Saturday, 23 October 2021
Gaspé Road trip - first stretch
After 20 months at home with the pandemic, we finally ventured out on a road trip in September, with the Gaspé peninsula as our destination. On the way to and from the Gaspé, we stopped at many interesting places. Please come along with us to enjoy some of the scenery.
Nicolet caught my eye when I was looking for a place to stop near Trois Rivieres - it is near the south shore of Lac St. Pierre which has a significant bird sanctuary. Since September is migration season, I was hoping to see some migrants while we were there. As it turned out, we arrived late in the afternoon and caught the golden hour on the cornfields but the light was too dim for us to see anything on the vast meadow near the birding hotspot Baie-du-Febvre. Since we had to be on our way first thing in the morning, we skipped the bird sanctuary thinking we would be stopping here again on our way home.
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Corn fields catching the golden light
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We headed for Riviere-du-Loup the following day with a stop at the Parc des Chutes-de-la-Chaudiere to see the spectacular falls. The bedrocks there are even more spectacular. We also stopped by a couple of the picturesque towns along the route - Michel de Belchasse with its many silver-clad rooftops and Kamourasaka, a legendary town. I stopped because of Anne Hébert's book (Kamourasaka) but the town has many other interesting aspects, including a chocolate shop and a romantic pier. I encountered two lifers here - the sanderling and the semipalmated sandpiper. The sunset at Riviere-du-Loup that evening was beautiful and we were lucky to catch it before we arrived at the hotel.
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| Spectacular bedrocks and the suspension bridge in the distance |
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| The waterfront at St. Michel de Belchasse |
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| Charming pier in Kamourasaka |
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| Sanderling at Kamourasaka |
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| Semipalmated sandpiper at Kamourasaka |
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Golden fields in Kamourasaka
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| Falls at Riviere-du-Loup |
Riveire-du-Loup sunset
It was a long drive along Hwy 132 to our final stop before Percé
- Carleton-sur-mer, again hoping to see some migrating birds in the
bay. We saw several blue herons and some wigeons far away and not much
else. But the awesome cloud formation at sunset gave us our photo fix
for the day.
TIP:
While everyone is supposed to be back in school in September, there are
sitll many people on the road (retirees?). If you would like to eat in a
better restaurant for dinner, it is wise to reserve ahead as they tend
to be booked up. This happened to us in Carleton-sur-mer where the few
seafood restaurants were all fully booked and some were closed. For a
while we thought it would be pizza for dinner until we found The Heron, a
diner that served a decent fish dinner.
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Riveire-du-Loup sunset |
It was a long drive along Hwy 132 to our final stop before Percé - Carleton-sur-mer, again hoping to see some migrating birds in the bay. We saw several blue herons and some wigeons far away and not much else. But the awesome cloud formation at sunset gave us our photo fix for the day.
TIP:
While everyone is supposed to be back in school in September, there are
sitll many people on the road (retirees?). If you would like to eat in a
better restaurant for dinner, it is wise to reserve ahead as they tend
to be booked up. This happened to us in Carleton-sur-mer where the few
seafood restaurants were all fully booked and some were closed. For a
while we thought it would be pizza for dinner until we found The Heron, a
diner that served a decent fish dinner.
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| The "Old man and the Sea" and the lighthouse at Carleton-sur-mer |
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| Awesome clouds at sunset (Carleton-sur-mer) |
Next post: destination Percé
Sunday, 24 October 2021
Gaspé Road trip - destination Percé
We had an eye on the weather forecast all the way and adjusted our itinerary based on the weather. Rain and winds were forecasted for the following day in Percé so we pushed forward with our weather-dependent activities, top on the list was the boat cruise to Bonaventure Island. As Carleton-sur-mer was only 2 hours from Percé, we made sure we arrived in good time for the boat departure.
