Shard

Never heard of it. Is it nice?

BristolUK

What did you do, stick a pin in a map?

Ah...I just saw in the newspaper why you asked.

carcajou

Very, very nice. Part of my family lives from/isn't far from there and I spent a lot of time in that region and around growing up, between there and Florida.

Charlevoix is not terribly far from Quebec City. It's something of a weekend getaway for Quebecois in that part of the province.

Some nice islands in the river not far from La Malbaie (Ile-aux-Coudres, by St-Joseph-de-la-Rive) that can be cycled around and fjord country (Tadoussac) is not too far north either. Saint-Irenee also plays a prominent role in Quebecois folklore. All of those mentioned places are just a little bit south of La Malbaie, like a half-hour to an hour.

Whale watching is also quite popular around there. Great raspberries in summer.

It's harder to get to from Montreal, because the roads aren't direct, you have to either go through Quebec City first, or north up to Le Royaume du Saguenay and then across east.

Just remember this is pure Francophone country - I don't know how much English you will find outside the hospitality industry (and maybe not much there either!) - and things shut down almost completely in winter.

If I remember the ferry to the other side of the river is at Les Escoumins (might be about two hours from La Malbaie) and goes somewhere near Rimouski or Riviere-du-Loup (I forget which) on the other side. From there you can get to Gaspe or New Brunswick.

DandNHill

scilly

I'm usually fast asleep (or hoping to be) when we go through Riviere du Loup, but it's actually much closer to Montreal than Halifax!


It's quite funny watching news reports from "other countries"

One of our friends saw a CNN announcer reporting that Trudeau and Trump were sitting with a lake in the background ............ nope, it's the St Lawrence

BBC World had their reporter on camera from Quebec City, but not identifying it, so I guess watchers in other countries will think La Malbaie has this wonderful wall around it (he stood in front of the gateway)and beautiful Lower Town with the Chateau towering over it!

If Canadian news reports are to be believed, La Malbaie is now completely surrounded by fencing, huge numbers of police and other security, and residents have got special permits to be allowed into the Red area to go home.

carcajou

I haven't seen these news reports, but I thought security might play a role in why it was chosen. The towns of Charlevoix are pretty small (La Malbaie is one of the biggest centres, but is under 10,000 people). That, plus the riverside location and general isolation (minimal road entry/exit points) make it easy to defend and monitor from a security standpoint.

Plus, Pierre Trudeau also put it in Quebec when he was host . . .

scilly

We started to see the preparations 3-4 weeks ago on CBC and Global BC, then again on Thursday ... loads of riot police etc.

Global TV, and presumably CBC, have an Ottawa-based reporter inside the protected area. All residents have been issued permits to allow them to leave and re-enter.

The word in the first instance was the ease of security as against, eg holding it in Quebec City, but the tourism aspect of showing off a part of Quebec is also now being talked about ...... which apparently was also the reason for PET holding the G* in Quebec when he was the host.

Quebec City was preparing for demonstrations to be held there, with lots of the stores, bars etc in Lower Town boarding up windows.

I haven't had the radio or TV on today so I don't know how it all went down, except for Trump's statements and early leaving!

BristolUK

He must feel so dirty

macadian

Yes, don't think I would want to shake Justin's hand either.....😋

Shard

Thanks for this great description. It sounds like a good place to visit if I ever get back to Quebec again.

Souvy

We will likely be going there during this summer. We have another place near Quebec City and apparently the train ride from Quebec to Charlevoix (ie Malbaie) is gobsmacking. We are going to do it.

I don't think the place closes down in winter. It's a centre for winter sports. Expensive winter sports. I know it to be expensive because I footed the bill when we packed my son and stepson off there to ski/snowboard.

scilly

The train ride is indeed gob smacking .......

........... only surpassed by the the train between the eastern gate to Jasper National Park all the way to Hope in British Columbia, although unfortunately part of that tip has to be done in the dark. Over the years we have literally seen every inch of The Canadian's trip over that section.

scrubbedexpat091

When I took the train Toronto to Vancouver we left Toronto 4 hours late and then got stuck a few times for 1 to 3 hours waiting for freight and then of course there is the Winnipeg stop for crew change which was shortend but still 90 mins.

but all the delays meant while Jasper was dark but we went through the canyons and into Hope during the day and it was best part really.

They gave everyone a free meal in the dining car as well due to all the delays for any Vancouver bound passenger that started in Toronto.

scilly

Those delays are why we have seen every single inch of that stretch over the last few years!

I have been amazed at the extra meals that the chefs have been able to produce when we have been delayed


If not taking the train, then there are equally amazing views in Cape Breton, parts of Newfoundland, PEI, Haida Gwaii

Shard

That's pretty cool. Do you make a point of travelling by train? Isn't it quite expensive compared to air?

Why does leaving Jasper have to be done in the dark?