In two and a half days, we travelled round the
Gaspé peninsula, the eastern most part of Québec. An intense roadtrip full of colours and different panoramas. A first stop at Cap-des-Rosiers was mellow. At five in the morning, my first look at the Atlantic was pale purples, blues and the red and white of the highest lighthouse in Canada. We even saw a whale far off! And the air smelled alive for the first time in a long time.
Then it was Cap Gaspé, followed by a series of tiny villages with names like Cap-aux-os, Petit Cap-aux-os. Similarly, Gaspé has several sub-villages: Grande-Grave (Gaspé), Petit Gaspé (Gaspé), Gaspé centre-ville (Gaspé). Cute white houses line the ocean and
Tim Hortons is the Canadian leitmotiv throughout. On through St-George de Malbaie, Barachois and Coin-du-Banc, and we were at Percé, named after the
Rocher Percé, the big rock that stands in the sea,
hollowed by winds and waves. I've dreamt of seeing it since before I came to Québec and it was beautiful to me. I was in awe of how it stood there at the mercy of the elements, an orange-yellow rock of 400 millions years which only has 10 to 15,000 years to live before it disappears due to erosion.
We went on along the Baie des Chaleurs, a delightful drive along the Atlantic and stopped at a red-sand beach in Pabos. No soil, no mud, just red sand. Pretty weird until you get used to the sun and just laze there. I had a slow walk to the end of the beach, which reminded me of home. The sound of waves curling on the shore has to be the sweetest one I know. The retreating waves had the same chime: here they drag smoothened rocks back into the water, in Mauritius it's coral. But the sound is the same.
After we left the coast, we followed the Caspapedia river into the Monts Chic-Choc: greens and blacks - mountains, river, forests, some men fly-fishing. We even spotted a caribou; it stood still, then skipped across the road into the woods. We fed the mosquitoes there for a while, the guys bravely fought to make a nice fire and cook potatoes under the embers. Hmmm... it tasted good, but we were relieved we also had bagels and cheese and fruits. We camped there and were up at 5h00 to drive back to Montreal, this time along the south shore of the St-Lawrence river. It was a different scenery, but pretty. Once more, small houses hugging the river, and all sorts of sign saying "Hotel-sur-mer", "Gite-sur-mer", while municipal signs kept saying "Fleuve St-Laurent" at regular intervals on the river shore!
Driving back into Montreal was a little sad for all of us. It was like a collective dream we were reluctant to leave. I'd say the real beauty of this place lies outside its cities. And Gaspésie was certainly everything I'd imagined and more. Just to give you an idea: the end of the peninsula was a thirteen-hour drive from Montreal.
I'm grateful for the chance of having seen the sea again. There are few other things that remind you so well of how big things can be and how small we really are. Pictures to come. I want to go to PEI and Nova Scotia now :)
