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Story Routes

Cirque du Soleil’s Quebec
A 3-Day Pilgrimage

The St. Lawrence route that founded Cirque du Soleil and the shipyard town that kept it standing — Baie-Saint-Paul to Rimouski, one small town at a time.

  • 📍 Quebec City → Côte-de-Beaupré → Île d'Orléans → Baie-Saint-Paul → La Malbaie → Saint-Siméon (ferry) → Rivière-du-Loup → Rimouski → home
  • 📅 3 days · one night in Baie-Saint-Paul, one night in Rimouski
  • 🚗 About 700 km round trip · one ferry crossing (65 min)
  • 🏘️ 21 stops
  • 🎪 Best time: mid-July for Le Festif! in Baie-Saint-Paul (July 23–26, 2026) · May through October for the ferry and Pointe-au-Père · shoulder seasons are quieter but colder on the pier

Inspired by Castor’s Letter from Rimouski

Forty-two summers ago, in a shipyard in Rimouski, Quebec, small-town Canada built a circus. Three people had founded it in Baie-Saint-Paul four years earlier — a fire-breather, a businessman, and a man willing to walk ninety kilometres on stilts.

In the summer of 1984, they took their first big-top show on the road. The Italian tent collapsed in Sainte-Thérèse. They opened in Gaspé under a borrowed federal tent. They drove that tent up the North Shore to Baie-Comeau and Alma.

And then, one afternoon on a pier in Rimouski, new masts arrived. They were ten times as heavy as the Italian ones. The Swiss foreman said they were dangerous. The tour manager fired him in front of everyone. They raised the masts. They held. The rest followed.

Cirque du Soleil was born.

This is a three-day drive along the St. Lawrence that traces both the founding and the saving.

Day 1 goes from Quebec City up the Côte-de-Beaupré and into Baie-Saint-Paul — the small Charlevoix town where three young people practised on the wharves in 1979 and 1980.

Day 2 continues up the Charlevoix coast to Saint-Siméon, crosses the river by ferry to Rivière-du-Loup, and finishes at the pier in Rimouski.

Day 3 opens at Pointe-au-Père — the maritime historic site that anchors Rimouski’s story — and turns for home.

The route is 700 km round-trip. Time it for late July if you can, when Le Festif! (the festival that grew out of the Fête Foraine the founders held in 1982) fills the streets of Baie-Saint-Paul.

Book both nights ahead. Baie-Saint-Paul is compact and fills every summer weekend. Rimouski fills for university and festival dates. If you can travel on a weekday, the pier is quieter, and the drive is emptier.

Grandfather Henri used to say that when Canadians don’t know how to solve a problem, they build something. Cirque du Soleil is one of the largest entertainment brands on earth today. It was once saved by a shipyard crew in a small Quebec town. This trip walks you through where.

Day 1 — Quebec City → Côte-de-Beaupré → Baie-Saint-Paul

→ ~130 km of driving · the stilts route + the birthplace, ending on the wharves where the founders practised

🚗 Start in Quebec City. Coffee, fuel, and onto Route 138 east along the north shore of the St. Lawrence toward Beaupré.

☕ Breakfast

Breakfast in Quebec City — leave by 8:30 a.m.

★ 5.0 Quebec City, QC

This is a three-day pilgrimage along the St. Lawrence, tracing the founding of Cirque du Soleil and the shipyard town that saved it. It begins in Quebec City, where a fire-breather, a businessman, and a man on stilts once came looking for provincial money. Fuel up, top up the tank, and aim to be on Route 138 by 9 a.m. If you skip breakfast, plenty of cafés along Grande Allée or in the Old Town open early.

The Day Rimouski Saved the Cirque du Soleil - Read Castor's Letter
Explore more →
Route 138 conditions (Québec 511) — check winter and construction conditions before you set out Cirque du Soleil on 1000 Towns — birthplace page — the People-adjacent page on Baie-Saint-Paul's most famous export Gilles Ste-Croix on 1000 Towns — the co-founder profile — read before you go

🚗 About 30 km · 30 min east of Quebec City via Route 138 through Beauport and Château-Richer

Heritage · Scenic Drive · Free

Côte-de-Beaupré — the stilts route

★ 5.0 Côte-de-Beaupré (Route 138), QC

In the spring of 1980, Gilles Ste-Croix walked from Baie-Saint-Paul to Quebec City on stilts — ninety kilometres along this coast — to get the attention of the province. He needed funding for his stilt-walking troupe, Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul. Some friends thought he was crazy. Some walked beside him for stretches. The province noticed. It funded them. You are driving what he walked, in reverse. The road climbs and dips along a ridge above the river the whole way. Watch for the roadside crosses and old farmhouses; this is one of the oldest continuously-settled routes in North America.

