Bas-Saint-Laurent: South Shore

 It was overcast with patchy fog (significant scotch mist) as we drove the remaining 85 km through the Matapedia Valley. We stopped at one lookout in Amqui at Lake Matapedia. 

Bas-Saint-Laurent is the region of Quebec located along the south shore of the lower Saint Lawrence River.

We stopped at the Jardins de Métis, a historic site in Grand-Métis.  The gardens were created between 1926 and 1958 by horticulturalist Elsie Reford.  It began as a fishing camp. There are some 3,000 species and varieties of plants spread over 15 gardens. Kathy visited the gardens  for a couple of hours.

We continued our drive west along Rte 132 following the river, made a brief stop in Rimouski at a Tim's and eventually stopped for the day at a campground a few km  off  Rte 132 in St. Alexandre-de-Kamouraska: Camping Le Rayon De Soleil.

 It looked familiar. Jean and I had stayed here in 2003 on a trip to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia when it was Camping Le Passant . It was much more built up with new owners.

We motored 299 km under overcast skies, through a few showers and more rain overnight.

Leaving La Gaspésie

It was overcast and a cool 8º when we left Percé and motored ouest,  not est on Rte 132 because we had rounded the point of the Gaspé peninsula. We started with  a good tail wind which soon mostly  broad-sided us as we followed the winding coastline. Waves were crashing up onto the highway where it hugged the shoreline. There were very few opportunities to stop to take pictures because all of the Halte Municipale  in the small towns were permanently fermée. 

We were able to stop  at L'Anse à Blondel at a quiet hidden beach in the sector of Chandler. We stopped for groceries in the city of New Richmond.

I had to make a stop in the small town of New Carlisle known for its Hydrant Trail, colourfully painted fire hydrants lining the main street. I  can now put my picture of Shadow along side my picture of Bandit taken in 1999. Shadow was more indifferent to the whole experience!

We got our biggest  fill-up of gas in Matapedia: $421.50  (235.6 litres, fortunately the cheapest gas this trip @ $1.78.9).

Matapedia Valley

We avoided the rain and made such good time driving  around the point and along the Baie de Chaleur that we continued west across the peninsula through the Matapedia Valley, formed by the Chic-Choc Mountains.  The valley gets its name from the river that runs through it and is famous for its wooden covered bridges, originally covered with wooden roofs to protect their wooden beams from rain and snow so they'd last longer.

The valley is heavily forested. 

The rain began soon after we entered the valley so picture taking was limited. There was patchy fog too. We stopped at the Routhierville Covered bridge built in 1931. It is the longest in Eastern Quebec, 256 feet and painted oxblood red. It is designated an historic monument.

We stopped in Causapscal and checked in at Camping Chez Moose, $52 for full hookups and free showers. It remained windy and never got warmer than 11º. Kathy made delicious omelettes for dinner. We drove 315 km. Hélas, no moose sightings at the campground.

Percé and le Rocher-Percé

 

We had an easy walk down from the campground into the village, its main street lined  with  art galleries, boutiques, restaurants, inns. A boardwalk runs the length of the pebbled beach.

We took the 11:00 boat tour  around Percé Rock to Bonaventure Island. 

Percé Rock is one of the world's largest natural arches located in water. The arch is 49 ft high. The rock is described as a narrow bluff  of limestone, 1,421 feet long, 300 feet wide and 289 feet at its highest point. Samuel de Champlain named it Percé in 1607.

The ride was very rough which made picture taking very difficult. Percé Rock and Bonaventure Island are a national park created in 1985 to protect the large migratory bird sanctuary. 250,000 seabirds nest on the island in summer. The island has the largest northern gannet colony in North America. Most of the passengers on our cruise got off to explore the island.

The tour cost us $45.00 each and lasted 1 ¼ hours. The boat circled the island.  It was interesting to see the rock from all sides and angles.

We ate a seafood lunch at Resto du Village. It was my first scallops dinner this trip..... delicious.

I also bought my first souvenir jigsaw puzzle of ...you can guess. The scene is by a local photographer, Jean Christophe

LeMay.

We returned to the campground around 2:00 and enjoyed a relaxing sunny  afternoon.  It reached 13º.

A Bit of Everything

 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 continued on the dirt trail to the end and lookout, the 4 km loop. 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.

A Day In Forillon National Park

We had unexpected rain overnight but woke to clearing skies and a warm and breezy 17º. We had about a 35 km drive back into Forillon National Park to the north entrance and the Discovery Centre.        

The park covers 245  sq km  and has about 45 km of dramatic ocean-facing shoreline. The park covers a narrow mountainous peninsula and because of its shape, it has a massive amount of coast for its total size.  The park was established in 1970 and was the first national park in Quebec. The Discovery Centre had very interesting displays. The staff gave us information about the various hiking and biking trails.

Prélude

     One ½ km trail at the centre|: Prélude-à-Forillon gives a quick    introduction to the park, very cleverly done.
 From the centre , we did two bike trails. The 4 km Du Banc trail followed the coastline and had one interesting monument to the Carrick shipwreck in 1847 when 87 perished at sea nearby.

Du Banc

 The 3 km Castor trail went through the forest and  past marshes.

  

We drove to two viewpoints.  One of the most scenic viewpoints in the park is Cap-Bon-Ami. 

 

We also saw L'Anse-aux-Amérindiens. We drove only 95 km, mostly to and from  the park. It was a perfect day of sightseeing and biking. Well worth the price of admission which was $12.50 for two seniiors. (My eBike worked just fine and was a delight to ride!) It reached 27º; we used the air c. when we returned to the campground at 4:00.

La Haute-Gaspésie and la Cote-de-Gaspé

 It was a perfect day, clear and sunny to continue our drive east along the coast and farther up the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  But first we stopped in Ste-Anne-des-Monts for gas @ $1.89.9.

 We stopped at several scenic lookouts and villages with a Halte Municipale. Each had its own special touch. One had a park dedicated to veterans of the war in Afghanistan.

 Signage often warned of waves crashing onto the highway or              landslides onto the highway.

Lunch stop overlooking Grande-Vallée

The highway passed through Forillon National Park. We stopped at the Cap-des-Rosiers lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse in Canada at 112 ft, built between 1854 and 1858. We started to walk one of the park trails but turned back when we spotted a bear in the distance!

The park campgrounds were fully booked so we chose a campground as close to the park as possible for two nights:Camping Fort Ramsay, connected to a motel. We have a very nice site, full hookups overlooking Baie de Gaspé.

We drove 245 km through spectacular scenery. It was  Quebec's answer to Nova Scotia's Cabot Trail. It reached a very pleasant 24º.