Last stop on our travels in Eastern Canada. Chicoutimi is an interesting city, part of a larger urban area known as Saguenay. This name derives from the river of the same name which flows through the area on its way to the St. Lawrence River. I captured an interesting selection of photos in Chicoutimi and the surrounding area, due in part to its diversity and also to the enthusiasm of my brother-in-law, Yvon who guided me to many of the best sites.
I start this blog with a photograph of l’Eglise Sacre Coeur, located in central Chicoutimi. I was able to get this shot with the sun setting directly behind the church; you can see the glow emanating from behind it. I like to create high dynamic range (HDR) images for pictures like this. It serves to better define the textures of the building materials, particularly the stonework. I blended three exposures to get this image and borrowed the sky from the darkest of those exposures to get the look I wanted.
One thing I did not expect to see in this region was a cruise ship terminal, but lo and behold such a facility does exist. We traveled south along the Saguenay River to La Baie to get the following shot of two cruise ships, one sitting at berth, the other at anchor. Both were preparing to leave and the occasion attracted a pretty good crowd for a Monday evening. The cruise terminal is situated in a fjord off the Saguenay. The Saguenay community has done a good job of attracting tourism, using its deep water port to good advantage.
The most prominent geographic features in the area are Lac St Jean and the Saguenay River. I couldn’t help but notice other rivers as well; it seems that no matter where you turn there is water! The abundance of rivers has been used to advantage. There are many dams in the area used to generate electric power. There can be a downside to this abundance of water also, as experienced in 1996.
For two days in July 1996, torrential rains pounded the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region and caused the worst flood in the province’s history. The floodwaters were so powerful they swept away a whole shopping complex, ripped apart homes and buried cars under mud. Scientists said it was a natural disaster likely to happen once every 10,000 years. The government called it “an act of God.”
One of the rivers that flooded was the Chicoutimi. This photo shows some rapids at the Pulperie, an historical site lodged within the old mill of the Compagnie de pulpe de Chicoutimi. This photo shows a normal waterflow, imagine how it looked when it flooded!
Continuing on the water theme, I found this little waterfall in a park in downtown Chicoutimi. Couldn’t resist.
My last shot was taken in the countryside, driving back to Chicoutimi from La Baie. A simple rural scene, featuring two barns and of course, the surrounding autumn colour.
We wrapped up our 18 day eastern tour on October 5th, when we left the Saguenay area for home. Our thanks to everyone who extended us their hospitality and made our travels so pleasant.