Visit place
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Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Basilica — the great pilgrimage basilica on the route — worth a 20-minute stop even if you're not religious Chute Montmorency (Montmorency Falls) — 83 m — taller than Niagara; the first major stop east of Quebec City
🚗 ~15 km · 15 min short detour south via Route 368 across the Île d’Orléans bridge
Food · Scenic Drive · Free

Île d'Orléans — strawberry country

★ 5.0 Saint-Jean-de-l'Île-d'Orléans, QC

An optional detour, but a Castor-approved one. In June 1968, Grandfather Henri wrote a note about this island: 'The strawberries have come in. The whole road around the island has cardboard signs at the gates of each farm.' Sixty summers later, the same signs go up. Saint-Jean-de-l'Île-d'Orléans is the eastern-facing village where you'll find the most farm gates. The island's loop road is 67 km all the way around — for the pilgrimage version, drop onto the island, buy a basket at the first farm you see, and rejoin Route 138 within an hour. You should not blink during a strawberry season because they will be gone.

Visit place
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Île d'Orléans tourism — the full island loop, farm map, and seasonal produce guide Route de la Nouvelle-France — the historic tourist corridor along the Côte-de-Beaupré
🚗 ~75 km · 1 hr 15 min north on Route 138 through Château-Richer and Petite-Rivière-Saint-François into Baie-Saint-Paul
🥪 Lunch

Lunch on the road to Baie-Saint-Paul

★ 5.0 Route 138 · Charlevoix, QC

Route 138 through Charlevoix climbs a series of ridges the encyclopedia calls the Caps — the highest summit is more than 740 metres. This was the toughest stretch of Ste-Croix's ninety-kilometre stilt walk. The road opens out several times to sudden views of the St. Lawrence far below. Petite-Rivière-Saint-François has a couple of casual cafés if you need a stop; otherwise push straight to Baie-Saint-Paul for lunch there — Le Mouton Noir in the town centre is a 40-year Charlevoix institution with a riverside terrace, and the Buvette gentille (part of the Faux Bergers family) is a casual downtown wine bar with plates. Save Faux Bergers itself for dinner if you want the full seven-course tasting menu.

Explore more →
Le Mouton Noir Restaurant — riverside bistro serving Charlevoix regional cuisine — 40+ years in Baie-Saint-Paul Buvette gentille (Faux Bergers) — casual downtown wine bar and plates from the Faux Bergers team Petite-Rivière-Saint-François on 1000 Towns — the mountain village halfway between Beaupré and Baie-Saint-Paul
🚗 Arrival in Baie-Saint-Paul on Route 138 · park downtown near rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste
Heritage · Arts · Anchor

Baie-Saint-Paul — the birthplace

★ 5.0 Baie-Saint-Paul, Charlevoix, QC

You have arrived at the birthplace of Cirque du Soleil. Cousin Baie-Saint-Paul says the founders used to practise on the wharves. Three of them started it: Gilles Ste-Croix, who ran a summer inn at the edge of town; Guy Laliberté, a fire-breather from Europe; and Daniel Gauthier, who handled the business. They toured small Quebec towns as Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul in 1980. Two years later, they held a street fair here — La Fête Foraine — modelled on the medieval market fairs of Europe. Some locals complained. Most of them came anyway. Forty-four years later, the town is still a village of artists, galleries, and one of the world's most-recognised entertainment brands born on its wharves.

Visit place
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Home Town of Cirque du Soleil (1000 Towns) — the Cirque-specific page on Baie-Saint-Paul Tourisme Baie-Saint-Paul — downtown map and gallery directory Tourisme Charlevoix — the regional tourism office
🚗 Walking · downtown Baie-Saint-Paul
Arts · Free · Photo Spot

Rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste — the gallery walk

★ 5.0 Rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste, Baie-Saint-Paul, QC

More than twenty art galleries line rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste in a five-minute walk. Baie-Saint-Paul has been a landscape-painting town for a century, long before it became a circus town — a summer destination for Quebec artists drawn to the light and the Charlevoix hills. Duck into whichever gallery windows catch your eye. The anchor is the Musée d'art contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul (MAC BSP), opened in 1992 on the site of the old Laurentien cinema. Since 1982 the museum has hosted the Symposium international d'art contemporain — one of Canada's longest-running artist residency and public-work festivals. You watch the artists paint.

