Monday morning saw us on a bus tour to Ile d'Orleans
which is visible on the
map
to the north east of Quebec.
The main channel of the river flows around the south side
of Ile d'Orleans. We basically circumnavigated the island,
enjoying a delightful lunch at the western corner at the
Goeliche
in Saint Petronille. On the return journey we stopped at
the Montmorency Falls, which are on the "mainland" just a
little east of the bridge to/from Ile d'Orleans.
Looking upstream along the Saint Lawrence while crossing
over to Ile d'Orleans. The water is part of the minor
flow of the river, and hence the bridge need not be
particularly tall as ship traffic flows around the
other side of the island. By comparison, bridges
crossing the entire river (here and in Montreal) are
quite high, and thus more major pieces of construction,
as there is enough ship traffic to make opening bridges
somewhat problematical.
Our first stop was for cider and vinegar tasting at
Domaine Steinbach
an organic farm on the banks of the St. Lawrence River.
The family is Belgian, but decided that living on a farm
in Quebec, on an island in the St. Lawrence River was
a more desirable lifestyle, after discovering this area
in 1995, and then buying the farm, which had been reposessed
by the bank, in 1997.
Our guide Lise (l) and June overlooking the lesser
arm of the St. Lawrence River, and also part of the 4,000
tree orchard on the farm. And it was at this location that
we were given the family history, and tasted their ice and regular ciders.
The farm house and the duck and goose pond - so this is the pate
production line!
The Winery
Jazzy French Connection main page