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The Fall Colours of Quebec
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  • JoAnne Gelowitz

The Fall Colours of Quebec

This trip could also be called Trains, Planes, and Automobiles...and Boats Read more
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    🇨🇦 Ottawa, Canada
    JoAnne GelowitzThe Fall Colours of QuebecTraveler
    Red Adirondack chairs by the Ottawa signByward Market pigeons figuring out which tourist has the best food1My favourite pigeonDay of the Dead display at Byward MarketCool sculpture hanging from the ceilingOttawa has a few Halloween decorations too

    Byward Market

    6 hours ago in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C

    Decided to stay at an actual franchised hotel for the last two nights of our trip. AirB&B type places are nice because of the comforts of home like cooking your own meals. However, staying in a more modern hotel that offers a great self-serve breakfast is also a nice break from self-catering. Our hotel is conveniently located quite close to the Byward Market. Our morning outing was a walk around this area. Kind of walked through it last evening looking for a bar to eat supper at and watch baseball, but it was dark. This morning was much better.Read more

  • JoAnne GelowitzThe Fall Colours of QuebecTraveler
    Riding the train through Montreal

    Train Ride 2

    Yesterday in Canada ⋅ 🌙 7 °C

    Today was ride the train day. Today we went from Quebec City back to Ottawa. Got to see the portion of our first train ride that we passed in the dark. It was beautiful. I took a video but it doesn't really do the colours justice.
    Got to Ottawa, checked into our hotel, found a place to eat and now it's time to watch baseball.    Read more

  • JoAnne GelowitzThe Fall Colours of QuebecTraveler
    The view of Lower Town from our lunch table
    So many Halloween/Fall decorationsNot sure what this is but I thought it was cool1Another mural in Lower TownWe road the funicular back to the topA very entertaining accordion playerDecorations in front of city hallSimon's

    Quebec Day 2

    October 14 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    After the falls we made our way back into Old Quebec for one last wander and some souvenir shopping. We've been gone for about a week and all of the sudden Old Quebec is decked out with Halloween decorations. One of our last shopping stops was Simon's. On our walking tour we learned that with the closing of the Hudson's Bay Company, Simon's is now the the longest running department store in Canada. Had to go check.it out.Read more

  • JoAnne GelowitzThe Fall Colours of QuebecTraveler
    Lots of flowers still looking really good
    The stairs to the bottom of the fallsView of St Lawrence RiverMontmorency Falls

    Montmorency Falls

    October 14 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    In the morning we went to Montmorency Falls. We went there the last time we were in Quebec. The falls are very beautiful and the park surrounding it is also lovely. Not too much to say about this stop, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.Read more

  • JoAnne GelowitzThe Fall Colours of QuebecTraveler

    Trois-Rivieres

    October 13 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Today we drove back to Quebec City. There were two options. A 3 hour drive through the wildlife reserve or a 4 1/2 hour drive with a stop in Trois-Rivieres. Our host in Roberval heavily suggested going through Trois-Rivieres. She said it would be more beautiful and that there was nothing to see on the other road. I was a little concerned about time because of our track record with stopping. After much discussion we decided to go through Trois-Rivieres with as few stops along the way as possible. Turns out there weren't a lot of places to stop. It was very beautiful probably the nicest showing of fall colours all week. Since there weren't a lot of places to stop we didn't get any pictures, with the exception of one with clouds on the river. Had lunch in Trois-Rivieres, walked around for a bit, and got a ride in pedi-cab. Then it was off to Quebec. We returned the car, found a place to have pizza and now back in our huge hotel apartment.Read more

  • JoAnne GelowitzThe Fall Colours of QuebecTraveler
    Bay of Rocks
    Bay of RocksWindow to the Fjords. Petit SaguenayIsland at the quaiPetit Saguenay fjordsThere are still lots of flowers bloomingPetit Saguenay fjordsNational park fjordsNational park