Visit place
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Musée d'art contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul (MAC) — anchor gallery on rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste; check for the summer Symposium Galerie d'art Iris — one of the flagship galleries on the strip Along the Charlevoix Art Trade Route (Tourisme Charlevoix) — the regional artists' route beyond downtown Baie-Saint-Paul

🚗 5 min walk from downtown to the former convent complex above town

Heritage · Anchor · Pilgrimage

Maison Mère & Les Balcons — the auberge

★ 5.0 63, rue Ambroise-Fafard, Baie-Saint-Paul, QC

This is where the story starts. Gilles Ste-Croix ran an auberge at the edge of town in the late 1970s called Le Balcon Vert. It filled every summer with young street performers passing through Baie-Saint-Paul. Two of them stayed — Laliberté and Gauthier — and the three of them decided to make a troupe. The original Balcon Vert operated for forty years and closed in 2014. Its cultural legacy was picked up under the name Les Balcons, now an auberge-bistro that has moved into Maison Mère, a former convent turned cultural hub. Original Le Balcon Vert still operates a campground on the plateau above town, run on a volunteer basis and true to the original spirit. Pick either — walk through Maison Mère to see where the legacy lives now, or drive up the hill to the tents where it began.

Visit place
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Auberge des Balcons — the current inheritor of the Balcon Vert cultural tradition

🚗 5 min walk or drive from downtown to the waterfront at 210 rue Sainte-Anne

Heritage · Free · Photo Spot

The wharves — Plage et Parc Boisé du Quai

★ 5.0 Plage et Parc Boisé du Quai, 210 rue Sainte-Anne, Baie-Saint-Paul, QC

Walk down to the water. Plage et Parc Boisé du Quai sits at the mouth of the Rivière-du-Gouffre where it meets the St. Lawrence — the tidal beach and the wooded park that surround the town's working municipal dock. This is the wharf Cousin Baie-Saint-Paul refers to when she says the founders used to practise on the wharves. There is no plaque. There is a wide bay that empties and fills twice a day with the tides, the salt air of the St. Lawrence, and a view across to Isle-aux-Coudres. Stand here for ten minutes and imagine three young people in the summer of 1979 or 1980 — one on stilts, one juggling, one breathing fire — practising for a walk to Quebec City that would put their names in a Canadian encyclopedia. The wharves are quiet on most weekdays. Bring a coffee and sit for a while. The story starts here.

Visit place
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Ville de Baie-Saint-Paul — parks & green spaces — the town's official parks directory

🚗 Walking distance in downtown Baie-Saint-Paul, or 5 min drive east to Laiterie Charlevoix

🍷 Dinner

Dinner in Baie-Saint-Paul

★ 5.0 Downtown Baie-Saint-Paul, QC

**Le Mouton Noir** on the river is the safe classic — 40+ years of Charlevoix regional cuisine, riverside terrace, warm bistro room. **Faux Bergers** relocated in spring 2026 to the Maison Simard at Laiterie Charlevoix (5 min drive east); it serves a single seven-course tasting menu family-style, all guests eat at the same time — small room, big reputation, book weeks ahead. **Buvette gentille** (their downtown spin-off) is the casual counterpart if Faux Bergers is full. **Le Bercail** at Hôtel & Spa Le Germain Charlevoix (50 rue de la Ferme) serves fresh Charlevoix cuisine — tartares, wood-oven pizzas, house cocktails — a good option if you're staying at Le Germain. Whichever you pick, reserve for summer weekends.

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Le Mouton Noir — river terrace bistro — 40-year Charlevoix institution Faux Bergers (Maison Simard) — 7-course tasting menu — reserve well in advance Le Bercail at Le Germain Charlevoix — culinary lounge inside Le Germain — tartares, pizzas, cocktails

🚗 Wherever you booked in Baie-Saint-Paul or immediately outside town

🛏️ Overnight

Overnight in Baie-Saint-Paul

★ 5.0 Baie-Saint-Paul, QC

**Hôtel & Spa Le Germain Charlevoix** (145 rooms on a working farm across five farm-inspired modern buildings on the edge of town) is the destination choice — the Michelin-listed anchor hotel of Charlevoix with a Nordic spa, farmers' market, and even its own train station on the Train de Charlevoix line. **Les Balcons at Maison Mère** (Stop 7) is the affordable heritage choice — a former convent turned cultural hub with rooms above the bistro. **Auberge Le Balcon Vert** (also Stop 7) is the pilgrimage choice — tents, dorms, and family pavilions on the plateau above town, the original spirit of 1974. Book at least a month ahead for summer weekends and Le Festif!

