La Belle Province

October starts me thinking of home. J'etais nee au Quebec, moi. These photos were taken by Aidan O'Neill and Mary Behrens a few years ago on the Lower North Shore (of the St Lawrence) around Tadoussac, which is maybe the oldest European settlement in Canada. At Tadoussac the deep cold Saguenay R. flows into the St Lawrence, and the churn of waters there makes a feeding ground for white whales--beluga (see the last photo of the set).  One of the great road trips in North America follows the north shore of  the St Lawrence from Quebec City along the coast of Charlevoix County---to Tadoussac. Then cross over to the South Shore on one of the ferries (Baie Comeau or St Simeon---you'll see whales out in the river) and drive around the coast of the Gaspe peninsula. October is good. Go now. There are caribou in the mountains in the interior of the Gaspé. Doing a magazine story on the Lexus SC430 two-seater a few years back, we drove the car from Maine to the point where the road on the North American mainland littoral stops---which is on the north shore of the St Lawrence, a few miles past Natashquan, and a few miles (kilometers!) southeast of the Quebec/Labrador border.