    Fjord Day

    October 12 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 9 °C

    Today we left Tadoussac and started making our way back to Quebec City, the long way. We drove through the Sagunay Fjords towards Roberval.
    Our first stop was Baie des Rochers. We were told by a tourist information person that there was a recently a forest fire there and wasn't anything to see, so need to stop. Ger of course needed to check it out. I agreed because I thought the name, Bay of Rocks, sounded like something we should see. Off we went. There wasn't any evidence of a forest fire with the exception of the fact that the hiking trails were all closed. The bay itself was lovely and, you guessed it, full of rocks. Once Ger got his fill of photos we left to make our way to the next stop.
    We found a cute little town, Petit Saguenay, and decided to stop. I went off to find some soup for lunch, while Ger went into the tourist information centre to find the best places to view the fjords. Turns out there were a number of places to stop in the area to view the fjords, and the restaurant beside the tourist information centre sold potage, yum. It was a funky little restaurant and artisan shoppe that also sold medicinal herbs. Ger took a video. It's not the best quality because of being sent between phones but it gives a good idea of the place.
    Next stop was the quai at Petit Saguenay. This was a beautiful spot. Turns out the Saguenay River is effected by the tides and there is a little island just off the shore. If you aren't careful and go to the island and the tide comes in you are stuck there for about 5 hours. It was low tide when we got there so no worries. We didn't go but could see a couple of families enjoying the walk on the island. At the end of the quai was a gazebo. There was a gentleman getting ready to perform, sing and play guitar. He said it would be about 30 minutes. I think he realized Ger was excited to hear him sing so he played a few songs. It was nice to have our own personal mini-concert. We left before the actual performance because it was getting on to almost two o'clock. In four hours we managed to only travel 45 minutes worth of our 2 1/2 hour drive, and we still had one more stop to make.
    We stopped at the Parc National du Fjord-du-Saguenay. This looked like a really nice place to spend a day hiking and enjoying the view. It was mid afternoon so we took a walk down to the shore to see the fjords. It was getting late so back into the car so we could to Roberval before dark.    Read more

  • JoAnne GelowitzThe Fall Colours of QuebecTraveler
    1Pinte- Noir from the boat
    Sagunay River and the start of the fjordsSand dunes. This place seems to have everything.1The lake behind the aubergeLake againDisplay outside the whale museumThe whale skeltons don't show up well in the photoRight whale with it's baleenThe humpback jaw bonesSittin' on the dock of the bayMy love ❤️Watching a zodiac speed off to find the whales for us

    Whale Day

    October 11 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    This morning we went on a whale watching cruise. We saw minke whales, a fin whale, a beluga and a grey seal. It was all very exciting. Today I learned that there are 90 species of whales and only 10 species show their tail. None of the species that live in this area are ones that show their tail. So that was sad. But it was really cool to see the whales coming to surface to get some oxygen. I didn't take any pictures of the whales because I decided to just take in the moment rather than fumbling with my phone.
    Also learned about how whales eat. Here is the Google AI explanation. Whales that eat krill, known as baleen whales, use a method called filter feeding. They engulf massive mouthfuls of water containing krill, then use their tongue to push the water back out through the comb-like plates of baleen in their mouths, which trap the krill as the water is expelled. Right whales are baleen whales and live in this area but we didn't see any of those.
    After lunch we went for a walk to see the lake behind our auberge. Tadoussac is a very interesting place. It is picturesque and somehow built into the forest it inhabits. There a lot of trails in and around the town, so lots of opportunities to go for lovely walks. I think this would be a great place for a couple to go on a honeymoon, but then we went to Waterton Park for our honeymoon.
    We then walked down to the whale museum. That was really interesting. The museum was pretty much a room of whale skeltons hanging from the ceiling with a lot of accompanying information. All the skeletons were whales that had died in the area. Heard a lot of sad stories about what happened to the whales. However, it was interesting to see the skeltons and just get an idea of how big these animals are. A lot of them were juveniles, weren't completely grown, and they were still huge. The jaw bones of humpback whale were used to frame the doorway. The humpback was 22 meters long which was much too big for the museum, so they decided to display only the jaw bones.
    All in all it was a good day of learning about whales.    Read more