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Hôtel & Spa Le Germain Charlevoix — 145 rooms · Michelin-listed · Nordic spa · own train station Auberge des Balcons at Maison Mère — heritage rooms in the former convent
Day 2 — Baie-Saint-Paul → Saint-Siméon ferry → Rimouski

→ ~260 km of driving + 65 min ferry · Charlevoix coast, cross the river, arrive at the pier

🚗 In town · aim to be at the Saint-Siméon ferry terminal by 12:30 for the 1:00 sailing

☕ Breakfast

Breakfast in Baie-Saint-Paul

★ 5.0 Baie-Saint-Paul, QC

Two paths before the ferry. If you're staying at Le Germain, breakfast is at Le Bercail on the farm. Otherwise, **Café Charlevoix** at 20 rue Sainte-Anne is the reliable downtown pick — a neighbourhood micro-roaster since 2013, open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., known for croissants and beans roasted on-site. Check Destination Baie-Saint-Paul's current listings if you want alternatives. Don't rush; the drive from downtown Baie-Saint-Paul to Saint-Siméon is only about an hour along Route 138 (~70 km). Aim to leave by 11 a.m. to catch the 1:00 p.m. ferry with time to spare.

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Café Charlevoix (microtorréfacteur) — neighbourhood café and micro-roaster · 20 rue Sainte-Anne · open 8 a.m. Destination Baie-Saint-Paul (tourism office) — current café and restaurant listings
🚗 ~70 km · 1 hr north on Route 138 through La Malbaie to the Saint-Siméon ferry terminal
Scenic Drive · Free · Photo Spot

Drive up Charlevoix — La Malbaie & Saint-Siméon

★ 5.0 Route 138 · La Malbaie & Saint-Siméon, QC

The drive north from Baie-Saint-Paul on Route 138 is one of the great riverside routes in Canada. The road climbs and drops along the shore of the St. Lawrence, opening out to the whales feeding at the mouth of the Saguenay. Pass through La Malbaie (home of the Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu, historic Quebec resort town) and continue to Saint-Siméon. This stretch is inside the UNESCO-designated Charlevoix Biosphere Reserve. If you have an extra half-hour, stop at the Cap-à-l'Aigle lookout above La Malbaie for the panorama — on a clear day you can see the far shore of the St. Lawrence from here.

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Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu — grand old resort hotel in La Malbaie — worth a photo stop
🚗 ~65 min crossing across the St. Lawrence · book ahead in summer
⛴ Ferry crossing

Ferry crossing — Saint-Siméon to Rivière-du-Loup

★ 5.0 Saint-Siméon terminal, Route 138, Saint-Siméon, QC → Rivière-du-Loup, QC

The Traverse Saint-Siméon–Rivière-du-Loup is the classic crossing of the St. Lawrence. Operated by a private company (not the STQ), it runs 2 to 4 sailings per day between mid-April and early January. Summer schedule from Saint-Siméon: 9:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. Crossing time is about 65 minutes. Whales are regularly sighted mid-crossing — the ferry passes near the mouth of the Saguenay, one of the world's best whale-watching corridors. Book online in advance for peak summer weekends. Bring binoculars if you have them.

Visit place
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Croisières AML (whale-watching alternative) — if you want a dedicated whale-watching trip from Tadoussac instead
🚗 5 min from the Rivière-du-Loup ferry terminal into downtown
🥪 Lunch

Lunch in Rivière-du-Loup

★ 5.0 Downtown Rivière-du-Loup, QC

You have crossed the river to the south shore — the Bas-Saint-Laurent. Rivière-du-Loup is the traditional gateway to the Gaspé, and its downtown along rue Fraser has a good lineup of casual and mid-range restaurants. **Restaurant Le Saint-Patrice** (169 rue Fraser, phone 418-862-9895) has been the flagship of Rivière-du-Loup dining for 35+ years — market and Italian cuisine, ranked in the top 3 in town, with a weekday lunch menu. Half an hour, then back on the road — Rimouski is another 120 km east on Route 132.

