Storymania - The Gaspe Peninsula by Jock Pichette

The Gaspe Peninsula
Jock Pichette

The Gaspe Peninsula

And the Lower St.Lawrence

Our trip began on July 23,1999, a time of the year when the weather offers a climate we dream about during the winter months. Its warm, sunny, and a most beautiful time of the year to visit the province of Quebec, and the charm of – The Gaspe Peninsula and the Lower St.Lawrence.

Our bags packed, route planned, maps all wrapped up with an elastic band sitting on the backseat wondering, "When will this trip begin". There is another bag full of goodies, Apples, Banana’s, oranges, and candies and in the trunk a cooler with refreshments waiting to be sampled along the road.

From our Parkfield address we head towards Cote de Liesse Road, and what better way than the Metropolitan to catch route fourty. Of course Karen, who lacks any sense of direction, is not aware that we are heading towards the Louis Hippolite Lafontaine tunnel. This tunnel located in the East end of Montreal is long. At one-point it supports the St.Lawrence Seaway. Hollywood should use this tunnel the next time a movie needs an underground passage.

We left our house early for the simple reason we wanted to beat the traffic. Since Karen has never visited Three Rivers, I thought, " why not stop for breakfast". We arrived in Trois Rivieres (French) in record time, and stopped at the local bus terminus, which is no bigger than a postage stamp. The terminus is an all in one, bus stop, market, and mall. From what we can see, it’s the local’s hang out. As we looked about for a breakfast place, we find that there are two kiosks, and both have a breakfast menu. We ordered, "Two Eggs’, yellow to the sky, bacon side by each, toast and don’t burn the jam". Since we are Sunday morning breakfast people, our evaluation of this breakfast was –1, yes that bad.

Just outside the door, a kiosk vendor of fruit and veggie’s was doing a booming business due to the bus, which pulled up with passengers from Montreal, the place we left a few hours ago.

Prior to catching rte 20 towards Quebec City and the Gaspe I saw an Irving gas station. Needing gas, I pulled up into a self service station. Irving’s home office is in New Brunswick, so it heart-warming to see one in Quebec. When he gave me the receipt the station attendant, asked me why is the slip only in English? I told him (as I pointed to my car) it’s the fault of that lady. How is that he asked? Well she believes she is from Vancouver, Canada. Oh, he said as he scratched his head.

With two left turns, and one right, were back on the fourty, traveling the road towards Riviere du Loup. The plan was, if I’m tired we stay in Riviere de Loup, but we are doing great time so we continue. If you enjoy whale watching this next town is for you, Trois Pistoles. A seasonal ferry takes you across to Les Escoumins on the North Shore, at which point you will spot whales playing. We made fun of our next stop, Bic no it’s not the pen manufacturer, but a small town with a big Canadian flag. If you have any artistic bones in your body, you’ll want to be in this town at sunset. The area produces skies of magnificent colours, hues you dream about, not to mention peace of mind. We pass through Rimouski, we have all heard of this quaint little town, which cuddles along the shores of St.Lawrence with its greenery, trees, mountains, and rocks - all contributes to its pure natural beauty.

A traffic jam, a two-way thoroughfare, and we are crawling, who knew? Unfortunately, it’s a fender bender, but people are hurt. The police slowly wave us on, as we approach mid day. We have no reservation, so its time to check in somewhere! Our port of call is, Sainte-Flavie – We spot a motel just ahead, "Motel le Gaspesiana". The parking lot is jammed. We reach the front desk, and the clerk, "do you have a room". Yes, we have two, please take these keys’s check the rooms, and choose one. Karen falls in love with room "Twenty-Seven" with all the essentials, and a balcony to boot. We have been on the road since the wee hours so rather than bring up the entire luggage, we just scramble up some clothes from the trunk of our car for tomorrow. The balcony was at our beck and call. The scene was a sight for sore eyes. We overlooked the Ocean and escarpment that only nature could design. With two cool beers, we parked ourselves on the balcony, and gazed in awe at one of Quebec’s finest wonders.

