Je me souviens...
Towards the
center of the
land currently known as the province of
Québec, there is a huge
lake,
circular. Its
waters are
calm, it is surrounded mostly by beaches and small patches of
forests on a flat
landscape, and quite a few quaint little
villages. The biggest town of the area is
Alma, where people are mostly simple folks who
smile a lot. It hardly has more than one central street, stretching for some distance towards the surrounding
farmlands, little
houses scattered about, often painted in
pure white.
Lac
St-Jean is visited by many
Québécois and tourists during the
summer, as it's a great place for outdoor activities such as
boating and
fishing. On the day of 'la
fête nationale' (the Québec national holiday),
fireworks light the
sky. But one could say that there's very little cultural
life, as well as a lack of modern infrastructure and urban conveniences, like shopping malls. The best-known event to see is the
traversée du Lac St-Jean, as swimmers race across the lake in an arduous challenge which can take several hours.
Lac St-Jean spills out into the
Saguenay River, leading south towards the bigger regional city of
Saguenay, formely known as
Chicoutimi, an
amerindian word meaning 'where the water becomes shallow' - larger boats cannot go further north from there.