Parc Mauricie

Morning at Parc Mauricie

The breakfast was excellent with eggs and bacon. But when we went out, we saw a painting on the wall of Mont Blanc – what an emotion at such a distance! The owners didn't even know where that mountain was; we explained it to them in detail. The house is quite unique because, from time to time, elderly guests would appear through doors. We headed towards Lac St. Jean in a predominantly agricultural setting, where potato, cabbage, and corn crops stood out. From afar, the lake is almost invisible because the surrounding area is completely flat, but its size allows you to see the other shore on rare occasions. There's nothing particularly noteworthy from a tourist perspective. Instead, we took Route 155 south, which passes through a very wooded and uninhabited area. The few side roads lead to areas used for firewood collection, and there are campsites where canoeing or hunting is practiced, stretching for about 80 km to La Tuque in a beautiful landscape surrounded by lakes. Upon arriving at La Tuque, we smelled a terrible odor due to the nearby paper pulp production plant. The town has a strange appearance, almost pioneer-like. This may be due to its particular isolated location, despite having a population of 33,000 people. We followed the wide and slow Rivers of St. Maurice to cross it and return to the other side to reach St. Jean des Piles, from where we take a road into the Mauricie National Park, which with a route of 63 km takes us to see the most interesting sights. We stop at some scenic viewpoints, which usually require about ten minutes on foot to reach. The park It is traversed by a series of trails that alternate between walking and canoeing on the lake. At the end of the lake, the trail continues to the next one, where the canoe is put back in the water. Canoeing is one of the most popular activities here, and it's definitely worth trying out as the landscape seems perfectly designed for it. After leaving the park, we head towards Trois Rivieres, but don't reach them, instead taking a direct route along the San Lorenzo coastal road (Chemin du Roi), descending to Montreal through residential areas and pleasant scenery.

Traditions and spirituality

We reach the bed and breakfast run by a Chinese woman, leave our luggage, and head to Old Montreal. Here, as the day brightens into evening, we see the Notre Dame church (a copy of the most famous one in Paris), the Town Hall, The old port, Place Cartier with its crowded market and the Place Royale which didn't impress us much. We have dinner at a restaurant in Vieux Montreal, eating salmon. At 11 pm we are going to sleep.