Visit place
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Restaurant Le Saint-Patrice — 35-year Rivière-du-Loup institution on rue Fraser Bas-Saint-Laurent Tourism — regional tourism office covering the south-shore corridor
🚗 ~120 km · 1 hr 30 min east on Route 132 or Autoroute 20 from Rivière-du-Loup to Rimouski
Scenic Drive

Route 132 east — the south-shore drive

★ 5.0 Route 132 · Kamouraska to Rimouski, QC

You have a choice. Autoroute 20 is fast (90 minutes) and boring. Route 132 hugs the south shore of the St. Lawrence the whole way — an hour longer but the drive most people mean when they say 'the drive to Gaspé.' It runs through Kamouraska, Trois-Pistoles, and Le Bic. On a clear afternoon the water is silver and the north-shore mountains are visible across the widening estuary. If you take Route 132 and have an extra hour, stop in Kamouraska — the postcard village of Bas-Saint-Laurent, all painted clapboard houses, and one of the prettiest small towns in Quebec. Otherwise push through; Rimouski is the pier, and you want daylight there.

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Parc national du Bic (SÉPAQ) — provincial park just west of Rimouski — dramatic cliffs and coves
🚗 Arrive in Rimouski · park along boulevard René-Lepage or Avenue Belzile near the Promenade de la Mer
Heritage · Free · Photo Spot · Anchor · Pilgrimage

Rimouski — the pier

★ 5.0 Promenade de la Mer, Rimouski, QC

This is the place. Forty-two summers ago this month, in July 1984, the Cirque du Soleil was on the road with a tent that did not belong to them. Their Italian big top had collapsed during rehearsals three weeks before opening. They had opened in Gaspé anyway, under a federal-government tent, and driven that tent up the North Shore to Baie-Comeau and Alma. They had sent word to a shipyard in Rimouski: build us new masts. Fast. The shipyard said three weeks. The new masts arrived on a pier in Rimouski that summer. Ten times as solid as the Italian ones. The Swiss foreman said no — too heavy, dangerous. Jean David, the thirty-year-old tour manager, fired him in front of everyone. They raised the masts. **They held.** The Promenade de la Mer today runs 4.3 km along the shore in the heart of downtown Rimouski. Walk it. This is where the circus was saved.

Visit town
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Promenade de la Mer (Tourisme Bas-Saint-Laurent) — 4.3 km waterfront boardwalk — the pier area Tourisme Rimouski — official tourism office with downtown map
🚗 Walking distance from the Promenade de la Mer into downtown Rimouski
🍷 Dinner

Dinner in Rimouski

★ 5.0 Downtown Rimouski, QC

**Brasserie artisanale Le Bien, le Malt** (141 avenue Belzile, opened 2008) is the downtown anchor — a neighbourhood brewpub steps from the waterfront serving small-batch beers and shareable plates. It's the closest thing Rimouski has to a night-out institution. **Pacini** inside the Hôtel Le Navigateur (Stop 18) serves Italian and is the safe hotel-restaurant choice for something quieter after a long driving day. For a broader look, browse Tourisme Rimouski or the Bas-Saint-Laurent tourism food directory — the downtown restaurant scene has grown a lot since the university expanded. Whichever you pick, you're within a five-minute walk of the pier — take a coffee back to the promenade after dinner.Check more places on 1000towns

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Brasserie artisanale Le Bien, le Malt — since 2008 · 141 avenue Belzile · steps from the water
🚗 Wherever you booked in Rimouski — downtown properties are all within walking distance of the pier
🛏️ Overnight

Overnight in Rimouski

★ 5.0 Rimouski, QC

**Hôtel Le Navigateur** (130 avenue Belzile) is the natural pilgrimage choice — 112 rooms in a four-star downtown property directly on the Promenade de la Mer, with the Pacini restaurant on the ground floor. **Hôtel Rimouski / Centre de congrès** (225 boulevard René-Lepage Est) is the larger convention-and-family alternative on the same waterfront strip. Chain options sit on the highway strip a couple of kilometres from downtown. Rimouski fills up in summer for festivals and university events — book at least two weeks ahead. Check Tourisme Rimouski's current listings for B&Bs and gîtes if you want something more intimate.

