We were fortunate that even though we planned our trip to Charlevoix late, we found a perfect chalet for our week long stay. Being the height of the summer season I was beginning to think we would have to change plans on our chosen location.

Thanks to the great website chaletsauquebec.com we found Au Versant du Fleuve in Saint Siméon was availalable for the week we needed.

Saint Siméon is a small village (around 1300 population) on the edge of the Saint Lawrence river between the town of La Malbaie and Tadoussac. The village boasts a ferry port that has regular services to Rivière-du-Loupe on the other side of the Saint Lawrence.

Being small, Saint Siméon doesn’t offer much in the way of nightlife, but there are a couple of restaurants and a well stocked convenience store for all your daily needs. For more choice in terms of stores, bars and restaurants, La Malbaie is only about 20 minutes down the road.

Today’s post contains shots taken in and around the chalet. We didn’t actually venture down to Saint Siméon much, only on the last day when it was overcast and a bit wet, did we actually take a walk along the beach.

Saint Siméon beach
ISO 100 – 35mm – f7.1 – 1/640 sec (14 image panorama)

View from Saint Siméon beach
ISO 100 – 70mm – f4.5 – 1/1250 sec

Hilly coastline of Saint Siméon
ISO 100 – 70mm – f7.1 – 1/320 sec

View from Saint Siméon beach
ISO 100 – 300mm – f7.1 – 1/800 sec

View from Saint Siméon beach
ISO 100 – 70mm – f7.1 – 1/200 sec

Our chalet had a great view of the Saint Lawrence river and was very peaceful, particularly on a warm evening, sitting with a glass of wine on the balcony watching the numerous ships pass by below.

The CGM Montréal Cargo Ship and Ferry
ISO 100 – 145mm – f4.8 – 1/500 sec

The Saint Siméon Ferry
ISO 100 – 170mm – f5 – 1/320 sec

The Trans St Laurent ferry
ISO 400 – 300mm – f5.6 – 1/400 sec

The Federal Tweed cargo ship
ISO 280 – 210mm – f5.6 – 1/640 sec

Sailing under the storm clouds
ISO 200 – 70mm – f6.3 – 1/400 sec

On clear evenings we were also treated to the full moon rising over the Saint Lawrence…

Pink moon rising over the Saint Lawrence
ISO 400 – 180mm – f5.6 – 1/50 sec

Moon rising over the Saint Lawrence
ISO 200 – 98mm – f4.5 – 1/8 sec

I dragged myself out of the comfort of my bed a couple of mornings to try and catch the sun rise. On both days I was greeted with fog that hung heavily over the Saint Lawrence, but eventually the sun broke through.

Sun rising through the fog
ISO 100 – 122mm – f7.1 – 1/8 sec

Sun rising through the fog
ISO 100 – 85mm – f8 – 1/50 sec

Sun rising through the fog
ISO 200 – 300mm – f5.6 – 1/100 sec

The early morning fog was quite eerie accompanied by the intermittent sound of ships’ fog horns breaking the otherwise calm silence.

The ghost ship
ISO 100 – 140mm – f4.8 – 1/40 sec

Early morning fog on the Saint Lawrence
ISO 100 – 78mm – f10 – 1/500 sec

Early morning fog on the Saint Lawrence
ISO 100 – 170mm – f10 – 1/125 sec

Early morning fog
ISO 100 – 70mm – f5.6 – 1/8 sec

I actually loved this view along the shore from the chalets’ balcony. I Shot the same angle again one late afternoon just after a small storm had passed.

View along the shore from the chalet
ISO 100 – 70mm – f4.5 – 1/200 sec

The Saint Lawrence is well known for whale watching. You can take whale watching tours from Saint Siméon but we decided to head to Tadoussac where the whales are known to be in quite large numbers feeding at the near the entrance to the Saguenay river (I’ll be sharing pics from that trip in my next post)…but we did see a few pass by below while sitting on the balcony at the chalet, including this Baluga – I promise, it’s not a wave breaking 😉

Baluga whale
ISO 100- 300mm – f7.1 – 1/200 sec

If you are considering visiting the Charlevoix region, I highly recommend you check the availability for the chalet we stayed at – Au Versant du Fleuve – The owners, Stéphanie and Karl are super friendly and have ensured the chalet is well equipped…note however there is no internet connection – but that can be a blessing when you’re in the mood for just sitting back and enjoying the wonderful view from the large balcony overlooking the Saint Lawrence!

Au Versant du Fleuve chalet in Saint Siméon
ISO 100 – 13mm – f5 – 1/200 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

With 4 bedrooms the chalet can comfortably sleep up to 8 persons, although the specs mention a maximum of 6. All rooms are well furnished and the chalet was extremely clean and equipped with pretty much anything you could need during a vacation.

Au Versant du Fleuve chalet Main Bedroom
ISO 100 – 12mm – f5 – 0.3 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

The main bedroom had an ensuite bathroom with an old fashioned bath…

Au Versant du Fleuve chalet Main Bedroom ensuite
ISO 100 – 11.5mm – f5 – 0.3 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

The large basement bathroom features a large shower.

Au Versant du Fleuve chalet Basement Bathroom
ISO 100 – 10mm – f5 – 0.8 sec

Au Versant du Fleuve chalet Basement Bathroom
ISO 100 – 10mm – f5 – 0.8 sec

The kitchen was another great feature of the home….extremely well equipped for a holiday rental.

Au Versant du Fleuve chalet Kitchen
ISO 100 – 14mm – f5 – 1/5 sec

We will certainly be booking the chalet again when we next visit the area. If you are interested in renting the chalet and contact Stéphine and Karl, I hope you’ll mention that you saw their chalet on Montreal in Pictures 😉

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time.

– Martin

Montréal in Pictures

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