L’Isle-aux-Coudres shot on large format B&W

 

A paradise in the middle of the Saint Lawrence River, halfway between Quebec City and Tadousac, Isle-aux-Coudres is accessible by ferry from Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive.  Saint-Joseph, sometimes called Quai-des-Éboulements, is downriver from Baie-Saint-Paul, the heart of the Charlevoix region. 

 

While a very popular tourist destination in the summer months and into the fall, many businesses close down after Canadian Thanksgiving and reopen in the spring. The 23 km loop around the island is popular with cyclists, and the road is dotted with galleries, shops, orchards and a cider-producing operation, hotels, inns, and restaurants.  But from among those, only one restaurant remains open year-round, to cater to the 1,000 permanent residents and off-season visitors on the island.

 

Lyne visited last year with one of our daughters, and sent me a number of messages during her stay on the island about the beautiful landscapes, and how they would be an endless source of photographic inspiration. Spoiler alert: she was absolutely right!

 

Below are photos taken with my Tachihara large format camera, in 4x5 format. The film was Ilford FP4, shot at box speed of 125 ISO and developed with the always dependable Rodinal, a developer that will be celebrating 135 years this coming January. These were all taken during a week on the island in late September 2025. (I also took shots with a digital camera, which can be viewed here.)

 

First up is the beautiful Église Saint-Louis, near the western end of the island. Fabulous architecture, it's even more beautiful inside.  Unfortunately, while we were able to visit the church while on the island, I was not permitted to photograph the interior of the church. One guide welcomed me to come in and take pictures, but as I hauled camera and tripod through the vestibule and into the nave, another guide informed me that photos were not permitted. Unfortunate because the interior would have made for a great visual study. 

 

Here is a view of the church from the grounds in front of its entrance:




 

This is a view across l’Anse de l’Église, the church cove; I had the camera set up on the Quai de Saint-Louis.

 




This log was washed ashore on the north side of the island, facing Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive, in a really nice park, accessible by the Chemin du Bout d’en Bas. 




 

In the digital photos, there are also pictures of the eastern tip of this park, and of the island, la Madone de L’isle-aux-Coudres: A statue of the Virgin Mary atop a giant blue buoy. I did take a couple of shots of this on the Tachihara but messed up loading the developing tank, with both sheets of film in the same holder, thus spoiling both sheets.

 

Both a water and wind mill are part of the same site, Les Moulins de l'Isle-aux-Coudres, on the western end of the island, between the Quai and l’Église, a couple of hundred meters back from the shore.  The water-powered mill is operational, though due to low water, its operation is restricted.  The image below shows the wooden intake channel, bringing water from the storage pond down to the water wheel in the mill.  The mill produced both whole wheat and buckwheat flour, and at one time, also powered a saw, so was both a flour and saw mill.




 

The windmill was built in 1836, and not currently operational as it is missing two of four blades, which are being rebuilt.




 

The western tip of the island, near the Havre Musical de L’islet, looks to the mainland and upstream. This image is at low tide, facing the ski hill Le Massif, upstream from Baie-Saint-Paul. 

 




This beached rowboat is on the shore, separated by a fence from the parking for the Magasin général Le Phare, a combination souvenir shop and antique emporium, next to the Phare des Traverseux.




 

I love old tractors, and there were plenty on display outside the Cidrerie et Vergers Pedneault. The Pedneault folks also operate a number of other businesses on the island, including a couple of great restaurants. This old tractor caught my eye, framed by the sign for the shop.




Digital images from the same trip are here.


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