The last night we spent in Metis sur Mer, I drove into Mont Joli to get diesel. I was hoping the haze would give me a nice sunset as well, but it was only so-so. Still, I stopped at a local “halte” which are the numerous picnic spots found along route 132. Most of them won’t accommodate large vehicles, so we can’t use them as rest stops when towing. But this one was right on the water and certainly fit Rory. Even though this is still considered the St. Lawrence River, there are seashells on the beaches.
Sadly, we woke up to hazier conditions due to the wildfire smoke that so many have experienced. It would not leave us during our time in the area, so many of the photos are quite poor. Visibility was certainly not great.
Following Jerry and Wendy, wishing it was less hazy. View to my left was still amazing despite the haze.Ran into construction multiple times. Thought this was a cool statue. It reminds me of a seal with a ball on it’s nose. The metal sphere spun with the wind.
We had a stop marked in the book that mentioned a waterfall. It said the pull over would only fit about 5 rigs, but we made it work with more.
Rory at restA lot of Open Range products representedWaterfall was pretty
Sadly, the smoke and visibility seemed even worse when we arrived at our campground. Baie de Gaspe is, of course, pretty easy to translate: Bay of Gaspe. It was not near stores or towns; Gaspe itself was about 30 minutes south. But there was a nice plage, or beach, near it. And it had a water overlook, if only we could have seen it better.
There were a lot of seasonals up the hill from us; we were all down in back in spots. My power pedestal literally had a padlock on the 50 amp circuit, so I had to use the 30 amp. Which most of these campgrounds have been limited to, so no big deal. Still, I’ve never seen a circuit padlocked before.
View from my site to the left.View looking out to the back of my site.
We had a free day to explore Forillon National Park, the first national park located in Quebec. It was thought to have been named for a flowerpot seastack that’s since collapsed into the sea.
The park was created in 1970 after a subcontracting firm hired by the government bullied and harassed the 225 families living on the land to sell out at low fees. This expropriation eventually led to an official government apology in 2011.
We were closest to the south entrance for the park. There’s a road that runs along the sea cliffs until it ends in a walking trail; if you walk a few Km there’s a lighthouse at the end. I met Jerry, Wendy, Charlie, and Rae for a picnic lunch at the trail head. However, given the smoke, none of us wanted to hike the trail. Apparently, the end near the lighthouse is quite steep.
I really didn’t take any pictures; it didn’t seem worth it. However, not all is lost. Our next stop, in Perce, was only 60 some miles down 132. We would have a free day there, and I spent it driving back to Forillon as the day was beautiful, smoke free, and I wanted to see the park in all it’s glory. The other motive was to go to the IGA and Canadian Tire stores as they were closed when we were in Gaspe due to a national holiday (St. John the Baptists day). So you’ll see them in the next post.
On a another note, we started to see some very interesting signs on 132. Some of which we could not interpret. Here are some examples.
3 way stop15% down grade. A record at the time for me, it would be exceeded a few days later by a 17% grade into Perce. I have never seen such steep grades on a public road in my life. Alaska had some long grades, but I don’t think they ever exceeded 8-9%. Avalance dangerHigh wave danger for the next 7 km. 14% grade with curves. Not fun. Falling rockThis is the sign no one could figure out. It had no words, not French or otherwise. It wasn’t until we got to PEI that we finally figured it out; they had the same sign but with words beneath it. Any guesses?This was taken the night before we left Gaspe. It’s in the town, at an Irving gas station. Notice diesel is cheaper than gas, which has consistently been the case in Canada.
Next post we go to Perce, take a boat tour, and I fly some of my kites.
We had a completely free day on the fourth day in Quebec City. Jerry, Wendy and some others had talked about going zip lining at the Montmorency Falls. I don’t zip line. I don’t really zip anywhere. What I did instead was a bit boring, but one of those necessary days when you’re traveling constantly: a me day.
I slept in. Which was amazing. Did at least 3, maybe 4 loads of laundry, washed all the dishes, and figured out which of the 3 Costcos in the area was nearest and drove there.
