'''Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean''' [http://www.bleuvacances.ca/] is a region in Quebec, a province of Canada.
Regions
Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean is divided into three regions: Saguenay, Lac-St-Jean and Chibougamau-Chapais.
Saguenay (also the name of the main city in the region.)
Lac-St-Jean
Chibougamau-Chapais
Cities
The largest city is Saguenay and have been merged in 2002
Alma
Chambord
Chibougamau
Dolbeau-Mistassini
Roberval
Saguenay (Chicoutimi, Jonquiere & La Baie) ) http://www.ville.saguenay.qc.ca
St-Felicien
Other destinations
Understand
The main economic forces in the region are the forest, paper, aluminium, tourism and hydro-electricity.
St-Honore-de-Chicoutimi, a small town north of Saguenay, has the largest Niobium (Nb) mine in North America.
Learn
Cegep d'Alma - http://www.calma.qc.ca
Cegep de Chicoutimi - http://www.cegep-chicoutimi.qc.ca
Cegep de Jonquiere - http://college.cjonquiere.qc.ca
Cegep de St-Felicien - http://www.cstfelicien.qc.ca
Universite du Quebec a Chicoutimi - http://www.uqac.ca
Talk
Many people in Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean speak only French; it is the region with the smallest proportion English speakers in Quebec. It is also important to note they speak French with an ''accent'' that might sound strange, even for other people from Quebec. If you speak only English, you might encounter problems as you visit this area. Otherwise, most of this is true: Quebec#Talk
Expressions
It's well known around Quebec that people from the area use expressions you might not have heard before. Here is a few of them (in French, naturally.)
''Cotteur'' - Possibly from the English "cutter"? Concrete demarcation between asphalted and non-asphalted land.
''Faire simple'' - Being silly. ''Arrete de faire simple de-meme'', Stop being silly.
''Froque'' - Jacket.
''Plaisant'' - Fun, nice. ''C'est bien plaisant'', It's really nice.
''A cause'' used instead of ''pourquoi'' - Why. ''A cause tu parles de-meme?'', Why do you talk like this?
''Durex''- Scotchtape
''Robeur''- From the english ruber, but meaning tires. ''M'a faire poser mes robeurs d'hiver bientot''
''Panel''- Designates a mini van, or van in general. ''Viens-tu dans mon panel?''
''Colon''- Having no style
''Top''- Cigarettes. ''Faut que j'm'achete un paquet de tops''
''Sauce'' - Company. ''Veux-tu etre ma sauce ?'', Do you want to accompany me?
Get in
You're most likely to arrive to Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean by land. If you're coming from Quebec City, you will cross the ''Parc des Laurentides'' on provincial road 175. This road is about 200 km long between Quebec City and Chicoutimi and there is but one gas station (known as ''l'Etape'') in the middle so plan ahead. It is also a great paronamic view of the deep Quebec Forest.
If you come from Chibougamau-Chapais or Abitibi-Temiscamingue, you will arrive by road.
There are also a few airports in the area. None of them are international airports, but if you're coming from somewhere else in Canada, you might arrive at one of them. The main one is Bagotville in Ville de La Baie (now part of Ville Saguenay). There is also one in St-Honore-de-Chicoutimi.
Get around
A car will be required to drive around the area. Some cities in the area have bus systems, but most of them don't.
Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean has a big territory so be ready to drive long distances.
See
''Les Sagueneens de Chicoutimi'' - The local hockey team on the ''Ligue de Hockey Junior-Majeur du Quebec''. They play at Centre George-Vezina. - http://www.sagueneens.com/
Do
Here are a few things you might want to do. Please fill free to describe them or to add more activities or places to visit.
Places To Visit
Jardin Zoologique de St-Felicien, St-Felicien - http://www.zoosauvage.qc.ca/
Parc Aventures Cap Jaseux, St-Fulgence - http://www.capjaseux.com/
Parc national du Saguenay - http://www.sepaq.com/Fr/index.cfm?reseau=PQ&etablissement=SAG&page=BIEN
Vieille Pulperie, Chicoutimi
Village historique de Val-Jalbert, Chambord - http://www.valjalbert.com
Events
Fabuleuse Histoire d'un Royaume, La Baie - http://www.grandsspectacles.com/
Festival du bleuet, Dolbeau-Mistassini - http://www.festivaldubleuet.qc.ca/
Symposium des couleurs, L'Anse-St-Jean - http://www.cybernaute.com/symposium/
Traversee du Lac-St-Jean, Roberval - http://www.traversee.qc.ca/
Things To Do
Beach - The Lac St-Jean offers many beautiful beaches.
Camping - If you like camping, there are many beautiful camping sites located directly on the Lac St-Jean.
Fishing - There are many lakes in the region and fishing is allowed on most of them during the appropriate season. Make sure you get the proper license and equipment.
Fishing on ice - During winter, you can fish on ice on the Saguenay river. The main site is at St-Fulgence.
Hunting - There are many ZEC (''Zone d'Exploitation Controlee'' or, in English, ''Controlled Exploitation Area'') on which hunting is allowed if you get the proper licenses.
Skiing - There are many ski hills in the Saguenay region. Look for ''Le Valinouet'', ''Mont Edouard'', ''Mont Lac-Vert'', ''Mont Fortin'', ''Mont Belu'' and many more.
Snowmobile - There are miles and miles of path across the region. Most of them will require a special membership card to use.
Snowshoeing
Eat
If you visit the area, try to find a place where you can eat some ''Tourtiere'' (a sort of meat pie.) The ''tourtiere'' in Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean is a different meal that in other regions of Quebec.
Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean is known for its '''blueberries'''. Make sure you try a blueberry pie or some chocolate covered blueberries (available in August only) from ''Les peres trappistes''.
Drink
Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean is renowned for its party-loving population. They take great pride in drinking "grosse biere" (litterally "big beer", meaning most of them drink bottles of beer of around 700 mL in bars), arrive early and leave late. The title of main street of drinking is usually given to rue Saint-Dominique, in Jonquiere, where you will find 6 or 7 bars on a less than a kilometre stretch.
Get out