Monday morning saw us on a bus tour to Ile d'Orleans to the east 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!
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