Costco Canada is comfortingly familiar, but also foreign. In Quebec, of course, everything is in French. But the layout and the stuff inside seem normal to this American. One thing I knew ahead of time was that they don’t accept Visa, only Mastercard. Which I don’t possess. But you can digitally buy a Costco shop card with your visa; it’s delivered to you via email and then you use it as a digital gift card. So, I bought one prior to leaving for the store.
I should know by experience in the States that no matter what day of the week or time of day, it’s going to be a zoo. But it was a Monday early afternoon. How busy could it be???? Oh, I’m so naive.
The parking lot was nearly completely full. I parked in the last row nearest the street and hoofed it in.
Looks fairly similar to U.S., right?Until you try to read the signs and realize some you can figure out…like fruits et legumes. And some you have no idea, like volalle
Something that threw me off slightly was they have a self checkout. There was an English option, so it went ok. Until I got to the lady checking receipts who spouted a torrent of French to me. When I said I didn’t speak French you could see the cogs turning in her head as everything shifted, and in perfect English she informed me that today was a great day to buy gas as it’s only $158/L today (which is a good price for gas–mostly it’s been $178/L). However, I already knew they didn’t carry diesel (which ironically has consistently been less expensive than gas here).
So, I had a productive day. And the ziplining apparently was closed on Mondays, so that crew came back and the guys all worked on getting John and Sherry’s trailer wheels remounted (or something).
The next morning it was time to leave for our next destination, near Grand Metis. Much of the route followed the St. Lawrence river. As we exited the Quebec City KOA, I had to get a picture of a tent that had set up the day before. Quite the elaborate tent site!
Tent linked to tent linked to tent? With pic of their 2 dogs on the very front.
It was overcast; this was what a lot of my drive looked like to my left.
Not a bad way to spend a drive. We did leave the divided, 4 lane highway fairly quickly north of Quebec City. Jerry radioed me that it was likely the last we’d see a divided highway and so far he’s not wrong. We also went past the town of Rimouski, QC which I’ve long been passingly familiar with due to someone who once lived here. Bonus points to anyone who knows who I’m talking about, and here’s a bit of a hint:
We drove 220 miles to get to our campground, Camping Annies. The sites were had mature trees but good space between them. Everything was back in, and I had lots of help getting myself into my spot. We were due to spend 2 days there. The campground is technically in Metis su Mer. Off route 132, which runs along the coast line of the St. Lawrence south bank all around the Gaspe peninsula. It’s a route we’d become very familiar with since we were going all the way around!
Up until this point I’d not really tried out my Starlink; it wasn’t until the last day in Quebec City that I opened the box and tried to set it up. I could not get it to work at all; frustrated I spent part of the evening on the phone with Home Depot, who really couldn’t help. I concluded it was a dud and was trying to figure out how to send it back. We’d been told the WiFi at Quebec City was the best we’d be able to expect the entire trip and let me tell you that was not encouraging. So, I was a bit desperate when I got to Camping Annies, which did have a decent view of the northern sky. I decided to give the Starlink another shot and actually was able to figure out the issue. After it was addressed, set up was relatively straightforward and I was very, very pleased with the speed of the connection. It’s truly the difference between being able to share my photos with you and not.
So, prepare yourselves. For we spent the morning the next day at the Redford Gardens, and I took a few (cough hundred cough) pics of the beautiful grounds.
Elsie Redford was born in 1872 in Ontario. Her parents had modest roots but her father worked his way up in his work and there was a marked emphasis on education for their 3 children, which meant that Elsie was sent to finishing schools in Dresden and Paris after completing school in Montreal. She returned to Canada ready to take her place in society; in 1894 she married Robert Redford, the son of a shipping magnate, and Elsie threw herself into various philanthropic endeavors. She was an avid horsewoman, and loved spending time hunting, fishing, and just being outdoors. She taught her 2 sons much of the same and the family often spent their summers at a fishing lodge belonging to her uncle near Grand Metis. When he died, the lodge passed to her.
