This was about as beautiful as it gets in this part of the world. The large peaceful river, the lush forest on the hills above the river, the farmland between the river and the hills, and finally the marshland that stretches for miles and is enhanced by the daily tides along the estuary. As a matter of fact, that is what the many venues/sectors (6 of them) are called in this parc. (sic) 'Estuarines'. Along the St.Lawrence River is a very long tidal shoreline that is mostly marshes and has been protected for a few generations since it was converted from fishing and crop raising mainly. Today there are a few crops raised on the fertile ,small pieces of agricultural land between the hills and the sea.
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| This is ancient tilled land going back to the early 1800's There is hay, oats and wheat growing. |
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| The ditches are a sort of irrigation that is used periodically |
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| The road through the 6 sectors is an improved gravel. |
We were able to get to the Ocean (River) on two of the sectors but as we do not do much walking were prevented from doing so on two others that had only trails of some length.. This map shows the layout of the "De Coverte" as it is called after the Isand in the River that is the center of it all. "Green Isand" or "Isle d' Verte".
Along the shore we did see BALD EAGLES in small groups.There were four , a few of them first years getting their instructions to survive. More than four NORTHERN HHARRIERS were seen as well.One was avery mayture "white phse" withy those brilliant black tips on the wings. Over head there were many GREATER BLACK BACKED GULLS with their sharp black and white colors. A few LEAST STORM PETRELS were seen both yesterday over the water and today in flight.
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| Some wheat growing in those small plots |
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| Some of the marshland along the river. Looking out toward the Atlantic. |
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| The Isle 'd Verte across the inner channel of the River |
We continued to the end of the sectors, where a huge patch of fireweed stretched for nearly a mile between the road and the River.
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| Much fireweed in full bloom |
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| The flowers are only on one side of the road as the other is tilled. |
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| Over the top is the St Lawrence River. |
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| The Beheading of St John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church in L' Isle-Verte |
It was a great drive and the vistas were magnificnt. We were near a very small village at the end of the drive. named after the Isle. called L'Isle Verte, so we scoped that for some "chips" which are advertised all through out this part of Canada. (The largest potato mfg. for "French"fries"is in Nova Scotia.) So we stopped at the local "chips"place and induged in Fish N VChips. Not like fresh along the Ocean in Nova Scotia , but very tasty.
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| The "chips " as advertised. |
Finally we headed home after along day (OH yes we did the laundry before noon to start the day! ) It was a very clean and neat laundramat in Riviere du Loup. We practicaly had the place to ourselves. Getting change was an ssue as there were no change machines there. I hustled off to a local cafe, where a two young ladies said "oui we can give you change" I offered them a Canadian $50.00 bill and they didn' t blink. The Latte and the muffin were excellent! I will end this blog with a map and some history of the area .Where we were today on the south bank of the St.Lawrence River and how the people lived here, a few years back.
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| The story of how the people relied on eelgrass. |
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| Where we were ...down river from Quebec city. We visited all four of th "circles". |
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| Use of the river and "other" things, early on. |
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