SLOW TRAVEL
Fall Foliage Itinerary Finally Delivers, Butlers Sigh In Relief
When we told some Canadian friends about our Autumn’s Palette fall foliage itinerary with Crystal Cruises scheduled for the last days of September, their reaction was a little surprising. “Well, the ship should be nice anyway,” agreeing with others that our timing was not the best, adding “You’re a little early for fall colors.” Days one through eight brought little fall foliage as anticipated and left us hunting for vegetation that was any color other than green. Still, as our friend Ted who actually works with weather forecasting for a living predicted, as we went further north, color began to appear.
Our stop in Baie Comeau brought a number of opportunities to see fall foliage which had become much more of a ‘nice to see’, as opposed to a ‘must-see’ part of our cruise. Frankly, few Crystal guests even mentioned the topic while we were on tours, dining or gathered for one reason or another, and rightfully so. With very little display of color, Crystal Serenity and the crewmembers aboard were taking very good care of us, every step of the way. Still, arriving in Baie Comeau early morning brought a full day of leaf peeping and a good time in a lovely little city, named after the adjacent Comeau Bay.
Walking the streets of Baie Comeau, it was difficult not to notice how clean and fresh looking everything was, like it had just been built. Just founded in 1936, the company town feel is undeniable and appropriate; Baie Comeau sprang up after a paper mill was constructed and continued to grow as hydro-electric power stations, an aluminum smelter and the largest grain warehouse in Canada were added in the 1950’s.
It’s a good thing that fall colors were apparent in Baie Comeau, I was about to buy cans of spray paint in an assortment of colors then ask Almir (our butler) to tag trees.
Not necessary…but I bet Almir would have considered doing it anyway. He’s just that good.
Enough to begin a collection of photos, here is some of what we saw in Baie Comeau:
See more via Instagram, Facebook and Twitter as we explored Crystal Cruises for the first time and made our way from Boston to Quebec City on a 10-day Autumn’s Palette fall foliage itinerary. See all our blog posts on Crystal Cruises too.
Catch up here with these posts:
At ChrisCruises.com, in itinerary order:
- Riot Of Color Or Subtle Change, Crystal Fall Foliage Cruise Will Be Epic
- Crystal Cruises First Impressions: Absolutely Blown Away
- Crystal Cruises Adventures, On And Off The Ship
- Themed Moderation On Crystal Cruises
- Crystal Cruises, Saint John, Built On A Rock Solid Foundation
- An Outstanding Day In Halifax with Crystal Cruises
- Your Crystal Cruises Questions (sort of) Answered
- The Magdalen Islands With Crystal Cruises
- Luxuriously Appointed Ship Visits Surprisingly Friendly Canada Port
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