We started a conversation with our neighbours. I don’t remember if we looked at each other, but I do know that they were also enjoying a pint of beer and all four of us, were in dreamland. The whole place was in a buzz, a tranquility type buzz, if you know what I mean. Just below our balcony two couples were sharing the garden. Ten to one (Karen), these people are retired. The men have beer bellies and they are from New Brunswick. I don’t agree on the beer bellies. I think it’s a food & beer belly, and by the looks of those two well " coifed" ladies, they are Acadian’s. What about that lady sitting on the shale type rock, with her face resting in the palms of her hands? Could it be Zen in action or did peace and tranquility bring her to Sainte-Flavie. I believe she is being rewarded as she hears the water softly caressing the rocks, just as water erodes the shoreline, so is her mind eliminating the stress, she brought with her.

Its life way of cleansing a persons body. She never moved from her position. Obviously she was at peace with herself. To our left a jetty reached out towards the Ocean. Well-organized rocks ascended to the top of the jetty, protecting it from the pounding of waves and wicked winters of the Gaspe. Only one hundred yards away, another women who I spotted some thirty minutes ago was swimming alone, just off the jetty. It was not an attractive beach yet the swimmer who floated on the water didn’t care and seemed at ease with herself. Both these ladies sent me to bed for a nap. There was just too much meditation going on, why not try fourty winks before dinner?

I began to think about our trip thus far, the scenic beauty is without a doubt awesome. There was a time when we reached a part in the road when all we could see was water, blue aqua water, should I stop? Are we going to fall into the Ocean? Majestic heart pounding sight. It was to be the first of many other images we would store. I could hear my name being called, Jocko, come and see this. It was Karen calling, what is it? "Come and see the Sunset", Karen claims, "this Sunset over the pier could rival the Key West Sunset on Mallory Pier".

The city of Sainte-Flavie is about four football fields long, with our hotel of 46 rooms the main attraction. We decided that we would have dinner at the main dining room but the maitre’d say’s there is no space, and we would have to wait until nine for the next sitting. Its too bad because the dining room was a classy, cozy, and from what we saw on the menu, just perfect. They also had a fast food section, but we decided to take our action elsewhere. We visited the pier, crowded with locals, many with fishing rods, and pales full of fish. A lonely busker shouted the words of "Swing la-bacaisse" as he stomped his feet to the music.

The beach area is full of shale type rocks with diagonally shaped markings. There is some sand, but not enough to write home about. Some three hundred feet away we could see many gulls in a "vee" formation along side a creek running down from the road. Karen and I wandered towards the Gulls, jumping over puddles of water. Gulls were eating minnows, flowing from the top.

It was at this point that we found our restaurant for the evening, a huge red barn type building. We had to climb the sand bank towards the main street to get to it with the help of a few branches we pulled ourselves up, and before you could count ten steamboats we had a great seat overlooking the St.Lawrence. The choice of food was fish, cooked perfectly. We chose a French wine, and listen to some great music as we slowly enjoyed our first night in the Gaspe.

After our meal we sauntered towards our next stop, you got the impression people/visitors were looking for something to do. From our vantage point, we saw an Ice Cream Parlour nestled along the road. It was busy serving more than ice cream as we watched people take out Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, fries and the famous Quebec product poutine. We reached the front of the line, two servers were taking orders. Karen and I ordered two chocolate dips, and away we went. No space was available to sit, so we strolled around the "Casse-croute". We noticed some flashing lights down the road, so we hustled towards the commotion. This would be interesting, could it be cops and robbers? It was cop’s all right, six of them discussing something? They must be part of the evening’s entertainment because, we could not see any reason for them to be there.

