May 28th - Quebec City to Matane

We left Quebec City at about 8am to make sure we had plenty of time to drive the 420 kms to catch the ferry at 5pm that was sailing from Baie Comeau, on the north side of the St.Lawrence, to Matane on the south side.

As we left Quebec City we drove past the hugely impressive Montmorency Falls. The water was simply cascading over the falls which are about 275 feet high.

Our route along the north side of the St.Lawrence river, all the way to the ferry terminal at Baie Comeau, was on Highway 138. For much of the drive the road was next to the river. What a mighty river it is!

Highway 138 is a truly wonderful road. It follows the river for hundreds of miles through beautiful scenery. As the drive progressed we knew this would be another road to remember.

After about 100 kms we came to the small town of Baie St.Paul, famous for its artist colony. We drove off the main road and down the main street with its very pretty houses.

All along Highway 138 are a string of small villages with very pretty houses. They made a delightful addition to the stunning scenery of the river and the lush green countryside.

As we continued along the road, driving more or less due east, the river became ever wider. It was a really impressive sight.

After 200kms we came to the Saguenay River where we had to take a ferry to cross to the eastern side. It was only a 15 minute journey and to our surprise it was free!!

Looking up the Saguenay Fjord as we crossed on the ferry.

200 kms further on we arrived at Baie Comeau. The journey had taken us 5 hours in all, so as we had plenty of time before the ferry left, we had a snack lunch in a Greek restaurant.

We checked in to the ferry at 3.30pm and then loaded on to the ferry an hour later. The journey took over two hours to cross the estuary which is over 50 kms wide at this point. We were hoping we might see whales, which are common here, but we were unlucky.

Here we are leaving Baie Comeau.

We reached Matane at 7.30pm and drove the 500 yards to our hotel, the Quality Inn.

I noticed that we have now driven over 4,800 miles, so tomorrow when we drive on south through part of the Gaspesie Peninsular, we will go over 5,000 miles for the trip.

We have just two days to go before we reach our final destination, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Our incredible Canadian Cruise, is coming to an end.