Visit place
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Hôtel Le Navigateur — downtown Rimouski · on the Promenade de la Mer · 130 avenue Belzile Hôtel Rimouski — 225 boulevard René-Lepage Est · waterfront · convention centre
Day 3 — Rimouski → Pointe-au-Père → home

→ ~320 km of driving · the maritime historic site, then home along Autoroute 20 (or continue east toward Gaspé)

🚗 In downtown Rimouski · aim to be at Pointe-au-Père by 10:00 a.m. when it opens

☕ Breakfast

Breakfast in Rimouski

★ 5.0 Rimouski, QC

Downtown Rimouski has a handful of steady morning cafés along rue Saint-Germain and rue de l'Évêché. Browse Tourisme Rimouski's current directory for the day's openings — the local scene changes seasonally. If you want to move fast, Pacini at Le Navigateur is open early for breakfast; if you want a proper stop, budget 30 minutes and pick a downtown café. Pointe-au-Père is ten minutes east and opens at 9 a.m. in peak summer and 10 a.m. in shoulder seasons — plan your morning around it.

Visit place
🚗 ~10 km · 15 min east from downtown Rimouski on Route 132 to Pointe-au-Père
Heritage · National Historic Site · Anchor

Site historique maritime de la Pointe-au-Père

★ 5.0 1000 rue du Phare, Rimouski, QC

Rimouski's second essential stop. The Pointe-au-Père Maritime Historic Site sits on a point jutting into the St. Lawrence, ten kilometres east of downtown. It brings together three things: (1) the **Empress of Ireland Museum** — artifacts from the transatlantic liner that sank offshore on May 29, 1914 with 1,012 lives lost, Canada's worst maritime tragedy; (2) HMCS **Onondaga**, a decommissioned Cold War submarine you can walk through — the first publicly-accessible submarine in Canada; and (3) the **Pointe-au-Père Lighthouse Station** itself, one of the tallest lighthouses in Canada. Allow 2.5 hours. The waters here are also where the Cirque's masts arrived that summer of 1984 — the same shore, the same salt air.

Visit place
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Empress of Ireland Museum — the sinking of May 29, 1914 — 1,012 lives HMCS Onondaga submarine — walk through Canada's first publicly-accessible submarine • Pointe-au-Père Lighthouse — 33 m tall — one of the tallest lighthouses in Canada
🚗 ~310 km · 3 hr 30 min back to Quebec City via Autoroute 20 west; longer if you take Route 132 or return via ferry
🏠 End of trip

Drive home

★ 5.0 Rimouski → Quebec City (or onward east) , QC

From Pointe-au-Père it is about 310 km back to Quebec City on Autoroute 20 — roughly three and a half hours of driving. If you want a slower return, take Route 132 along the south shore for the first hundred kilometres to Rivière-du-Loup, then swing onto the autoroute; this adds an hour but keeps the river in view. If you have another day, you can keep driving east from Rimouski toward Matane and the Gaspé peninsula — the route the Cirque itself opened on in 1984. The pilgrimage you just made was 700 km. The tour they made that summer was three times that. But you stood on the pier where the masts arrived. **The masts held. The rest followed.**

Explore more →
Route 132 south-shore corridor — the slower route home along the water Matane on 1000 Towns — if you continue east — first major town on the way to Gaspé • Gaspé on 1000 Towns — where the 1984 Cirque tour opened · 6 hours further east https://www.quebec511.info/en/

Good to know

Best time

Late July for the pilgrimage version — Le Festif! de Baie-Saint-Paul runs late July, the direct descendant of the Fête Foraine that the Cirque founders held in the same streets in 1982.

May through October for the ferry — the Saint-Siméon–Rivière-du-Loup crossing operates from mid-April to early January.

Pointe-au-Père Maritime Historic Site is fully open early June through mid-October. Winter (December–March) closes the ferry and reduces most sites to appointment-only; the pilgrimage still works, but you’ll drive the long way around via Quebec City to reach the south shore.

Where to stay

Baie-Saint-Paul (Night 1): Hôtel & Spa Le Germain Charlevoix for the destination stay (145-room farm-hotel with its own train station), Auberge des Balcons at Maison Mère for heritage character, Auberge Le Balcon Vert for the original 1974 pilgrimage spirit (tents, dorms, plateau above town).

Rimouski (Night 2): Hôtel Le Navigateur for downtown-on-the-promenade (112 rooms directly on the Promenade de la Mer), Hôtel Rimouski for the larger waterfront alternative, chain hotels on the highway strip for reliability. Both towns fill for summer weekends and festival dates — book at least two weeks ahead, longer for Le Festif! in Baie-Saint-Paul.