  • JoAnne GelowitzThe Fall Colours of QuebecTraveler
    Waterfall at Porte-Aux-Percil
    Porte-Aux-PercilParks Canada red Adirondack chairsTadoussacWandering around at Pointe-NoireMore red Adirondack chairsThe two ferries passing each other on hyperspeed

    Pointe-Noir

    October 10 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    Today we drove from La Malbaie to Tadoussac where we will be spending the next two nights. Technically a one hour drive but it took pretty much a solid four hours. This whole area from just outside La Malbaie to north of Tadoussac is a protected marine area and is controlled by Parks Canada. It is a unique park in Canada because it is water not land. It is one of only a few marine protected areas in the world.
    Our first stop was at Port aux Percil. It is an Irish town set in a very pretty area by the coast.
    Then just up the road a bit is St Simion. We went down to the beach area and watched the gulls drop urchins while in flight. This would crack open the urchin's prickly shell. The gull could then get the meat out of the shell. Lunch is served. Much better gull experience than my Scotland experience.
    From there we went to Pointe-Noire. This is one of three Parks Canada interpretive centres in the marine park. It is the point where the St Lawrence River meets the Sagunay River. I got to see a whale breech, so that was fun! We could see Tadoussac just across the confluence.
    Once we got our fill of trying to see whales we made our way to Tadoussac.    Read more

  • JoAnne GelowitzThe Fall Colours of QuebecTraveler

    Champignons Charlevoix

    October 9 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    After going to the museum and hanging out on the quai for bit we drove out of town to a historic display of a blacksmith shop. I kind of wanted to see this place to get some ideas of how to display the blacksmith shop at the Lumsden Museum. Sadly it was closed but there was a cool sculpture on the grounds.
    From there we drove to a mushroom farm. We learned about how to grow mushrooms and what makes a mushroom farm successful. It was really interesting, and now we are bringing home some preserved mushrooms.
    After that we took a drive on a mountain route that had a view of a spectacular valley. It was now the end of the day and time to travel back to our place.    Read more

  • JoAnne GelowitzThe Fall Colours of QuebecTraveler
    Low tide at La Malbaie 10:30 am
    Another low tide pictureA spot at the end of the quai where people build inukshuksTwo hours from high tide. The water will cover the sand at high tideThe work of some local artisans in CharlevoixOutside the casino at Malbaie

    La Malbaie

    October 9 in Canada ⋅ 🌬 7 °C

    We started the day by going to the Charlevoix Museum. It was a nice museum and had three sections. The first was the history of the area. What was most interesting is that this area was formed by an asteroid that hit this area millions of years ago. When we are driving it is noticeably lower here than it was in Quebec. Also, found out that La Malbaie means "the bad bay". At low tide the bay actually dries up. We saw it a few times at low tide but never made it to it high tide.
    The second area was an art gallery that is currently featuring five artists from Quebec who paint Quebec's scenery. Rather than having the paintings sorted by artists, the paintings were categorized by the different areas in Quebec. It was interesting to see and compare all the different interpretations.
    The third part was on the second floor in a circular room overlooking the bay. The curator was just setting up a temporary display featuring local artisans. It was cool to see the displays up against the windows. There's a video of that.
    A couple of days earlier we were looking for St Hubert's for supper. (It's a chicken and rib place that I like.) Google sent us there, I am sure, in the best way possible but turns out it was located inside the casino. The casino was fancy and it looked like the hotel associated with it was pretty fancy too. We were not dressed to be around there. All this to say that were some pretty fancy Halloween decorations outside the casino.
    There is also a second footprint for today.    Read more

  • JoAnne GelowitzThe Fall Colours of QuebecTraveler
    Replica of the wind mill
    Mi-Careme masksThe museum buildingsThe actual wind mill.The view for our lunch stopBaie St Paul - Find the dog

