Trois-Pistoles is a small town on the south shore of the St. Lawrence, in Quebec's Bas-Saint-Laurent region. It is best known outside Quebec for its French immersion program, but the town is more than a summer classroom.
For a spare day on this part of the river, Trois-Pistoles has enough to justify a stop: a serious parish church, the house-museum of writer Victor-Lévy Beaulieu, a quirky local collection at Musée Saint-Laurent, and sea-kayak trips out toward the islands.
The mood is quiet and local. Use it as a river stop between Rivière-du-Loup and Rimouski, not as a city break.