When she was 53 she had surgery for appendicitis. Her doctor didn’t want her fishing, fearing the strain on her recent surgical site; he suggested gardening instead. As with all her endeavors, she went into it whole-heartedly. The lodge wasn’t an ideal place to garden; it was located for it’s fishing possibilities, not growing flowers. However, Elsie was persistent and traded salmon for better soil and composting materials. By the end of her life she was writing articles for the journals of the Royal Horticultural Society and the North American Lily Society.
The gardens were opened to the public in 1962; Elsie died in 1967. However, her incredible work to transform a spruce forest in Quebec to a beautiful garden remains her gift to this day.
Images at the entrance of the variety which can be found on the grounds. I always have to have a picture of Wendy taking a picture. She was trying to capture a beautiful butterfly.And here’s Jerry walking back to try and find Wendy….I like semi-macro photography, especially of flowers.There’s a beautiful little stream running through the property. Since it’s mid June not everything had bloomed yet. It’s fairly far north. Chris trying to figure out where to go next. Rhododendrons!Johnny checking his camera settings. Rae crouching amongst the flowers.Here’s a little bee looking for pollen. There are lilacs everywhere in QuebecThere was some interesting art as well.One of the few peonies that had bloomed. Most had huge buds but no flowers. Johnny and Caroline enjoying the day.This truck still runs.The lodgeThe Long Walk pathView from the back of the lodge towards the St. LawrenceThe inside of the lodge had an exhibit on clothing styles of Elsie’s time. Rae waving to me from the second floor of the lodgeAs close to the water as we could get. The Long Walk without people…More interesting art.Bonsai!There was also a pond area and plantings around it dedicated to supporting bird life. This little guy was eating up fallen bird seed.
As we tromped around the gardens, many decided we’d like to eat dinner together at a seafood restaurant near the campground called Le Matelot. However, they said they couldn’t accommodate our party for dinner (we asked for 14 seats). So, people made reservations for smaller groups for lunch, after the garden tour. There were plenty of seats available, but I think there was some struggle for them to understand our non-French conversation. I ended up going with Charlie, Rae, Richard and Dana.
Our view. Not bad. Randy, Mary, and Chris were right next to us. I had butterfly shrimp and mandarin shrimp (crevette in French). Outside the restaurant they had a chair shaped into a lobster (homard in French).
After our late lunch, I went to Mont Joli for fuel. We were due to travel the next day from Camping Annies to Gaspe. While we had a beautiful day in Metis sur Mer, the next morning would alter things dramatically…
Quebec City KOA, our next destination, was 240 km give or take from our campground. I remember thinking there was far more traffic than I would have expected between the two. While there is a major road that we took, the A20, it was never light traffic. I had no issues, but unfortunately John and Sherry, from Tuscon (and friends from my Alaska trip) had a trailer wheel bearing go bad; they pulled over when they noticed some smoke! Harry and Linda, our tailgunners, stopped and helped John fix it enough he could get to the campground. Many of us had stopped some 40 miles ahead of them at a rest area; Jerry was preparing to drop his trailer and go back when we heard they were finally able to get moving again. But it reinforces to me why I go with groups of people. Someone is always around ready to help. Jerry has torqued all my lugnuts and my hitch bolts at least once already.
The KOA in Quebec City was much more to my liking; I could park my truck in front of the fifth wheel without too much maneuvering around. It was also near a large IGA store which I ran to the day we pulled in. It was a bit weird not knowing the brands they carry and not recognizing foods since all the descriptions were in French, but I did ok.
The next morning was our first of two full day bus tours. This time the bus left at 8 sharp and our guide was a lovely gentleman who introduced himself as “Roger the great”. He clearly has a great love for his city and was full of knowledge about what we were seeing. The only sour note is that the weather was not so cooperative; it was raining and that would be the theme for both days. Wind, wind, wind, rain, rain, rain. We just brought our rain coats and powered on.
After we crossed the bridge and drove along a lovely riverside road for some time we came to Lower Town. Picture a city built on a cliff. There is an Upper Town and a Lower Town. Imagine you are a settler trying to survive this harsh land; they build walls to surround it. Quebec City is the only fortified city with its walls and gates still remaining north of Mexico. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985.
