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Sainte Anne des Monts - PerceOct 14, 2007
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Views of Gaspe peninsula
Climbing into the hills
Fall colours into the hills
As we prepare for departure, Normand, our friendly host, comes out in his Sunday best and helps hook up the truck behind the motorhome. He makes sure we had a good night and shakes our hands as a goodbye. We ask him if he is going to Florida for the winter and with a shocked look on his face he says:"Floride??? Mais non, Montreal!" He is spending the winter in Montreal with his wife, he has a place there. In the winter months, Gaspesie is very cold and windy and most people leave for the city.
The drive today is very beautiful along the shores of the St Lawrence, through the small villages, where houses are mere meters from the road, and down some steep grades - up to 17%. Some sections in are more mountainous and it is foggy and rainy through there.
We are obviously in the midst of hunting season; we have seen many cars & pickups with a utility trailer that has the quad off road vehicle, and then a utility trailer behind that one that has the moose they just shot in it!! It is quite a funny sight when you see a car or truck coming towards you with these 4 legs sticking out. It seems like the moose just dropped from the sky into the trailer. Moose here have much smaller antlers than what we are used to seeing, and seem smaller in size too. If we don't see them on the trailer, we can see the moose hanging in people's garages or carports. One moose per family for the winter?
Most of the business around these parts are seasonal only; we assume people must have other jobs to get them through the rest of the year. We cut off on 197 to the town of Gaspe which means 'lands end' in Micmac Indian. Jaques Cartier also came here in 1534 and planted a cross to claim the land for France. Coming out here, one could see how far away you are from any other part of Canada, and why the French language has had such a stronghold for so many years.
We continue on back on Hwy 132 to Perce; there is a 17% grade to get into town, and we have a spectacular panoramic view of the area. Perce was a port favoured by ships traveling between France & Quebec in the 17th century. In 1690, it was destroyed by the English when they attacked Quebec. After that it became a lobster port and destination for visitors traveling to the Gaspe Peninsula.
The town is famous for the Perce rock, which has an archway in it. Across the water is Ile Bonaventure (island), home of the second largest colony of Northern Gannets in the world; they have migrated south for the winter.
We stay overnight overlooking the rock and beautiful scenery.
