Forteau

Forteau and the string of oceanside villages along the Strait of Belle Isle have a long history of nomadic fisheries, including presence of various European fleets (such as Portugal), but the first permanent fishing villages were established from Newfoundland in the 1800s. The region serves as a point of entry to Labrador from Newfoundland's Great Northern Peninsula directly across the strait; Blanc Sablon's economic ties therefore are closely intertwined not with Québec but with Newfoundland and Labrador.
As Forteau is a border community, its time zones are a bit confusing. The island of Newfoundland is GMT-3.5, with one hour of daylight savings time in summer. Board a ferry and Blanc Sablon (as part of a sparsely-populated fragment of Quebec east of Anticosti) is on Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4) year-round. As soon as the road leads back into Forteau, clocks return to Newfoundland Time through Red Bay to Port Hope Simpson. Further north into Labrador, Atlantic Time (AST/ADT) makes a reappearance, so Cartwright is in Halifax's time zone.

Blanc Sablon and Forteau are accessible by Trans-Labrador Highway. There is no road from Vieux-Fort westward into Québec. There is a ferry from Blanc Sablon to the island of Newfoundland.

• Air Labrador

  address: Blanc Sablon
  Coastal service which runs westward through multiple small villages with no road (a gap from Vieux-Fort to Kegasha) to an accessible point on the main road to Sept-Îles.

• Labrador Marine

  phone: +1 709 535-0810, +1 709 877-2222 (St. Barbe) or +1 418-461-2889 (Blanc Sablon)
  Ferry to Blanc Sablon from St. Barbe in the summer (at least 1¾ hrs), or Corner Brook in the winter (12 hrs). Crossing time depends on sea conditions.

• Relais Nordik

  phone: +1 418-723-8787
  address: 17 Lebrun Ave, Rimouski
  M/V Bella Desgagnés leaves Havre-Saint-Pierre, Québec each Wednesday morning on a four-day round-trip to Anticosti and various otherwise-inaccessible communities (La Romaine, Harrington Harbour, Tête-à-la-Baleine, La Tabatière, Baie-des-Moutons and Saint-Augustin), eventually arriving in Blanc Sablon.

• The Trans-Labrador Highway (Route 510) follows the coast eastward from Forteau, turning north to Happy Valley-Goose Bay then west to Labrador City.
• A stub of Route 138 leads west from Blanc Sablon 65 km to Vieux-Fort, Quebec (about 2 hrs driving), and abruptly ends; Route 138 resumes 450km away at Kegashka.

• Labrador Straits Museum

  address: l'Anse-au-Loup
  Established 1978 by Southern Labrador Women's Institute, exhibits and artefacts describe the local way of life over the last 150 years. A small souvenir shop carries local crafts.

• Middle Bay Interpretation Centre

  phone: +1 418-461-3597
  address: Route 138, Middle Bay
  Local marine history, Innu, Inuit, Basque, French and English cultural heritage.

• Point Amour Lighthouse

  phone: +1 709 927-5825
  address: L'Anse-Amour Road
  An 1857 stone lighthouse (automated 1996) stands over 30 m (100 ft) tall, the tallest in the province.

• Aqua Labadie Scallop Farm

  phone: +1 418-461-2434
  address: 45, rue Mgr Scheffer, Blanc-Sablon
  Tour boats, sightseeing, oceanside eatery, fresh scallops (le pétoncle).

• Overfall Brook Trail

  address: Forteau
  One mile (1.5km) trail along the shoreline of Forteau Bay with a cliff face, a view of Point Amour Lighthouse in the distance and a waterfall (Overfall Brook Falls) which drops over the rocky cliff into the ocean. Exit Route 510 at intersection across from Town Centre, drive to Labrador Pioneer Footpath trail head car park overlooking Forteau Bay.

• Tour Labrador

  phone: +1 709 931-2840
  address: 31 Main St, Forteau
  Operates Lighthouse Gifts (at Point Amour Lighthouse) and various sea or hiking tours; an opportunity to dine at the lighthouse is offered a few times a year. The same owners run Food Chopper and Sea View Cottages, so the tours may be packaged with lodging in Forteau.

Events

• Bakeapple Folk Festival

  phone: +1 709 931-2042
  address: Labrador Straits Arena, L'Anse au Loup
  A celebration of local heritage with folk singing, dancing, music, games, crafts, food, local specialties and entertainment. The bakeapple, or cloudberry, is popular in jellies, syrups and pies, which can be sampled in local stores and restaurants.

• Labrador Preserves Company

  phone: +1 709 931-2743
  address: Food Chopper (Forteau)
  Bakeapple, partridgeberry and blueberry syrup and preserves.

• Poisonnerie Blanc Sablon

  phone: +1 418-461-3212
  address: 1183, blvd Camille-Marcoux, Lourdes de Blanc Sablon
  Fish market, will ship in frozen cargo to Natashquan, Sept-Îles or Rimouski.

