From May 26 starts another part of my trip. No more big cities for some days, but a lot of driving and nature around me.
I leave Quebec City and I drive north to Jacques Cartier National Park even if the weather is rainy. I spend my second night in the car but actually I'm very well organized: by now it's comfortable here! The next morning I take breakfast in the trunk of the car and I wash in the restrooms of the touristic office. I drive to the National Park gateway but it's still raining: I prefer to continue my trip. It's morning here so I decide to drive north again along the 175 Road up to Chicoutimi. I drive through lakes, forests and sometimes I can't see the road in front of me because of the fog.
After lunch in Saguenay I cross the river to the otherside and I drive south east along the 172 Road. Here I can see pieces of ice coming down the Saguenay river, it's incredible! I stop in Sainte Rose du Nord to admire the view of the fiord, then I continue driving down to Tadoussac.
Tadoussac It's a very nice place. I take a shower in a camping and then I visit the town. I spend the evening in a cool cafe in front of the bay called Le Gibar before going to sleep in the car. Here there are a lot cruise companies that bring tourists around the bay to see whales. I'd like to join but I'd better go.
The following morning I leave Taudossac and I arrive in Baie Comeau for lunch. Maxime is going to host me for the night and in the afternoon I drive for OTHER 5 hours (round trip) up to Manic Cinq, where I can see one of the bigger dams in the world. Awesome! It's Saturday and when I arrive to Maxime I discover he's having a party, wow! Beer and hamburgers after an hard driving day yeah!
On Sunday 29 I leave for Mingan.The weather is bad again, so I can't see a lot from the car. After passing Sept Iles I'm in the middle of my path. I stop along the coast and what I see is fantastic: rocks are pink and I wonder what colour they get with the sunshine. The more I go north and the more Pine trees are little and thick. They grow on sand -it's so weird to walk on sand with boots!
Finally I'm in Mingan, but after a while I understand that I won't see the archipelago: summer season hasn't started yet, nobody will take me to the islands with any kind of boat.. TRAGEDY! I drive to Havre Saint Pierre but I get the same answers. No vase-shaped rocks, no bird-watching, only a looong wild drive in the deep Quebec. I sleep in the car and the day after I try to call some other agencies but nothing.
Well, a tiny mistake in the planning of my trip!
Photo album link: "FROM QUEBEC CITY TO MINGAN"
