Saguenay Segway

As we sailed into Saguenay I hoped that we’d have a lovely warm day to

Harbor at Saguenay

stroll the small town before going to a stage performance later during the evening. Unfortunately that wasn’t to be. However, we did get to see some of the handcrafted materials from artists in the area. And since it was one of the coldest, wettest days during our cruise we spent most of the day on the ship reading, wandering, and visiting with some of our shipmates.








The tiny town of Saguenay is relatively new. It was formed from the hamlets of Chicoutimi, Jonquière, La Baie and Laterrière, Lac-Kénogami, Shipshaw and a part of Tremblay on February 18, 2002. Prior to this the area suffered from the Great Fire of 1870, the Saint-Jean-Vianney

Saguenay

landslide in 1971, the 1988 Saguenay earthquake (magnitude 5.9), and the Saguenay flood of 1996. Cree and Inuit peoples lived in the area prior to the arrival of French explorer Jacques Cartier. The area was popular because of its more temperate climate due to its location in a depression in the Canadian Shield, the Saguenay Graben. A graben is a valley caused by the displacement of a block of land downward; horsts are usually found on either side of the graben. Horst and graben structures generally show where there are tensional forces and crustal stretching. There are very few roads that connect the area from the south and east, and only one road connects to the northwest. There are no roads running north from the area into the wilderness. The only human settlements due north of Saguenay all the way to the Canadian Arctic islands are a few isolated Cree and Inuit villages.

The stage performance was originally presented in French, but because

Performers from La Fabuleuse

Viking carries mostly English speakers, they performed in English. In song, dance, and storytelling the history of the town was presented. They began with the native Canadians and proceeded through the disasters and current events to the present. I was tickled to see a variety of farm animals brought onto the stage, including geese, horses, a pig, and a cow. The story was supported by state of the art audio-visual effects and explosions. Interestingly, about half of the local bus drivers and other service people only spoke French. And while they were polite and tried to assist us, we had quite a good time trying to communicate.

Dave reading about Saguenay

Our next stop was Gaspe and Perce – and a bit of better weather.

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