Quebec City, ideally I can go rap though.
Fed, caffeinated and ready for adventure, we hit the road.
The Drive Part 2: The mandatory waterfall visit
What I found out, like yesterday, is that Bonnie was keen on seeing a waterfall.
After some on road Googles, it turned out there was a waterfall taller than Niagara Falls about 20 minutes away. So we went there and took advantage of an opportunity to burn some calories. They also offered a little zipline ride, which of course we paid for.
The hike around this waterfall was beautiful. It was max 2 KM the whole circuit. Plenty of great views at different elevation, making you honestly feel like you’re seeing something fresh each time.
If you’ve never been to a waterfall before, you are missing out. It’s just crazy watching the water flow in different directions, at different speeds, in perfect harmony. It’s the type of thing that makes you really appreciate living in a city, while enjoying escaping it.
When we got to the zipline ride, the guy was quite content that we may or may not have smoked weed. He wished he could join us. The zipline was actually crazy, but I was a little afraid and Bonnie laughed at me pretty hard.
She wants to buy the video so my look of cowardice can be immortalized.
Become a paying Substack subscriber and I’ll email you a copy.
The Drive Part 3: Heading towards the Tadoussac Ferry
I will say one thing I learned driving past Quebec City, the province gets extra beautiful.
The drive from Montreal to Quebec City has nothing on the drive from Quebec City to Tadoussac. The mountains get way more intense and nature gets amplified. Once you start seeing the St. Lawrence’s coves and shoreline, it’s an added bonus.
The downside is when you get to construction, these two lane roads become one lane. You may wait literally 10 minutes for the guy to let your direction start driving again. We hit three of those stops on our way.
I will give you one bit of advice, once you hit Saint-Siméon, it’s the end of regular civilization. That is the last McDonalds, it’s so important it has a highway sign 23 KM away advertising it. But for real, past that point, you are in the living existence of small town Quebec.
There are stores, but it’s probably a good idea to stock up before you hit that point.
The Drive Part 4: The ferry & last stretch to the hotel
I’ve never been on a ferry before, so it was pretty fun.
I am willing to belt the novelty has worn off for life. That being said, we have at least one ferry ride left to get back home. Three more ferry rides if we want to go party somewhere. Basically you just line up, drive the car in, park, then get out and walk up to the hangout spot.
Or sit in your car if you’d prefer.
The whole process took about 20 minutes and was pretty efficient. Given there’s no way to cross that body of water but by boat, the ferry is thankfully free. Shout out the government of Quebec for getting us car boats.
We rushed out way over to our quaint hotel and only got there 10 minutes later than we were supposed to. Checkin was 3-6 PM and we learned they were serious about that. They were willing to wait for us once they heard we were on the ferry.
We have a room in a shared house where other people will likely hear any funny business we do. But it’s nice and we aren’t likely staying here too long outside of me writing this, and our funny business. I read this paragraph to Bonnie and she added, “and sleeping”, which is factual.
Anyway I encourage y’all to road trip across the province. From roadside steak vendors to cheese museums, there are all sorts of quaint things to find.
Yo Quebec, give me money to travel and do write ups & vlogs.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone
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