    Les Moulins de L'isle-Aux-Coudres

    October 8 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Today we went to L'isle-Aux-Coudres. It is an island just off the Quebec coast. About a 20 minute ferry ride. The tour books make this island sound like quite the place to find artisans, particularly fabric artists. Did not find any of those but there seemed to be a lot of great smelling bakeries for such a small place.
    Ger read about a museum on the island. So we had our first museum visit for the trip. The museum was about the flour mill located on the island. When it was first built it used a water wheel to power the mill but as the population grew on the island it did not produce enough flour to keep the residents fed in the winter. A wind mill was built which solved the problem. Since Ger is a millwright he was able to explain to me how the water wheel, the wind mill and the flour mill all work. I appreciated this info because the museum was self guided and most of the descriptions were in French. When we were leaving Ger met the miller. Turns out the mill still works and runs most days. This explains why there so many bakeries. The miller uses the water wheel to run the mill. It just wasn't running today because there wasn't enough water in reservoir. Too bad I didn't get a picture of the water wheel.
    At the museum we also learned about a local custom on the island - Mi-Careme. There is a photo with an explanation. In the 1960's an NFB documentary was made about this custom. Portions of the film were being shown. Although the custom almost died out in the 1940's the islanders managed to keep it going. Now the younger generations think it is important enough to continue going back to the island to take part in the celebration every year.
    We returned to the mainland and went to Baie St Paul to wander around their tourist area and have supper. Another lovely day.    Read more

  • JoAnne GelowitzThe Fall Colours of QuebecTraveler
    The bridge we crossed to get to the lookout
    View #1 from the lookoutView #2 from the lookoutI love how red the maple leaves getGer was trying to get me take an arty type picture. Not sure it worked out but I like itAnother try at the arty picture

    Parc National Des Hautes Gorges

    October 7 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Today we went to Parc National Des-Hautes-Gorges-De-La-Riviere-Malbaie, which means The High Cliffs of the Malbaie River. The area we are in is called Charlevoix, named after a Jesuit priest. Going to the national park was highly recommended by the guy working at the tourist information building in Malbaie. Just so you know, national park in Quebec means provincial park. We found that out the hard way the last time we were here. Tried to use our Canada national park pass to get into a Quebec national park. It's kind of deceiving because their national parks are huge, much like a Canada national park, and the services are very similar.
    Back to our experience today. We drove to a point where you could cross the Malbaie River and walk up a ways to a lookout. The view from this spot was spectacular. After that we took a walk along the river. That took up pretty much most of the day. It was good to go for a walk with Mother Nature. However, she is not allowing me to a get a video of falling leaves.    Read more

  • JoAnne GelowitzThe Fall Colours of QuebecTraveler
    1

    Baie Saint Paul

    October 6 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Well we did it again. We had a drive that was supposed to take just under two hours to our next desition and it took us all day. We are staying in Ste Irenee which is about a half hour north of Baie St Paul. Baie St Paul is the largest center in the Charlevoix area so we stopped there for a bit. On our way to Ste Irenee we stopped at a look out to view the St Lawrence River and Baei St Paul. The pictures are basically from the same spot just slightly different angles.Read more

  • JoAnne GelowitzThe Fall Colours of QuebecTraveler
    11

    Canyon Sainte Anne

    October 6 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    We rented a car and quickly left the hustle and bustle of Quebec City. I like visiting big cities but only for a day or two. Our first stop was Canyon Ste Anne. It was nice to get out into nature and walk amongst the trees. We really haven't done any walking/hiking in natural areas for a long time. I enjoyed the smell of the trees and listening to the water fall. Not much else to say for this post. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.Read more

  • JoAnne GelowitzThe Fall Colours of QuebecTraveler
    Fountaine de Tourney
    Some fall foliage near the gate of the fort wallA statue outside the Ursuline conventMaison des Jésuites-de-SilleryNotre-Dame de Québec Basilica-CathedralThe Holy DoorBack of the Chateau Frontenac. Taken from Lower Town.Fall foliage in Lower TownMural in Lower Town depicting a lot of Quebec City's historyA street in Lower TownGentle Bertha

