Baie comeau port of call

Cover and back pages: © Marc Loiselle

BAIE COMEAU PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PORT Apron: 17 m Apron: 17 m Apron: 24 m

TIDAL MOVEMENT: 4.15 m PILOTS: Upon request MARINE REFERENCES Chart # 1226, Canadian Hydrographic Service Latitude: 49°13’ N Longitude: 68°09’ W

CONTACTS CROISIÈRES BAIE-COMEAU Renée Dumas – Executive Director, Baie-Comeau Cruises T 1 418 296-0182 #224 20, avenue Cartier, Baie-Comeau, Québec G4Z 0A2 rdumas@ville.baie-comeau.qc.ca TOURISM BAIE-COMEAU Sophie St-Gelais – Coordinator, Baie-Comeau Cruises T 1 418 296-8360 F 1 418 296-5380 20, avenue Cartier, Baie-Comeau, Québec G4Z 0A2 sst-gelais@ville.baie-comeau.qc.ca

Concept and Design: Paginart, Brand Communications

BERTHS Berth 1 – direct access to port Length: 155 m Depth: 10 m Berth 2 – direct access to port Length: 155 m Depth: 9.5 m Berth 3 – direct access to port Length: 125 m Depth: 9.5 m

PORT SERVICES > Passenger gangway > Tug > Roll-on/roll-off ramp > Electrical outlets for tugs > Car ferry ramp > Waste disposal > Fuel & fresh water by truck CRUISE PAVILION > Wi-fi web connexion > Tourist office > Boutique > Terrace > Restrooms

> Shuttle service > Regional craftsmen > Restaurant > Public telephones > Wheelchair friendly

VISIT US AT CROISIERESBAIE-COMEAU.CA

info@croisieresbaie-comeau.ca

OLOS SA

BAIE COMEAU Big country. Big hearts.

© Marc Loiselle

MANIC 5

THE 5TH LARGEST IMPACTCRATER IN THE WORLD, ITS HUGE RESERVOIR WAS FORMED

BY AN ASTEROID THAT LANDED 214 MILLION YEARS AGO. CONTAINS ENOUGH CONCRETE TO BUILD A SIDEWALK ALL THE WAY FROM THE NORTH POLE TO THE SOUTH POLE.

BIG ENOUGH

© Marc Loiselle

Four daily 2-hour tours of the facility are available from the end of June for up to 100 people at a time. They include a bus ride to the crest of the Daniel-Johnson dam, offering a spectacular panorama of the Manicouagan River valley. A belvedere, 5 minutes away, provides a majestic view of the dam, which is lit at night. Seaplane tours also available.

THE LARGEST DAM IN THE WORLD OF ITS TYPE, TALLER THAN A 70-STORY BUILDING, NEARLY 1 MILE LONG, WITH A CENTRAL ARCH 15 STORIES HIGHER THAN THE GREAT PYRAMID.

MANIC 5

© Marc Loiselle

AWESOM

MANIC 2

© Marc Loiselle

90-minute guided tours, during which visitors may enter cavities of the dam and see turbines in action, are available throughout the season. Capacity: 100 visitors.

EACH OF THE 8 TURBINES WEIGHS MORE THAN 100 ELEPHANTS. THE SPILLWAY CAN DISCHARGE TWICE AS MUCH WATER AS NIAGARA FALLS.

MANIC-2 IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST HOLLOW-JOINT GRAVITY DAMS. A JUMBO JET COULD FIT INTO JUST ONE OF THE DAM’S JOINTS.

THE BIG PICTURE

© Hydro-Québec

MANIC 2

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAW A GARDEN THAT WAS STARTED 20,000 YEARS AGO?

GARDEN OF THE GLACIERS

© Mathieu Dupuis

ETERNAL

A garden carved out by the world’s most imposing glacier, which covered most of North America in one towering piece of ice reaching over 3 miles high!

This UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve is one of the largest biospheres on the planet and by far the largest in Canada. It covers over 21,000 mi2 (33,796 km2) making it about twice the size of Haiti, and larger than 120 other countries!

The Glacier Exploration Station offers its visitors an enveloping interactive experience in a realistic prehistoric environment, supported by the latest multimedia technologies.

© Robert Baronet

SHELLVALLEY

EXPERIENCE AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIG FIRST-HAND! BECOME AN EXPLORER AND ENJOY ARTEFACTS FROM THE GOLDTHWAITE SEA, WHICH SUBMERGED THE WHOLE AREA SOME 12,000 YEARS AGO.

© Mathieu Dupuis

AGELES S

© Jardin des glaciers

NEXT TO THIS YARDS-DEEP DEPOSIT OF SEASHELLS FROM THE LAST ICE AGE, A BOARDWALK WITH INTERPRETIVE PANELS HAS BEEN INSTALLED AT THE BASE OF A WALL OF SHELLS. YOU’RE INVITED TO HANDLE THE ANCIENT MOLLUSKS OF 10,000 YEARS AGO. WE’LL GLADLY SUPPLY YOU WITH THE TOOLS TO SEARCH FOR A VARIETY OF SHELLS LEFT BEHIND BY THE RECEDING SEAS… IN PREHISTORY.