Total driving

About 700 km round trip plus a 65-minute ferry crossing. Day 1 is ~130 km (Quebec City → Baie-Saint-Paul via Côte-de-Beaupré). Day 2 is ~260 km driving plus the ferry (Baie-Saint-Paul → Saint-Siméon → Rivière-du-Loup → Rimouski). Day 3 is the longest at ~320 km (Rimouski back to Quebec City on Autoroute 20). Roughly 10–12 hours of driving spread across the trip. If you take Route 132 the whole way instead of Autoroute 20 on Day 3, add ~1.5 hours.

Ferry

The Traverse Saint-Siméon–Rivière-du-Loup is a private (non-STQ) operator with 2–4 crossings per day. Summer schedule from Saint-Siméon: 9:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. Crossing time is about 65 minutes.

Reserve online in advance for peak summer weekends.

The ferry passes near the mouth of the Saguenay — whales are regularly sighted mid-crossing (belugas, minkes, and sometimes fin whales). If you’d rather do a dedicated whale-watching trip, Croisières AML runs excellent excursions from Tadoussac. Skipping the ferry entirely means an extra ~300 km loop back via Quebec City and Autoroute 20.

Fuel & food

Fill up in Quebec City on Day 1. Baie-Saint-Paul has service stations downtown. Fill again before Day 2 — the Charlevoix stretch has fewer stations than the coast further west. Rivière-du-Loup has full services on the south shore. Rimouski is a full-service university town. On the road: lunch at Le Mouton Noir or Buvette gentille in Baie-Saint-Paul (Day 1), lunch at Le Saint-Patrice in Rivière-du-Loup (Day 2), dinner at Le Bien, le Malt in Rimouski (Day 2). For the tasting-menu evening, book Faux Bergers (Day 1 or extend Day 2) — one seating, seven courses, all guests together.

People worth knowing

Gilles Ste-Croix — co-founder of Cirque du Soleil, ran the auberge Le Balcon Vert in Baie-Saint-Paul in the late 1970s, walked ninety kilometres on stilts from Baie-Saint-Paul to Quebec City in 1980 to get the province’s attention. Founded Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul. Still involved with the Cirque as senior artistic advisor. See his People profile on 1000 Towns for the full biography.

Guy Laliberté — the fire-breather from Europe who stayed at Le Balcon Vert in the late 1970s and never really left. Co-founder of the Cirque; the name ‘Cirque du Soleil’ came to him watching the sun set on a beach in Hawaii. Later became a billionaire; sold most of his stake in the Cirque in 2015. Once flew to the International Space Station.

Daniel Gauthier — the third co-founder, who handled the business side. Later founded Le Massif de Charlevoix ski resort just up the coast from Baie-Saint-Paul, and led the redevelopment of the Charlevoix regional train that now stops at Le Germain Charlevoix. His company is the reason Baie-Saint-Paul remains connected to Quebec City by rail.

Jean David — the tour manager on the 1984 first tour. Thirty years old, hired three months before opening. On the Rimouski pier that summer, he fired the Swiss foreman who said the new masts were dangerous. The masts held. His memoir is ‘What A Cirque!’ (referenced in Castor’s Letter). He later became a senior Cirque executive.

Extending the trip

Four places belong on the fullest version of this trip but don’t fit a 3-day loop.

Gaspé — the peninsula’s easternmost tip, where Jacques Cartier planted a cross in 1534 claiming the land for France, and where the Cirque’s 1984 tour opened on June 16 under a borrowed federal tent (about 6 hours east of Rimouski on Route 132; adds 2 full days for the Gaspé peninsula loop).

Baie-Comeau — the North Shore town that was the tour’s second stop; ferry from Matane or long drive via Tadoussac (adds 1–2 days).

Alma — deep in the Lac-Saint-Jean region, the tour’s third stop under the borrowed tent (adds 1 day north from Quebec City).

Sainte-Thérèse — the town north of Montreal where the original Italian big top collapsed in rehearsals three weeks before opening; a short detour if you’re driving between Quebec City and Montreal.

Full completists can do the entire 1984 tour route as a week-long circuit: Baie-Saint-Paul → Gaspé → Baie-Comeau → Alma → Rimouski → Quebec City → Montréal.

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