The Algonquins called it Magtogoek, "the way that walks", on whose shores the Great Spirit placed the garden of Eden.
The name of
San Lorenzo
was given to it by the French explorer
Jacques Cartier
, who, in 1535, after mistaking its estuary for a huge bay, traced it thinking that he was sailing towards China.
The main route of communication between the
Great Lakes
and the Atlantic, this river has been for centuries a space of coexistence, also of confrontations between the so-called “first nations” and the French and British settlers who settled in this region, the most populated in Canada. .
We started the route in
Toronto
, the largest city in the country. Reminiscent of New York, but quiet. Alongside the imposing glass-enclosed skyscrapers of Downtown are nineteenth-century churches, Victorian houses, London West End theaters, parks with black squirrels, essential museums and bars with music where you can have an excellent Creemore beer or a Boneshaker. It is worth taking a trip to the nearby Niagara Falls, where we can soak up the boat that takes us to the feet of its raging waters and remember
Marilyn Monroe
while we taste an
ice wine.
We follow
Lake Ontario
to historic
Kingston
, where the
San Lorenzo
begins
.
In this section it shares waters with the United States and was the scene of the war of 1812, whose battles are remembered along the way.
The river is dotted with thousands of lush islands of all sizes, some of which only fit a house.
According to the Algonquians, they are the pieces of Eden that Manitou fell when he took paradise from Earth as humans did not know how to live in peace.
enlarge photo 'Maman', sculpture by Louise Bourgeois next to the National Gallery in Ottawa.
Iryna Tolmachova Alamy
In
Prescott
we will move away a little from the course of the waters to go to the Canadian capital,
Ottawa
, on the banks of a tributary of the San Lorenzo. In Algonquian its name means “barter on the river” because here the natives and the
coureurs des bois
traded
,
settlers who traded in furs and who for months hunted in forests such as those of the nearby Algonquin Provincial Park and those of Lake Muskoka, where it is easy come across fawns. The Ottawa River separates the French-speaking
Gatineau
from the English-speaking
Ottawa
, two cities in one, with interesting museums, such as the History Museum and the National Gallery, with a Louise Bourgeois chandelier a la Guggenheim in Bilbao.
Not to be missed is the changing of the guard in Parliament, with the pomp and circumstance of Buckingham Palace, and a game of ice hockey, the king of sports that unites Francophones and Anglophones.
Montreal, old French spirit
Following the San Lorenzo, 180 kilometers from Prescott, we reached
Montreal
, on a huge island. At the foot of Mont Royal that gives it its name, it has preserved the old French spirit in its old town, around the monumental Notre-Dame church. A city with a great cultural offer (important museums, jazz festivals, the birthplace of Cirque du Soleil ...), as lively by day as by night, French and Anglophone, it is a great multicultural city forged by the different waves of European and Asian immigrants who they were settling from the XIX century.
Following
the historic
Chemin du Roy
road,
we then arrive at the stately city of
Trois-Rivières
, a river crossing with impressive views where we can taste dishes with the traditional maple syrup. We continue our way to
Quebec
, perched on the river, one of the most beautiful cities and the only walled city in North America. At his feet, France lost possession of these lands in 1759, in a bloody half-hour battle. The views of the river are spectacular from the Citadelle and from the dais walkway that leads to the monumental Château Frontenac, a hotel for celebrities and millionaires. Around it, the old town, world heritage, full of restaurants and shops in houses of the seventeenth century, steep streets and tree-lined squares animated by musicians and acrobats.
On the way to
Tadoussac
we visit the
Montmorency Falls
, higher than the Niagara Falls. In this section the river widens. There are no longer big cities and farms like those on the island of Orleans, which boasts its cider, are lavish. We go to one of the most attractive natural places: the
Saguenay Fjord
. We skirt it to
Lake Saint-Jean
, passing by the vertiginous cliffs of
Cape Trinité
. It is a region where traditions persist and lends itself to exploring it with folk songs from La Bottine Souriante or Mes Aïeux. The Ottawa writer
Margaret Atwood
lived in this wooded area
and was inspired by a novel like
Resurrection.
We continue to
Tadoussac
with stops in spectacular corners such as
Sainte-Rose-du-Nord
, where the whales arrive.
The
bay of Tadoussac
is of extraordinary beauty, which can be enjoyed sitting in the gardens of the nineteenth-century hotel of the same name.
It is recommended to bring binoculars: from the coast you can see beluga whales and fin whales.
Its deep waters have been frequented by Basque whalers since the 16th century.
A cove and an island bear his name, and there remains a stone oven where they converted the fat of the great cetacean into oil.
Some words of the Biscayan became part of the Micmac language in
La Gaspésie
.
In this lonely and immense region of forests and rivers, you can see all kinds of fauna and spend the nights listening to the whales snort.
An overflowing nature that made Chateaubriand feel "alone before God."
A good place, at the huge mouth of the "walking path", where to end our tour.
Manuel Florentín
is editor and author of the essay 'European unity.
Story of a dream '(Editorial Anaya).
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