We set out with Richard to walk the cobblestone streets in the rain. As it happened, there was some sort of marathon/running race happening at the same time, so we cheered on the runners as we kept encountering them on our explorations.
Old Quebec has kept much of it’s European heritage evidentThe wind would undulate these umbrellasI thought it was a really cute ideaThe Chateau Frontenac looms over Lower TownWe walked through this tunnel to another street. Randy had to duck. Came out into the Place Royale; the runners were going down the far street.Notre Dame des VictoiresLouis XIV
Roger asked us who the biggest enemy of the people of Quebec City was. I thought maybe Montreal, if there was some sort of rivalry between the cities, or perhaps it might be the English speaking parts of Canada as Quebec is very aggressive about preserving the French language and culture (as no English on the signs….). But the real answer: winter. It’s very cold, very snowy. And the houses have to be built to withstand the cold and hold up under the snow. North facing walls won’t have windows, for example. So they paint murals on them. Here’s a great example:
We wandered a few blocks through Lower Town then reloaded on the bus. Our driver, Yves, took us to Upper Town, though it was challenging with road closures due to the race. One thing Roger pointed out was the roofs of buildings. Remember, winter is their greatest enemy. Shingled roofs don’t last very long. So, many will have tin roofs that they have to paint to keep from rusting. However, Quebec is one of the largest producers of copper in the world. So a great solution to the roof issue is to use copper. There were tons of buildings with the green patina roofs that marked a copper roof that’s been in place for years. And some with the brown copper of a relatively new roof. I liked the tin ones too as they were often quite colorful.
This tin roof needs repaintingParliament (Quebec City is the capital of the province)
We also drove around the Plains of Abraham, which is part of the Battlefields Parks in QC. It’s named after the man who owned the land originally. During the French and Indian War, the French of course were in control of Quebec City. On the night of September 13, 1759, 4,400 British troops under the command of General James Wolfe climbed the cliffs during the night, undetected, and surprised the French army, who thought the cliffs were impassable. It was over in 15 minutes, though Wolfe was killed (as well as the French commander, the Marquis de Montcalm). Today the Plains are a city park with historical markers and wide open green spaces. We did not get off the bus save for one site, a statue dedicated to Joan of Arc.
Whimsical topiary seen from the bus ride
At lunchtime, we were driven up the Chateau Frontenac. This is a hotel, one of the grand hotels built by the Canadian Pacific Railway to encourage tourism (and use of the railways) in 1892. During World War II, this is where allies such as Churchill, Roosevelt, and Mackenzie King (Canadian PM) met to discuss strategies during the first and second Quebec conferences. Our lunch there was delicious and we had a great view of the rain over the St. Lawrence. Afterwards I wandered outside though the winds were gusting into the 30 mph range. It was challenging just to hold my camera still.
Statue of Champlain, the founder of Quebec CityStart of Dufferin Terrace, which is in front of the Frontenac and overlooks the river/Lower TownView of the river and Lower town. Notice some copper and tin roofsBuildings at far end of TerraceThe Chateau and a few of the myriad canons on display.Louis St. Laurent building, which has always been part of the Postal ServiceThere were several people dressed in costume, though I’m not totally sure whyOne of my favorite shots because you can see the umbrella installation that we also saw from the ground
Stethoscope!syringeshospital bedvarious instrumentsDining room where nuns would listen to stories about saints and Biblical readingsAll the pieces of the habit they woreThey would go up and down these steep stairs!Apothecary room. They had to grow all their medicinal herbs/plantsDetails of some of the containers
It was a long day, but we learned a lot about Quebec City. It’s a very beautiful place and well worth a visit if you are thinking about unique places to go see.
This was an action-packed day. And it set the tone for the next few days as well. We were on the bus at 8:30 and off we went. We had an awesome driver, Christian, who is originally from Argentina. I started speaking Spanish to him, and he really enjoyed talking to me through the day. He’s lived in Montreal for 20 years and speaks Spanish, French, English, Portuguese, Mandarin, Italian and I think at least one more language. I was in awe.
