Forillon National Park to Grand-Métis, PQ

Today we pretty much drove the entire north coast of the Gaspé Peninsula. It’s a spectacular drive. At first there are huge headlands that the road twists and turns up and over. Then things become a little less mountainous and the road hugs the coast for miles and miles. There are long sections with only a cement breakwater between the road and the ocean. And there are signs with a big wave and a car skidding. I’m assuming that during winter storms the waves splash up and over the road somewhat the way they do at Ogden Point in Victoria.

The towns and villages are farther apart on the north shore as well. I’ve already forgotten what this one is ... Grande-Vallée??

A little further down the road I went in search of coffee at the little café across from this lighthouse. The woman who ran the place which was also a gift shop had just taken fresh baked cookies out of the oven. The little village where this lighthouse is situated is called Sainte-Madeleine-de-la-Riviere-Madeleine. I suspect there are people who have moved rather than have to write that as their return address.

Sometime later we arrived in the village of Marsoui. Along the water they have a public park where I discovered my next photo exhibits.

Also in the park was this much decorated boat which included a quote (in French) by Kahlil Gibran.

There was a little canteen on the edge of the park which seemed to be heavily patronized. I had a ‘trio’ which included a hamburger (not huge but satisfying), a bag of ‘frites’ and a can of pop. The french fries were delicious as they were made from scratch from real potatos not those detestable refried frozen things.

Back on the road, the little villages whizzed by. Our next stop was at Cap-Chat (Cape Cat?) where we discovered our final photo exhibit in the local park or ‘halte’ as they seem to be called. Almost every little village along the way ... sometimes just a few kilometers apart ... seems to have one. It’s great for travellers as you always know there’s a “facility” not far down the road. And I suppose it does encourage people to stop and spend money locally. However, the tourist season seems to be very short. Today (Labour Day) there were not many people on the road and some places had already hung out the ‘fermé’ sign.

 

 

 

In any event, this last collection of photos was quite wonderful. There was a collection of portraits taken by Christian Lamontagne of folk from the Imperial Valley in California.

Tonight we’ve found a $19.00 campsite with free showers and a lovely view of the St. Lawrence River (at least until it got dark). It’s near Grand-Métis which is pretty much the end of the north shore of the Gaspé Peninsula. We’re also within earshot of the highway but even that is beginning to quiet down.