    Walking Tour of Quebec

    October 5 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Today we did a walking tour of Old Quebec. It started at the Fountaine de Tourney, which is located in of the Quebec parliament buildings. We strolled through the fort gate to learn about the fortification of Quebec. We found out that Quebec City is the only fortified city in North America.
    Then we walked to the Ursuline Convent. Crazy thing about the Ursulines is that the French general who was fatally wounded at the battle at the Plains of Abraham was secretly buried in the convent. A cannon ball came through the roof and created a hole in the chapel floor. The general died from his wounds in the hospital across the street, so the Ursulines offered to secretly bury him in the hole. This was because there was a concern that his body was going to be stolen by the British. The Ursulines kept the secret of where he was buried until 2001.
    Next stop was the oldest building in the province of Quebec, Maison des Jésuites-de-Sillery, which was built in 1637. Since my perspective is from a person born and raised in Saskatchewan, which comparatively is a much younger province, it always blows my mind that we have such old buildings in Canada.
    Onto the Notre-Dame de Québec Basilica-Cathedral. What I found especially interesting is that the Basilica has a holy door. A door that when you walk through all your sins are wiped clean and you can start fresh. The door is only opened once every 25 years. The next time it will be opened is 2039. The stairs to the door are taken away and only put in when it is opened.
    Then we were off to the Chateau Frontenac. A very big CP Hotel which overlooks the St. Lawrence River and has 610 rooms. Oddly enough the cheapest room is $600 a night.
    Now off to Lower Town. This was a completely new section to me. The only other time we were in Quebec City we only toured in the evening and didn't see a whole lot. Didn't even know that this section existed. It felt very much like being in Europe. We walked down the winding street towards the water. I really enjoyed being in Lower Town as it brought back memories of being in Edinburgh.
    After the tour was over on the way back up and out of the Lower Town we stopped in a park that overlooked the St Lawrence River. There were a lot of cannons in this park with a special one that calls for peace. It is a large vase made to look like a cannon. There is a photo that explains it's meaning.
    The rest of our day was spent wandering around Old Quebec and just enjoying the warm sunny day.    Read more

  • JoAnne GelowitzThe Fall Colours of QuebecTraveler

    Quebec City Day 1

    October 4 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    We decided to take a later train rather than the bus. So we hung around the train station for a very long time. Can't go too far when you are dragging luggage with you. We finally got onto a train at 2:00. The reason for taking the train from Ottawa to Quebec City was to see the fall colours. We got about 3 hours worth of fall colours, and 2 hours of dark. It was an enjoyable ride. I find traveling by train very non-stressful. So all in all a good day. Just a really long wait. Again today I didn't get a lot of pictures but did take a slow motion video of fall colours just north of Drummondville.Read more

  • JoAnne GelowitzThe Fall Colours of QuebecTraveler

    Ottawa Via Rail Station

    October 4 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    I didn't take any pictures yesterday because we got to Ottawa in the dark, so yesterday's post is pictureless.
    Update: I borrowed a couple of pictures from the interweb and added those to my first footprint.
    First picture today is at the Via Rail station. Our train has been cancelled so now we are taking a zombie bus (that's what the tour guide in Ireland called the big buses) to Quebec City. It will be a little different of an experience but at least we are not driving.    Read more

  • JoAnne GelowitzThe Fall Colours of QuebecTraveler

    Ottawa Day 1

    October 3 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    Today was pretty much a travel day. We arrived at the Regina Airport at 7:00 am and arrived in Ottawa at 6:00 pm (4:00 Regina time). Used an Uber for the first time. That worked out well. We went for a walk to find the bus stop that would take us to the Via Rail station. After that Ger figured out how much an Uber would cost. Turns out it costs about $5 more for an Uber than the bus, and then we don't have to walk around Ottawa with our luggage. We might be Uber people now. Time for sleep so we can get to the train station in the morning. Looking forward to that.
    New entry: I didn't take this picture but thought I would add this particular picture of the Russian Embassy. It was about 2 blocks from our B&B and we saw it on our evening walk. Lots of Free Ukraine signs on the street poles. Looks like these may have been installed by the city (I'm just guessing). If you zoom in on the picture you can see the barbed wire at the top of the fence. Not a very welcoming place. However the the restaurant for the Ottawa Culinary Institute looked like it would be interesting. That was pretty much kitty corner from our place.    Read more

    Trip start
    October 3, 2025
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