Port-au-Persil

Port-au-Persil is a small enchanting hamlet, one of four villages which compose St. Simeon Municipality, in Charlevoix Region, about 27 km (15 miles) downtown La Malbaie, via Highway 138. It counts today about one hundred inhabitants. The village was founded by Scottish immigrant Neil McLaren.

However, the area was named by Samuel de Champlain in the 17th century because he found a lot of parsley growing here (persil is parsley for the French). One of the main attractions of Port-au-Persil is its historical Presbyterian Chapel on the St. Lawrence River. The Chapel was built in 1893 par Mr. McLaren and is considered a symbol of Port-au-Persil.

Today, Port-au-Persil is the perfect place to relax and spend a few days of vacations. Life here is governed by the rhythms of the tides and the changing seasons, and time here seems to stand still, people living far away from the hustle and bustle of large cities. Visitors can walk along the quay and visit the Poterie Port-au-Persil, where they can take a pottery classes if they stay long enough. Indeed, for many years, the Port-au-Persil Pottery has played a major role in ceramics in Quebec.

Well established on highway 138 at the entrance to St. Simeon, its yellow barn is situated at the junction point of roads leading to the Saguenay Region to the north, the whale-watching area and the North-Shore region to the east and the Gaspe and the Maritimes to the south by ferry-boat across the St. Lawrence River.

In Port-au-Persil, you will not find any large hotel or boutiques, but a few inns and bed & breakfasts. Port-au-Persil is part of the Most Beautiful Villages of Quebec Association.