On the other, the broad St Lawrence River is a steely grey-blue, its opposite bank a distant misty outline.

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Set on a man-made island in the middle of the St Lawrence River, the circuit also hits the brakes hard.

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It had a vital strategic placement on a rocky bluff over the St Lawrence River, at the furthest point that ocean-going ships could venture from the Atlantic.

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In a nifty feat of geography, the warm, fresh waters of the Saguenay jet out atop the frigid, salt waters of the St Lawrence River, churning up massive volumes of krill.

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The street provided easy access to the St Lawrence River, and throughout the 18th Century prominent denizens like de Chomedy lived and worked there, building mercantile outposts and grand private residences near the port.

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But Laurence drowned when he was 43 (a ship bringing him home sank after a collision in the St Lawrence river) and Henry was only six years older when he died of anaemia in 1919.

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Back in the 16th Century, the point where the St Lawrence River tightens became a base for a rogue collection of hard-bitten survivalists, who spent months venturing deep into the heart of Innu territory to the trading posts at Lac St-Jean.

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The commission has long run the St Lawrence hydro-power project at Cornwall, Ontario, and regulated the river flow without dispute or political interference.

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