We reached our hotel room and our plan was to let the doors & windows open on the Ocean side so we can listen to the water coming to shore and enjoy a peaceful nights sleep. We awoke to the bird’s cooing, and flying about the fresh air cleaned our lungs. We were starved once again - finally we could use the dining room for breakfast, everything was fresh was fresh including the greatest cup of coffee this writer ever enjoyed. Just incredible!!

Our next city is Mont-Joli, and Metis-sur-Mer. a place our Indian ancestors lived years ago. Just like our first taste of this wonderful country, it got more beautiful as we moved towards our focal point of PERCE, "The Rock". Our next city is Matane, unlike others so far, there is growth here. Famous for its shrimps, it also has a mall, which we frequented. The Old Lighthouse, which you can see from the road, is also a tourist information center. The Salmon migration channel built in the Mathieu-d’amour dam is located on the Matane River. You can see fisherman under the bridge casting and not too far away another fishing village, Les Mechins is yours for the asking. Fishing is the main activity – Cod, Turbot, Mackerel, and sole as well as crustaceans such as lobsters, shrimp, and scallop make the Gaspe peninsula famous.

Our next stop is Cap-Chat we could see from a distance the attraction.

A huge windmill farm. Once at the spot, you are met by a gigantic Vertical axis windtower. It’s the worlds most powerful and highest at 360 feet. The field reminds you of Palm Springs in California, but on a smaller scale but still impressive. As we left the windmill area "Alvin" the chipmunk crossed my path, flying through the air at orbital speeds.

We can taste Perce now, with only Ste.Anne-des-Monts between us.

You must remember the coastline of the Gaspe, can be intimidating, but it’s also calm, beautiful and full of natures features. Boom, voila here she is Karen, PERCE, QUEBEC – Small narrow street, with cars moving at a snails pace, visitors everywhere and shops on both sides of the road with the occasional restaurants in between. You could toss a football the length of the street.

A point after get’s you to our Hotel Le Mirage, on route 132 Ouest, Perce, QC.

Karen spots the hotel on top of the hill. Great news, we will not need our car to come back into town. The Ouellette family who has been in this business for 61 years greets us. We register. The hotel is spotless; the staff is clean looking, nice little bar next to the reception desk, and impeccable dining room.

Mrs. Ouellette explains the Hotel’s policies, and surroundings. We are allocated room 35, overlooking the St.Lawrence and Perce rock. The room is large, clean as a whistle, a gorgeous bathroom and everything about this room is first class.

Karen and I sit on the balcony, silence, not a word is spoken as we survey the great landscape before our eyes. Just awesome. We found out later that the Molson family once owned the red roof house, (our immediate view) located on top of the hill to the side of Perce Rock. It’s now owned by the Quebec Government and free of tenants.

We rested a bit but the excitement of being in Perce is just too much. We changed into clean and crisp garb and begin our trek towards the main street.

Our first sights as we stroll down a narrow sidewalk to the main street, are the Rock, the St.Lawrence, the Motels/Hotels, parked buses, cars, and of course people. Perce is a souvenir trap, like most tourist towns so find the most reasonable shop, and buy. Then move on.

We found out that a store, restaurant along the strip also rents rooms, and it goes hand in hand with the business environment of this town. But we also found out that you must reserve a room days ahead or you will be camping out. It’s a busy place. If we ever go back we will book a room outside of Perce and take advantage of cheaper rates and drive in each day. There are plenty of parking spaces available.

Once beyond the shops a sharp right turn gets you to the Pier. Buskers are all around you and it’s enjoyable because it’s not the typical music. It’s the Quebecois stomping and playing of the accordions and spoons. At the other end another busker with a guitar is singing regional French songs and he has the crowd singing so obviously there are locals in the crowd. At the end of the pier, what else? Fisherman, trying their luck, and winning. We should have brought our fishing rod! The night was now upon us its cool and we are only tee shirt busy, but we can handle the evening’s offerings of a beautiful sky, no breeze, a welcoming night for Perce’s guest.

Music emanates from a restaurant-bar off the pier, its regional music, foot stomping at times, but they don’t shy away from rock & roll. Courtyards are within range. Karen and I decided to purchase a beer and sit and gawk at passerbies. There is plenty of entertainment all about. At this point were both getting hungry? Again we only ate breakfast. We mosey down the boardwalk towards our Hotel, and spotted a restaurant painted red. People were eating outside, a stones throw from the Sea. We checked the menu, "Lobster & Shrimps", just what we want. The maitre‘d approached us, a fine looking Frenchman, and you could tell he was from Paris. He spoke excellent English. He was tanned, dressed like a French Sailor with his neck covered with a thin scarf, a sweater with bars across, and beige slacks. He pointed towards a choice of two tables, cozy and both located at the windows facing the Ocean. Everything about this place was European, French of course. Old antique tables each with a candle adding a romantic flavour. We received our dinner, lobster was great, but the shrimp were too well done, otherwise, it was a most pleasant evening near the rock. The daughter of the owner took our dishes away, while the owners wife, gave us the bill. Just perfect as we continued to drink a great wine from France. I must say something about the bathroom, located in the corner of the restaurant. The sign said, M/F, and when you walk in, it’s tiny, resembling what you will find in France, a smallish sink of great beauty with little red handles. One handle said chaude/hot and the other froide/cold. Excellent conversation piece for the evening. Early the next day while walking along the boardwalk, I saw our Parisian Frenchman cleaning his tables outside his restaurant, a sign that we chose well last night.

Throughout our ride along the coastline, Catholic churches could be seen and as we approached them, Karen would say, they always get prime location. The churches were spanking clean with great landscaping. Another significant feature was the Canadian Flag. They were all over the place compared to Montreal and other Quebec regions where the Quebec Flags is more evident.

Day two in Perce - Began early for this writer. Its six-fifteen and the cool fresh air is waiting. Karen is sleeping, enjoying the comfort of being on holidays.

The street are bare, only Jocko and a few natives enjoying the morning. As I reached the end of the tourist area, I noticed a walkway heading up to the Molson house. Why not, take a look. It was a cute little street with many little summer cabins, rentals I presume. The landscape was perfect at the top, the Molson house was chained off but I did spot another opening.

At cliffs end stairs descending to rocks and the Ocean invites you to challenge the shore towards the Rock. As I looked towards Perce rock, I could see people walking towards the rock. It was low tide, so I have choice to make. Return or continue, but just twenty feet in front of me a father with his boy are enjoying the time of their life together. I could hear the Dad giving the young boy instruction, no son, move to your right, pick a flat rock, son, watch out for the slippery tree limbs, which was ten times the height of his child and a girth five times the size of his twelve year old body. Each rock presented a challenge, and with just running shoes, you had to be careful of wet rocks. Hiker boots would be the best. At this point, were about thirty feet from the top, some ten feet from the splashing sea and about 150 yards closer to Perce rock. You have to pinch yourself, because this hike, is just tremendous and the closer I get the more people are up for the challenge.

Making a decision to cross over at low tide is easy because I still have two courageous people in front of me, the Dad and son and they are moving at a gung-ho pace. From the shore below the cliff, were talking a football field, before reaching the rock. Later on during the late afternoon, you would need a boat to cross over. The length of this rock is 1,565 feet, and 250 feet high. The purpose of this hike is to reach the arch at about 1,500 feet. The walk along the rock begins with enough space to walk at ease, when all of a sudden, your hugging the walls of the rock and pursuing a comfortable rock to step on, otherwise your swimming in the St.Lawrence. With running shoes pleasantly wet, and almost half way to the Arch, I meet the young man with his son going back. Decision time, I pick a rock and survey the water, rocks, shore, only to be inspired by a lady and her husband standing under the arch. Off I go but I must watch my every step, when I plunge into the water up to my zipper, and then realize, why all this picking and choosing a rock. I was able to complete my journey, and enjoy the excitement of standing under the Arch, which was 50 feet high. It was interesting, because I was not the only one who reached the Arch on this day, about twenty others were in awe of this huge hole. You could hear the shale falling from the sides of the Rock.

