Île d'Orléans

Île d'Orléans sits in the St Lawrence just downstream of Québec City and was settled early enough that its six villages retain long narrow field strips running back from the river in the French colonial pattern. A single road of about sixty-seven kilometres loops the island, and almost everything on it is agricultural: strawberries in June that the city buys by the flat, apples and cider in autumn including ice cider pressed from frozen fruit, blackcurrants made into cassis at a producer who effectively revived the crop here, cheese makers, chocolate, maple, and roadside stalls on an honour box. Félix Leclerc, the songwriter, lived and is buried here, and a small museum tells his story.

History

The Hurons called the island Minigo, the enchantress, and Jacques Cartier, who first landed in 1535 near today's Saint-François, named it Île de Bascuz for its abundance of wild grapes; it was later renamed in honour of the Duke of Orléans, son of King Francis I. Settlers mostly from Normandy and north-western France laid it out under the seigneurial system, the first parish, Sainte-Famille, was founded in 1661, and by 1685 there were 1205 inhabitants; the 67-kilometre Chemin Royal around the island was completed in 1744, the bridge in 1935, and in 1990 the whole island was designated a National Historic Site of Canada (Wikipedia, Île d'Orléans).

What to look for

• Ice cider - apples frozen on the tree, pressed into a concentrated cider.
• Cassis producers - blackcurrant liqueur from an island revival crop.
• Strawberry season - June, when the city drives out to pick.
• The village churches - some of the oldest rural churches in Quebec.

When to go

June to October is the season: strawberries in June, vegetables and cheese through summer, apples, cider and colour in late September and October. Many producers close from November to spring. The loop is best done anticlockwise for the river views.

Before you go

It is a single loop road with no shoulder in places, and cycling it, while popular, means sharing with steady traffic. Autumn weekends bring heavy queues at the bridge and the popular orchards. Many farms take cash only. Outside the growing season much of the island is shut.

Nearby

Montmorency Falls is at the bridge; Québec City is fifteen minutes away.