Activities, Hôtel du Boulevard
Activities within walking distance
During the summer, to walk to our Mistassini River beach, you will pass in front of Le Palais Glacé, Mike’s restaurant and La Maison Gourmande (healthy cooking).
During the evening, you can go shopping at the mall called Les Promenades du Boulevard.
Il is also possible to have a drink on your way there. There are more than four bars, three terraces and a microbrewery on the boulevard.
Biking
The Véloroute des Bleuets passes just behind the Hôtel du Boulevard. The circuit of 256 km goes around the majestuous lac Saint-Jean. www.veloroute-bleuets.qc.ca
Car
General Information About The Region
The spring
It’s normaly in mid-April and during May, with the melting of the snow and the ice break up, that we can see spring coming with an important temperature rising reaching average daily temperatures of 10° to 20°C.
The summer
During the nice season of June, July and August,the temperature oscillate between 20° and 30°C.
The automn
From mid-September to the end of Octobre, the leaves of the trees are changing color and falling. The first frost appear on the ground. Then comes the « Indian Summer » considered to be the most beautiful time of the fall.
The winter
Sometimes the snow falls as soon as mid-November, but it is only at the end of Decembre that the lakes and the rivers start freezing and complete the so particular frame of winter. The Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean usually gets between 250 and 280 cm of snow, but some montagnious areas of the region are recieving a lot more. The lowest average daily temperatures are recorded in January.
Chart of average daily temperatures (celsius)
January | -11 | July | 24 |
February | -9 | August | 22 |
March | -2 | September | 17 |
April | 7 | October | 10 |
May | 15 | November | 1 |
June | 21 | December | -8 |
Jet lag and local time
The citizens of Quebec live at Eastern Standard Time ( 5 hours earlier than Greenwich Meridian Time) from the first Sunday of November until the second Sunday of March, except for the Îles-de-la-Madeleine citizens who live at the Atlantic Time. Starting from the second Sunday of March and finishing on the second Sunday of November, the populaiton of Quebec lives at Eastern Daylight Time (4 hours earlier than Greenwich Meridian Time).
Canadian currency
The legal currency in Quebec is the Canadian dollar. It can be divided in 100 cents. You can see bills of 5,10,20, 50 and 100 dollars as well as 5,10,25 cents, 1 and 2 dollar coins.
Most popular Credit cards like Visa and Master Card are accepted about everywhere in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean. Travellers‘ checks are accepted in mostly all hostels. If not, it is recommanded to cash them at a financial institution (Caisse Populaire or bank). The financial institutions are generally opened from 10 am to 2pm Monday through Friday. An important network of cash machines lets one do banking transactions 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Shops’ opening hours
Most of the shops are open from 9.30am to 17.30pm from Saturday through Wednesday and from 9.30am through 9pm on Thursdays and Fridays. Some department stores are open from 8am through 9pm on business days.
Fishing and hunting licences
In order to practice recreational fishing on most of the lakes and rivers of Quebec you must have a licence. It is the same for hunting anywhere in Quebec.
In addition, there are various types of territories (Controlled harvesting zone, Outfitter, National Parc, Wildlife Reserve) where one can fish and hunt. These places have their own regulations for their installations. Buy your licence and get a free brochure of the regulations distributed by the Société de la Faune et des Parcs du Québec.
Tips
In Quebec, tips are not included in the bill. Generally, a 15% (before taxes) tip is given to waiters, haidressers and taxi drivers. Here is a hint : the tip is approximately equal to the taxes ! Usually, 1$ per lugage is given to porters who carry your baggages.