While the southern bank of the St. Lawrence is more utilitarian, flat, industrial and populated, the northern side has the mountain ranges rising straight out of the waters....and with that all sorts of attractions.
Drifting south-west towards Quebec City, this turned into the "North-Shore-Explorer".....from stunning lookouts to local "latterie-fromagerie" (dairy/cheese) places with that strong smell of raw milk getting processed to ski-resorts starting 50m from the edge of the mighty river to a cute and tiny railway line running often barely 3ft above the waterline, gigantic waterfalls mid-city and breathtaking gorges with foaming feeder-rivers.....and thousands of steps to control those cholesterol levels following all the cheeses for lunch.
And all that in a single run towards Quebec City !!
Maaan, what a place !!
A quick map here:
https://goo.gl/maps/3TRcB4nqF9w
All next to eachother and down the main street:
Heritage Potpourri at La Malbaie....a dose of French!
Some New England
...a bit of English Colonial
(with some local "saint-ey" bit in the background to keep things in balance)
Love this one...
...whereas this one taxes the old-fart-memory-retention a bit...
The little Petite Riviere Saint Francois not just offers lots of picturesque spots right at the waters edge...
...but also the road ends against some massive hills and rock-faces just at the end of town. And then there's this:
...which starts right down here:
...and there's that little coastal train line from Quebec City dropping off the skiers right next door.
Le Train De Charlevoix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1oxRAT5-7o
...
for a bit of this
(next 2 shots are linked to commercial sites)
That northern bank is certainly full of surprises....and plenty more to come!!