• Dot's Bakery and Coffee Shop

  phone: +1 709 927-5311
  address: 32 Main St (Hwy 510), L'Anse au Loup
  Café, grocery and baker. Locals eat here for good, hot food on a rainy day.

• Food Chopper

  phone: +1 709 931-2743
  address: 33 Main Street, Forteau
  Grocer and bakery under common ownership with adjacent Seaview Restaurant.

• Gloria's Takeout

  phone: +1 418-461-2714
  address: Blanc-Sablon
  Casse-croûte, seasonal.

• Partridge Garden

  phone: +1 418-461-2287
  address: Blanc-Sablon
  Seasonal (summer only).

• Seaview Restaurant

  phone: +1 709 931-2840
  address: 31 Main Street, Forteau
  Restaurant with fresh bakery bread, Outback Lounge pub, cottage rentals.

• Bar 138

  phone: +1 418-461-2727
  address: 138, rue Camille Marcoux, Lourdes-De-Blanc-Sablon

• Hôtel Motel Blanc Sablon

  phone: +1 418-461-3222
  address: 1043 boul. Camille Marcoux, Lourdes de Blanc Sablon

• Grenfell Hall B&B

  phone: +1 709 931-2916
  address: 3 Willow Avenue, Forteau
  Bed and breakfast in former Old Forteau Nursing Station. It was built by the International Grenfell Association in 1946, and replaced by a modern hospital in 1983. Each of the five guest rooms is named after different staff or nurses. Seasonal (May 1-Oct 1), continental breakfast, shared washroom, TV in living room.

• Northern Light Inn

  phone: +1 709 931-2332
  address: L'Anse au Clair, Labrador
  Hotel open year-round, restaurant with breakfast buffet, traditional Labrador cuisine, Greco Pizza and Chester Fried Chicken.

• Auberge Motel Quatre Saisons

  phone: +1 418-461-2024
  address: 2, rue Beaudoin, Lourdes de Blanc Sablon

Cellular telephone coverage is sporadic to non-extant in Forteau (the only base station is Bell across the strait on the Great Northern Peninsula), although groceries, fuel, lodging and Internet access are available in the village. Venture further into rural Labrador and services at many points are limited to non-existent.

Pinware

The Pinware River Provincial Park is roughly midway from Forteau to Red Bay (30-35km from each). There is one hotel nearby:

• Oceanview Resort

  phone: +1 709 927-5288
  address: West St. Modeste
  Ten-room hotel with four two-bedroom cottages, serviced caravan park for 5 RV's, laundry. Oceanview Restaurant serves traditional and local cuisine (seats 50). Patty's Lounge serves alcohol and bar food. Conference rooms for 25 to 225 people, souvenir shop. Bills one night stay to credit card at time of initial reservation; two-day/three-night packages for fishing and whale watching start at $525/double occupancy.

There is no fuel at West St. Modeste, Red Bay or Lodge Bay. There is a snowmobile dealer with propane, petrol and diesel in l'Anse-au-Loup, and a small grocer. Additional services are available in Forteau and Port Hope Simpson.

Red Bay

A tiny (population 227) fishing village 65km (43 miles) east of Forteau on Route 510, formerly the base for 15 ships and 600 men as a seasonal Basque whaling outpost on the Strait of Belle Isle in the mid-1500s.

• Red Bay National Historic Site of Canada

  phone: +1 709 920-2142
  address: Red Bay
  Whalers from the Basque region (northern Spain and southern France) hunted right and bowhead whales for their oil during the mid to late 1500s, using the sheltered harbour of Red Bay as a seasonal base of operation for seventy years until whales became scarce. A group of 1560s shipwrecks were discovered in 1978 and an underwater archaeological site established. The site includes remains of rendering ovens, cooperages, wharves, whale bones, living quarters and a cemetery. Red Bay Basque Whaling Station is one of four UNESCO World Heritage site in the province (the others are Mistaken Point, Gros Morne park and l'Anse-aux-Meadows Viking settlement).

• Gull Island Charters

  phone: +1 709 920-2058
  address: 18 East Harbour Drive, Red Bay
  Water taxi service to Saddle Island for Red Bay National Historic Site ($3/passenger), sightseeing trips with icebergs, whales and wildlife.

• Whaler's Station

  phone: +1 709 920-2156
  address: 72-76 West Harbour Drive, Red Bay
  Three-room inn on waterfront, with a guest house and a lone housekeeping cabin on the main road. Whaler's Restaurant serves fish and chips, local cuisine and desserts with hand-picked wild berries (bakeapples, partridgeberries and blackberries) for up to sixty people, with boxed lunches available for take-out. A souvenir shop carries postcards, books about the local area, T-shirts, weatherproof jackets and clothing. Labrador crafts, knitting, slippers, jewellery and soapstone carvings.

• Trans-Labrador Highway to Port Hope Simpson
• Great Northern Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland