Gaspé Road trip - North shore of the St. Lawrence

 It was a two hour ferry ride to the north shore of the St. Lawrence from Rivière-du-Loup.  I had hoped that there would be lots to see (like whales? seals?) along the way but it was completely uneventful except for some mew gulls following in the wake of the boat.  Maybe it was the time of year, maybe it was the time of day...?

 The north shore though was quite scenic and we stopped at the picturesque town of Baie St. Paul after lunch.  The town was very busy as it was a Saturday.  I managed to go on a chocolate high after I gobbled down a french crèpe drowning in dark chocolate.  But it kept me awake all afternoon for the drive to St. Anne de Beaupré and the Montmorency Falls just outside of Quebec City.  

 

Ferry from Rivière-du-Loup to St. Simeon on the north shore

 

Baie St. Paul and its many picturesque buildings

 

 

Quebec City in the distance

The Cathedral St. Anne de Beaupré was an unexpected stop as I did not have it on my itinerary.  It turned out to be a worthwhile stop and I got to try out the image stabilization on my camera. I wish I had done some research before stopping there as it's only after I got home that I read that it has a replica of the La Pièta sculpture which I had probably walked right by and completely missed when I was in the church.  I had seen the gorgeous original in Europe but would have loved to see it again even if in replica.  

All images inside the cathedral were taken handheld.

The Montmorency falls were impressive but the setting was disappointing.

 

   It was dark by the time we got to Trois Rivières, where we spent the night.  I had chosen the hotel because of its proximity to the Laviolette Bridge and so was able to get some shots of the bridge before doing a quick tour of the town, our last stop before heading home. 

 

The waterfront park in Trois Rivières

Monument to the founding of Trois Rivières

Colourful mural in downtown Trois Rivières

 

The beautiful Ursuline St. with its Ursuline Convent and Museum

And so we wrapped up our Gaspé Road Trip. It was an amazing 10 day trip with wondrous natural landscapes throughout so it was appropriate to ease us slowly back to city life with a quiet morning in the historical part of Trois Rivières. 

 

Gaspé Road trip - BIC National Park

The highlight on our drive to Riviere-du-Loup is BIC National Park sitting on the estuary of the St. Lawrence.  It's has beautiful water-land panoramas with many coves, islands and mountains.    We stuck to the easy North Trail, a 4km trail along the eastern shore of the peninsula and was pleasantly surprised by its magical islands and coves

Rock formations - the one above look like a bear the one below like a tortoise.

A beautiful island near the end of the trail

A deer family appeared near the end of our hike

After BIC we headed straight for Rivière-du-Loup where we were welcomed by the most spectacular sunset we have seen on this trip.

Next post: the north shore of the St. Lawrence

Gaspé Road trip - Across the Gaspé to St. Anne-des-monts

We have gotten used to the rhythm of getting up for sunrises, it was easy as we were right on the beach. So of course we can't miss the last sunrise in Percé - another great show. 

Bonaventure Island makes for a good minimalist image

 

 

 

One last look from the top of the hill

It was a beautiful day for the drive to St. Anne-des-monts on the north side of the Gaspé.  The internal route cutting through the peninsula was an easy drive, but boring until we hit the coast.  Then we were able to stop at lighthouses and saw some shore birds.  We also found that many government places were closed on Fridays.  At La Martre, even the Mayor's office was closed as was the adjoining public library - we were hoping to use their washroom facilities!  Gas stations were not opening their washrooms either because of COVID.  Here are some of the highlights along the route. 

A juvenile Great Black-backed Gull and Common Eiders on rocks off the shore of La Martre

The famous red lighthouse in La Martre

The colourful sign outside the closed Mayor's office

Colorful rocks along the shore

St. Anne's Falls in Gaspesie National Park

 We went for a short hike in Gaspésie National Park to check out St. Anne's Falls and to stretch our legs after the long drive. By the time we arrived St. Anne-des-monts, it was late afternoon and sunset was imminent. We did a quick drive through the town and was surprised to see a substantial stone church in town.  

Church of St. Anne-des-monts

An art installation of birch trees with bird carvings in the harbour

Panorama of the St. Anne-des-monts

We were very pleased with the motel, it was the cheapest one we stayed at on this trip and yet it offered the most amenities, including a walkout right onto the beach and a restaurant serving excellent seafood at reasonable prices compared to Percé.   We can be forgiven for taking yet more sunset and sunrise photos!  

Sunset on the beach

Sunrise over St. Anne-des-monts

Another beautiful sunrise, followed by thunderclouds on our way to Riviere-du-Loup.  We were lucky it only lasted a couple of hours and while we were driving.  By the time we reached our first stop at the Matane Lighthouse, it was sunny again.  The following stop at Ste. Flavie was interesting with the sculptures of people walking in from the sea - Le Grand Rassemblement (the Grand Gathering) by the artist Marcel Gagnon and the adjoining Centre d'art Marcel Gagnon.  

Matane lighthouse

 

Le Grand Rassemblement

We stopped for lunch at the National Wild Life Preserve near Pointe-au-Père in Rimouski.  We didn't have a lot of time to walk around but as luck would have it, a palm warbler stopped for a photo as did a flock of Canada geese flying in formation. 

Pointe-au-Père lighthouse

The Empress of Ireland Museum is built like the ship at sea, tossed by waves

The highlight of our day was BIC National Park and we were lucky to reach it just as the golden hour began.

Next post:  BIC National Park