BOISÉ POINTE SAINT-GILLES

ENJOY THE BOUNTY OF NATURE, FROM LEAFY FOREST REFUGE TO WINDSWEPT CLIFFS.

© Raymond Héroux

BOISÉ DE LA POINTE SAINT-GILLES IS AN OASIS OF WILDLIFE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY, WITH MILES OF PATHS PUNCTUATED BY SCULPTURES AND LEAFY NOOKS. THIS AMAZINGLY VARIED ECOSYSTEM INCLUDES OVER 200 PLANT, MOSS AND MUSHROOM SPECIES, NEARLY 100 DIFFERENT BIRD SPECIES, AND A HARBOUR-SEAL ROOKERY!

Š Mathieu Dupuis

HERITAGE

ŠMarc Loiselle/Loizo.com

THE MANOIR In 1937, the same year he founded the town of Baie-Comeau, Robert Rutherford McCormick built a sumptuous manor.

In 1965, the Manoir burned to the ground.

The QNSL paper company rebuilt it on the same site, using stone instead of wood, and it was totally rejuvenated in 2004.

Now a hotel with all the charm of an old French colonial manor, most of its rooms and meeting rooms, including the dining room, terrace and gardens, open onto spectacular views of the Saint Lawrence River.

© Marc Loiselle

POINTE-AUX-OUTARDES NATURE PARK

© Pierre Larue

NATURAL

BAIE SAINT-PANCRACE is accessible only by boat, but the panoramic views from above are breathtaking, especially when bedecked in autumnal colour.

For an even more relaxed outing, a few miles of pathways through the woods on either side of the Amédée River are ideal for hiking.

WALKS AND DISCOVERIES SEVEN DISTINCT ECOSYSTEMS SHOWCASE THE STUNNING DIVERSITY AT POINTE-AUXOUTARDES NATURE PARK. VISITORS ENJOY GUIDED TOURS, DEMONSTRATIONS, TALKS AND WALKS TOUCHING ON ECOLOGY, PLANT BIOLOGY, ARCHAEOLOGY, CULTURE AND SCIENCE FOR ALL AGES. THE PATRIMONIAL QUARTER is a casual but stimulating tour that showcases the history, architecture and charming ambience of old neighbourhoods and attractions such as boutiques, art galleries, and historic churches. The ideal occasion to meet one of the locals and hear heart-warming and sometimes harrowing tales of their forebears’ travails in carving a life out of this wild land. And what tour of charming village life would be complete without a wine tasting?

SHIPWRECK MUSEUM

© Mathieu Dupuis

ENJOY A REMOTE PARADISE THAT NURTURES HEARTY SOULS. WATCH WHALES AT PLAY. EXPERIENCE AND WITNESS THE INTENSITY AND HUMAN DRAMA OF A SHIPWRECK.

POINTE-DES-MONTS LIGHTHOUSE

© MTOQ_Benoit Cecile

HEROIC

MYTHICAL THE POINTE-DES-MONTS LIGHTHOUSE mannequins and artefacts, spread over seven floors, illustrate – to both adults and children – the life of the pioneers, the coureurs des bois who moved here and the Native Montagnais People (whose church, built in 1747, still stands nearby). The views are splendid.

Have you ever looked out over a 40 mile-wide (64.37 km) river?

This ancient edifice has seen a lot of action, including a fair share of shipwrecks and other tragedies since it was built in 1830, when sailing ships dominated the world’s oceans. If shipwrecks are your thing, though, there’s more: the muchawarded SHIPWRECK MUSEUM recounts the great maritime tragedies of the Saint Lawrence from the time of New France. Multimedia, slideshows, videos and movies support and enrich your experience at both locations.

THE VILLAGE IS A FAITHFUL REPRODUCTION OF AN EARLY SETTLEMENT THAT GAVE BIRTH TO THE LOCAL FRENCHCANADIAN POPULATION: LUMBER CAMPS.

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE PIONEERS If you were to read the Chicago Tribune or the New York Daily News from the mid 1900s, you would be looking at trees from Baie-Comeau! Local lumber camps belonged to the owner of those newspapers, who opened them expressly to supply his printing presses.

Visitors will be thrilled to see cutting, hauling, driving, and other aspects of life that were carried on as man tamed the towering trees. Typical buildings, period objects and old photographs illustrate the rough living conditions and fascinating way of life of this period. You might even meet some of the volunteers who remember hearing first-hand stories of the olden days.

all photos © Marc Loiselle

HISTORIC

FRANQUELIN FOREST VILLAGE

© Marc Loiselle

ALL THE STAINED-GLASS WINDOWS AND INTERIOR OF SAINTE-AMÉLIE CHURCH WERE COMMISSIONED FROM THE RENOWNED FLORENTINE ECCLESIASTIC ARCHITECT AND PAINTER GUIDO NINCHERI.

SAINTE-AMÉLIE CHURCH

GLORIOUS

For all the church’s stunning frescoes, which clearly show the influence of Titian and Raphael, Guido Nincheri worked in the traditional, buon-fresco technique. The same technique that Michelangelo used in the Sistine Chapel. Its magni­ficent, vault-like acoustics are fully exploited by the 26-stop Casavant organ, built by the world-renowned French-Canadian brothers who created the famous organs in Montréal’s Notre-Dame Basilica and the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston, Maine.