Karen was so disappointed when I got back, she looked at me with my wet jeans and asked what happen to you? I fell into the St.Lawrence, what? I went for my walk and decided to challenge the Rock. Are you crazy? Why didn’t you wait for me? There is no way, you would have made it across and furthermore I would have not taken a chance if you were with me. After breakfast, Karen and I returned to the area, we found a dry log along the northern end of the rock, and I could see she was thinking about going across, but no way would I agree. You must be in good shape to challenge the rock, being an athlete and having challenged numerous obstacles in life, you gain so much experience and think about what you would do if something did happen.

The weather is great, sunny, with a slight wind. We bought tickets for the ferry, which takes you to Bonaventure Island. The ferry purposely moves towards the "Rock" to give us a better look at natures creation and then around to the East side where you get a better picture of nature at work. A wind was hammering away at the rock, and at times shale would fall into the sea. You could see grooves in the wall, carved over millions of years. The Arch for example, must have been a small hole at one time, and only water could excavate an Arch so large. As we approached Bonaventure Island, we skirted a wall where Seals were at play. Above them, we saw a wall of 200,000 birds sunbathing, and resting. We were informed that the greatest colony of Gannets in Northern America nest here. Each Gannet couple nest here for seven months to raise its only offspring.

Gannets in French are "Fous de Bassan". These birds have a yellow head.

Macareau are Birds of grace, beautiful, small with a colourful beak. There are Gulls as well. You can spend the whole day on the Island or every half hour a boat leaves the Island. It would take you hours to walk this Island.

Coming back from Bonaventure Island, Karen and I decided to take a seat above the boat, and take in the scenery. Just about halfway over we saw Whales playing in the water. We all got excited and wanted the captain to bring us closer, but he just chugged along. Meanwhile everybody had his or her cameras out clicking away at this marvelous sight.

It bugged us to no end that he would not stop. When he dropped us off we asked about the whales. His reply was that his job is to ferry us over to the Island and back. Others were also looking at the whales playing in the water. We even purposely walked along the shore towards our hotel, so that we could watch these creatures of the seas battle. When we got back to our room, we immediately sat on our balcony and looked towards the whales at play. Before, I go on I must confess the Whales were rocks, creating an optical illusion or for that matter a tidal change might have created this formation but when we first saw, what we thought were Whales playing, we believed it. Great excitement.

We would complete two other visits on this day – The Grotto, and the Interpretation center. The Grotto is 1.5 kl from our hotel. The dirt road leading to the Grotto is dusty, so a car wash is in the works. We reach the top but we must park in order to reach the Grotto, some 100 feet beyond the chain fence. The water falls from about 250 feet straight down into a man-made concrete water container.

Were not talking Niagara Falls, were talking Mickey Mouse. We figured out that this man-made Grotto belonged to the church, because two locked "collection" boxes were place at the sight and next to an Icon. Both asking for donations, as a matter of fact when we were just about to leave, we saw the local priest taking the money from the boxes. Please don’t get me wrong, this Grotto is just fine, we even walked under the waterfall, and enjoyed the sprinkling of the cold water.

Upon return, we reached the chain fence and saw a van next to our car.

A woman was walking towards us, and she was feeling good, one of the guy’s was having a leak behind the van and singing while the other two guys were doing the same into the bush. They were obviously three sheets to the wind.

As I approach my car, the lad behind the van, asked – is the cave a big one?

No I replied, its just two Icons with a waterfall. Scratching his head, he turned to his buddies, and yelled no cave’s guys, it’s a church up there. He was not that far off, and we did pass a church on our way out.