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| This was the view from the pier |
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| Close-up of the arch from the boat |
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| View from the boat |
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| Bonaventure Island |
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| Gannet flying over water |
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| Gannets on the side of the island |
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| Observation tower in the gannet colony - we did not get to this part of the trail |
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| Gannet colony on the north side of the island |
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| Young gannet still with down feathers |
TIP: Definitely book your hotel ahead of time for Percé. Rooms with view of the rock in September were all booked even as early as July. Dinner reservations for the highly-rated La Maison du Pêcheur are a must. We only got a 5:15 pm slot in spite of booking a week ahead.
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| Golden hour on the rock |
We got up early the following morning to catch the sunrise. True to the saying "red sky in the morning, sailors warning", the wind and the rain arrived shortly after sunrise and all boat cruises were suspended.
to this in a couple of hours...
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| With nothing better to do, we climbed up a tower to get a panoramic view of the town during a lull in the rain. |
Next post: Second sunrise and Forillon National Park
Monday, 1 November 2021
Gaspé Road trip - Forillon National Park
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| The morning golden hour |
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| We drove up to the top of the headland to take in a different aspect of the rock. |
It was a good start to the day - we had planned to explore Forillon National Park, an hour's drive from Percé. One thing to note, and it was not immediately obvious on maps, is that one could not drive to the tip of the peninsula which is called "Le Bout du monde" (Land's End) - it can only be reached on foot via a 4km trail. We opted for the easy way to see the park and drove instead to Cap Bon Ami. It was a scenic hike from the parking lot down to the beach and was just right for our energy level.
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| View of Cap Bon Ami |
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| Crouching tiger |
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| The lighthouse at Cap des Rosiers |
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| Sanderling |
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| Ruffed Grouse |
There seemed to be lots of migrating birds along the coast. A whole flock of Common eiders was gathered off the shore and we saw sanderlings and semi-palmated plovers on the beach near Cap des Rosiers. I'm sure if we had looked harder we would have seen more. Somewhere along the road, we also saw a Ruffed Grouse, another lifer for me.
We had checked the tide tables and found that low tide coincided with the golden hour on Percé Rock, making it a unique opportunity to get to the rock for photos. We were glad we made it back in time for the hike to the rock during low tide - it was an awesome sight to see that golden nugget up close. The hike was quite treacherous and I wished I had brought along my walking stick. The rocks were wet and even worse was the kelp on them which made them very slippery. I almost slipped but was fortunately able to regain my balance.
As you can see below, we got quite close to the rock and could have gone right to the foot if we had chosen to. But there was a time constraint since low tide lasts only about an hour and we had already spent a part of that hour taking photos from the shore. The thought of being stranded on the other side was enough of a deterrent.
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| The view from the beach |
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| Getting closer |
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were some really awesome rocks on the cliffs facing the Rock and you
can see them here extending right into the water. Don't forget to turn
around and look up the cliff face! |
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| This is actually the tamer part of the trail |
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| Catching the last rays |
Next post: The drive back to Riviere-du-Loup
Thursday, 18 November 2021
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.
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| Bonaventure Island makes for a good minimalist image |
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| 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.
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| A juvenile Great Black-backed Gull and Common Eiders on rocks off the shore of La Martre |
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| The famous red lighthouse in La Martre |
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| The colourful sign outside the closed Mayor's office |
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| Colorful rocks along the shore |
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| 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.
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| Church of St. Anne-des-monts |
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| An art installation of birch trees with bird carvings in the harbour |
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| 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!
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| Sunset on the beach |
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| 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.
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| Matane lighthouse |
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| 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.
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| Pointe-au-Père lighthouse |
Saturday, 20 November 2021
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.
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| Ferry from Rivière-du-Loup to St. Simeon on the north shore |
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| Baie St. Paul and its many picturesque buildings | |
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| 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.
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| All images inside the cathedral were taken handheld. |
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| 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.
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| The waterfront park in Trois Rivières |
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| Monument to the founding of Trois Rivières |
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| Colourful mural in downtown Trois Rivières |
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| 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.
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