It was mainly cloudy when we returned to the national park to see another sector called
Penouille. It is a 2 km stretch of beach bordered by a boardwalk which also passes by salt water marshes. It was very popular. Shadow and I walked to the end of the boardwalk while Kathy braved the black flies and continued on
la Taiga trail into the forest. 2 km was fine for me and Shadow.
We left the park and drove a few km to the town of Gaspé at the mouth of the York River overlooking Gaspé Bay. It took a couple of calls, some driving around but we eventually found a garage where we could buy badly needed propane. We had been on "Empty" for two days! We paid $54.20.
We stopped at the Museum de la Gaspésie to see the Jacques Cartier Monument erected in 1982 and consisting of giant cast iron steles (ancient upright stones used as a monument). They commemorate the meeting of Jacques Cartier and the Iroquoians in 1534.
There is also the Jacques Cartier Cross, a replica of the 30 ft cross with the coat of arms of the king of France erected by Cartier in 1534.
We also stopped to see the
Birthplace of Canada, a site that commemorates the arrival of Cartier in 1534. It is a recreation of early 20th c Gaspé with period buildings and exhibits. There were two costumed guides to explain the exhibits and answer questions.
I had a delightful chat with one of the guides, tout en français.
We did some grocery shopping at Maxi before continuing on Rte 132 east to the village of Percé.
We checked into Camping du Village off the main street for two nights.We have a site on the highest level of the terraced campground with a view of the famous rock. (I mentionned I had stayed at the campground in 1999 ...."Je suis de retour.")
We drove 171 km under mainly cloudy skies. It was a cool 10º in Percé.