The interpretation center is excellent, we learned so much about the area. The way of life, the Ocean, but most of all Karen and I learned about the power of the Sun, Wind and Water in only 30 minutes.

With a good nights rest behind us, we checked out and drove to a breakfast spot we noticed the day before. Located off the Ocean, it was a typical motel with a restaurant. The parking lot was full, so that was a good sign. From our view we could just about see the area where we thought the Whales were playing in the St.Lawrence.

The fog cover was major, and a slight mist covered the windows of the restaurant. We enjoyed a nice breakfast, and fell in love with their home made jam. Dressed for the weather, off we go and we are informed that in Chandler, the weather is much better. Thank God, I could not see myself driving the hills of Gaspe in a fog. We never saw a sign for Chandler, all we know is that we are on the 132 west, heading towards our next stop. No major traffic to talk about, its smooth all the way through New Carlisle, Bonaventure and into New Richmond. The biggest change on 132 west is the scenic view. The Ocean disappears; mountains become the focal point on both sides of the road and beautiful greenery to help us along.

New Richmond, if you enjoy peace and tranquility "Auberge La Maison Stanley" is for you. If you enjoy reading a book you want to be here. It took us three hours to reach New Richmond, and they had plenty of signs along the road indicating route to follow. From the front gate to the house, 1.5KL, that’s a stretch. We passed a dense forest, and as we peaked into the woods we saw nothing but trees. We registered, and brought our luggage to our room.

We were in a mansion, with artifacts surrounding our every move towards the second floor. The stairway had a huge polar bear fur hanging on the wall. All the bathrooms were outside our room, five in all only a few feet away.

We were given the Lord Stanley Suite, with our room facing Baie-des-chaleur.

Our bed was a four-poster unit giving us the feeling of a Queen and King, only because the accessories were of royal quality. There is so much more, but its time for a walk to the Seaside. Karen and I picked up walking sticks and began walking all we could see is water, clear water, and rocks galore for the many Salmon who invade these shores.

From our vantage point we saw the Grand Cascapedia River, a Salmon fisherman dream spot. After skidding a few rocks atop the water, we headed back towards our mansion. Walking into this great country Inn, you can’t help but be in awe of its beauty. Lucille, who owns the place with her husband, gave us a tour of the mansion, and we then sat in what must be described as a dream living room. So large, and when you scan the room, you see numerous wall hanging’s, with bookcases all along the wall containing books from the 1800’s.

It appeared to Karen and I that the five owners of this graceful home, upon selling, must have left behind all their belongings. Two items stood out, the coffee table which measured about six feet by six feet with its aging natural wood, seemed contented with all the books and magazines upon it.

Surrounding this beauty, were sofas, and chairs each having an end table with lighting to suit your taste. Secondly, the "Fireplace", took up a major portion of one wall and although its July, Edgar who is Lucille’s husband lit the log’s, displaying a winter feature. Imagine for one moment, you just spent an hour skating on a frozen pond, and return to the warmth of this living room, you then plunk yourself in front of this brightly glowing fire, and start sipping a cup of Hot Chocolate. Yes, it’s a nice dream.

We had purchased a couple of sandwiches on our way towards Lord Stanley, and we had stored them in the fridge. We asked Lucille, if we could have them, and she quickly replied, give me a minute and I will set something up for you in the dining room. We were flabbergasted, and never before did we enjoy a sandwich in such luxury as the two of us sat munching away.

Karen and I decided to find the only mall in New Richmond, right –OK.

Near by, the city of Bonaventure had a Loyalist Colony, and $ 4.00 each enables you to visit 14 buildings on the site. Our first stop was the Blacksmith shop, as we were unsupervised, we made a few changes. In doing so we caused a racket, at which point a neighbour came into the stable, claimed her husband was sick, and could we find some medicine. Not a problem, we walked to the chemist down the street, and to our surprise the prescription was ready. So we made the delivery. Karen took off on me so when I looked outside there she was entering the church. As I opened the door, I could hear Karen praying for Shamus Smith, but before she could say one more amen, I began my sermon on deceases. The churchgoers were amazed at my words and one yelled out no such deceases exist, and if I were correct I would say that only in the 19 century would these deceases surface. Say what? I’m a fortune teller, and my cards has pictures of these deceases, which translate into the 19th. Century. Amen lady.

