Today we’re going on a buss tour around Saguenay, Canada. Saguenay is an interesting town. It’s the largest in Quebec and seems to be culturally independent from the rest of the of the country. Most of the population speaks French and most of their education is conducted in the French language. Some students aren’t exposed to formal English instruction until they reach university. Saguenay was created in 2002 when the former cities of Chicoutimi, Jonquière, La Baie, Laterrière, Lac-Kénogami, Shipshaw and Tremblay merged to form a single city.
I ordered room service as soon as I got up and got ready while I waited. This routine is becoming too convenient. I grabbed some coffee on the way out and headed to the busses. Everyone in our group had different tour times so we decided to wait on standby for the early group in hopes that we can go on this tour together. On our way out there were a bunch of circus performers outside the port it was exciting. They interacted with everyone and it kinda felt like we were part of a street show. We were able to get on the same tour so off we went.
On our way to our first stop we passed the Ha! Ha! Pyramid. The Ha! Ha! Pyramid is an art installation commemorating the floods of 1996. This pyramid is made of 3000 yield signs and has the name of the displaced citizens on the back.
Our first stop was La Petite Maison Blanche. After the floods of 1996 this little white house was the only standing structure and has become a symbol of persistence. It’s now a museum and a park was created around it. I think the surrounding park is much more impressive than the house itself. A little ways up the road was Eglise Sacré-Coeur. This church is a Neo Gothic Roman church. I couldn’t find much out about this church. There isn’t much listed about this church online and we didn’t have a formal guide to tell us anything about it.
Our next stop was a short one at the Old Chicoutimi Pulp Mill. This pulp mill was the largest in Chicoutimi and was known for the quality of it’s output. They played a key roll in Canada’s economy and supplied products to customers as far as Kentucky.
After we had lunch on the ship we headed out to town. There isn’t much near the port here. Just couple of shops, boutiques and cafés. There was an area that looked like a mini town square where a few vendors sold their wares. It was kinda cute.
We ended our day early so I’m probably going to spend the rest of the evening lounging around after dinner and probably order room service later.
Tomorrow we’ll be at sea all day. I might participate in some onboard activities but I normally use those days to catch up on sleep. I’ll let you know how that goes.
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