Whales, geese and dancing

The bright city lights left behind, the Silver Whisper made its way into the River Saguenay.  The Destination Consultant says it’s a fjord, which is an inlet of the sea, as opposed to a river, which empties water into the sea. But how can a tributary of the St Lawrence river be an inlet of the sea?

The province of Quebec is thought to have 3% of the earth’s fresh water supply. (Today’s second  fact).

The river looks like a fjord, edged with rounded peaks about 300-400 feet high. They are covered with evergreen trees, interspersed with a smaller number of deciduous trees which are showing deep orange or red as they move into Autumn (Fall). The trees seem to be growing directly out of the grey rock.  Low cloud drifts in ribbons across the lower slopes.

There are few signs of habitation but at one point the river (?) widens and there is a small cluster of buildings, including a small church with characteristic grey stone and spire. At a narrow point, a statue of Notre Dame de Saguenay can be seen high up on the rocks. Silver Whisper played ‘Ave Maria’ and the ship did a complete circle so those on board viewing from their balcony could have a view of the statue.

Saguenay is situated at a wide point, where the land becomes flatter. This port surpassed expectations. There was nothing spectacular to see but it was clean and pleasant, with a promenade along the water front. And then there was the welcome. A troupe of amateur performers were dressed in a surprising array of costumes. Mostly early settlers, with a priest in a white cassock (ruining the effect with a mobile phone pressed to his ear) and a man in a dark suit and a bowler who looked like a Funeral Director. And a woman in a crinoline with a man in a striped suit. And an extremely politically incorrect Native North American in full battle dress (The actor did not appear to be a native North American). And there was blueberry juice and blueberry pie and a wood cutting demonstration. They played music, which mostly sounded Celtic, overlayed with  some jazz. The Dancing looked Celtic, which is not surprising, given their Irish and Scottish ancestry.  But the area is mostly Fench-speaking.

Saguenay won a prize for ‘most welcoming cruise point’. This was the first visit by a Silversea ship.

The weather is beautiful, clear blue sky, with the morning chill giving way to an afternoon high of about 23C.

The big disappointment of the day is that TSH and Diva see not a single whale, in spite of close scrutiny of many dark patches and seemingly unusual currents. There were reputed to be one or two at one time but no sighting was made. Later update: A large white shape could have been a Beluga. Vast numbers of Canada geese seen.

Someone is missing a sock

The previous cruise had more British passengers than TSH and Diva had ever experienced on a Silversea cruise. However, on this leg, there are far fewer and the majority of passengers seem to be American or Australian.  Maybe it’s just a first night thing, but the guest at the next table showed that he was a wine connoisseur by declining the offered white wine after tasting but accepting any provided it was French, without any further tasting.

In Quebec City again, there was the episode of the glasses case and the sock. Whilst visiting a waterfall (higher than Niagara) one of the fellow travellers discovered when she returned to the bus that she had lost her glasses case. Other people in the group said that they had seen the lost case back at one of the waterfall viewing places. After a few minutes and just before the tour bus was due to leave our hero decided to go back and look for the missing case. His wife confidently predicted that her husband would return with the case and whilst every one else waited impatiently, there was much loud speculation about whether or not he would find it. When he returned some while later his comrades applauded enthusiastically as he clambered onto the bus with an object in his hand.  The object turned out to be a sock!

A further walk round the lower old town revealed many more attractive streets and shops.

Because of the unusual itinerary, there have been fewer sightings than usual of other cruise ships. But in Quebec there is a Holland American ship and Celebrity Summit.

The captain comes clean

At the captain’s farewell party, he admitted that an anchor had indeed been lost. Part of the fastening was damaged in the storm, so that on leaving Qaqartoq, the rope was pulled up – no anchor attached to the end. So the officer lied, probably under orders.

Immediately after docking at Quebec, there was much toing and froing with vans and cranes as a replacement anchor was fitted.

Quebec is a beautiful city – open and clean with many impressive buildings as well as small interesting streets. TSH and Diva decided they could live there but have decided not to. The blue sky and pleasant temperature definitely helped. It was the first port where there was no tender, no shuttle bus and no need for raincoats or vests.

In the afternoon, TSH had his first ‘beer on deck’ of this voyage.

Montreal was equally attractive – fewer grand buildings than Quebec but a very impressive cathedral. Most time was spent in Old Montreal, which has cobbled streets with a lot of artists’ studios and a large square with market stalls and street performers. The continuing warm sunny weather and blue sky helped.

The day in Montreal  was strange. Early morning was full of people getting off the ship, saying their goodbyes and checking their arrangements for onward travel. The afternoon brought a new crop of guests, still in their travel clothes, with large travel bags and still-anxious faces. TSH and Diva were among the 30 or so guests staying on from one voyage to the next.