Did anybody see a blond lady leave, yes-sir, she just stepped out a minute ago.

Thank you my children – ciao.

Sure enough, wouldn’t you know it, Karen’s in the bakery and of all places, they have people dressed in funny clothes selling, cookies, and fudge, imagine that fudge. KC, what are you doing here? buying some fudge, and with that remark grabbed me by the ears, and hauled me over to the school house, and began telling me how good she was at school. Yes, KC that’s fine, but I’m tired, and these desk and chairs are just too small for this big man. Haha, put the chalk down, ok, ok, but let’s get out of here, the barns awaiting. What a wonderful barn, it looked as if the farmers just left everything, and scooted home.

It’s about closing time, and we still have a few buildings to visit. Karen of course tried to attached a wagon to my body, but that would not work because our car was only one hundred yards away, and even if I tried, that Indian you see parked on that roof, has a bow & Arrow. Salut! La visite.

We drove back to our beautiful, stately home for the night. Lucille & Edgar were sitting on the Balcony. Postcard perfect. We joined them explaining our day’s activities. They were pleased that we took in the Loyalist Village in Bonaventure. Lucille made us some tea, and together we went into the living room. Edgar, informed us that this was the original home of Lord Stanley, the same man who donated the Stanley Cup to the National Hockey league.

Lord Stanley photo hangs in the foyer area along with the four owners who followed his venture.

There are 11 rooms, on a beachfront which measures 1,500 feet long.

6000 feet deep. A huge Canadian Flag facing our room proudly flying and saluting Les Anglais. We hit the sack, and enjoyed the most peaceful evening sleep. It was so quite, Karen could not sleep for the lack of noise. Lying in bed, I would make little sounds, like boo, or try listening for a bird, cricket, but no luck.

We awoke early, and I went for a walk on the grounds, enjoying life. Caught up in my search for animal life, I finally heard noise, as I looked back towards the house, It was Karen screaming, breakfast is ready. Within two minutes we were sitting in the dining room with a capacity for 30 people. The Dining room was filled with magnificent Antique tables and chairs. If you are a breakfast person like Karen and I, the enjoyment of presentation was out of this world, as they already had the coffee out, fresh eggs an assortment of meats, juices, fresh fruit, and pancakes. We had our own waitress, and she lived in the same area we live in, back home in the West Island. So, not only did we enjoy a great morning breakfast, but also we had the opportunity to talk about places of interest.

Who knew, that traveling so far, would bring together neighbours. Awesome.

Although our main goal on this trip was the Gaspe Peninsula and the St.Lawrence. We could not go back home without stopping off at Ste.Anne de Beaupre and Quebec City. Ste.Anne de Beaupre is special because, if you have faith, and you wish to pray, the statue, which you can kneel at glows, almost real. The statue is round, with space for about 8 persons. It has been refurbished, but in the old days, you would see many crutches, and other items left behind by people who were cured during their visit.

From Ste.Anne de Beaupre, you have a short drive to Quebec City. Summer is the best time to visit Upper and Lower Quebec. They have so much to offer. On occasion we drive down to Quebec City from Montreal just to have breakfast, and walk the streets in the afternoon. Sidewalk café’s although different than what you would frequent in Paris, the flare, the "Joie de Vivre" is enjoyable.

Nightlife, choice of restaurant, is done at a slower pace, and if the opportunity arises, lower Quebec offers some excellent choices. So try to find a spot where you can have a drink first, enjoy life, and then a romantic two and one half hour dinner.

Thanks for reading our story.