We also had a great guide, Christina. She was very knowledgeable about the city and was able to convey a ton of information in a very enjoyable format. I wish I had guides like her everywhere I go…
We started the day at the Cathedral of Marie Reine du Monde (Mary, queen of the world). It is a replica of St. Peter’s Basilica but on a smaller scale. It was very impressive, but I had no idea at the time that it would pale in comparison to later sites.
Outside the Cathedral. After we came back out we were given bagels; Christina claims Montreal bagels are known to be the best in the world. It was good. Entering the sactuary. Wow.There are lots of niches on the sidesDetail of the right side near altarDome. I mean, just amazing. The altar was breathtaking
The cathedral is located in a downtown area. Lot’s of skyscrapers. And the world-famous Fairmount Queen Elizabeth hotel is right next door.
Oh, the indignity!
After reloading on the bus, we were taken to the World Trade Center of Montreal. This has an entrance to the underground city, which obviously allows people to shop in the winter without having to deal with snow and ice. There are offices all throughout the Center, and it has a ton of glass allowing sunlight in to help battle the winter blues. There were also some interesting artifacts.
All the windows of the floors are offices. No housing here. Piece of the Berlin Wall. This was the side facing the West, which you know because people could approach it and leave graffiti. The Eastern Side of the same piece of wall. Couldn’t approach here without being shot. Reflecting pool in the World Trade CenterCloser viewInteresting chandelier
Exiting the World Trade Center, we walked a few blocks to the highlight of the day, at least for me. The Notre Dame Basilica of Montreal.
I believe since it’s dedicated to the Virgine Mary (Notre Dame means Our Lady) that the colors are then blues. Could be wrong about that though.
Detail of the balconies/ceilingAbove the altar
There are 2 balconies and the total seating is 3500. This is where Celine Dion got married. The organ has 7,000 pipes!!!
This is the pulpit, halfway down the sanctuary. It was located here as when it was built there was no microphones and the priest had to be in the middle to be heard. This pulpit was carved from a single mahogany tree trunk!! The 2 figures at the bottom are carved from yellow pine.
The stained glass windows, like the one seen above, are unique to this basilica in that instead of depicting biblical scenes they instead show important moments in the early days of the church in Montreal. The city was founded to bring Christianity to the indigenous peoples.
Most people don’t want to get married in a massive sanctuary that holds 3500 people, so there’s a smaller chapel behind the altar which is shown above. This is where the vast majority of weddings and other events are held.
Once you exit the Basilica there is a sqare across from it that has a statue of the man who helped found Montreal. His name was Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve.
Montreal is on the banks of the St. Lawrence River, but there is a “mountain” in the middle of the city, Mount Royal (and if you pronounce it the French way you see where the name Montreal came from). Soon after Maisonneuve arrived with settlers from Quebec City, there was a flood. He prayed to the Virgin Mary to spare them and promised to carry a cross to the top of the mountain if they survived. They did, as so the cross on Mount Royal stands to this day. No building can be built taller than the top of the cross by law here. You can see the cross from downtown through a new art installation which is basically a giant metal circle (that Christina says cost $5million).
Can you see the cross on top of the mountain in the distance?
After we got back on the bus we were taken to Old Montreal, an area of shops and restaurants. It was quite charming. We spent some time browsing around and I bought a magnet to add to my collection.
Race week was evidentPoutine is all the rage
Back on the bus to drive up to Mount Royal for a picnic lunch, we passed a building with a giant mural of Leonard Cohen, who among other songs wrote “Hallelujah”. He was a son of Montreal.
I enjoyed lunch: turkey on some French style hard crust bread with a tort for desert with fresh berries piled on it. We were at a little pond in the park.
Then we went further up the mountain and hiked up to a lookout point that shows the city below. Unfortunately, a storm was moving in and we got a little wet.
You can even see Cohen building up here!Flag of Quebec is on left, the blue with fleur de lis. Flag of Montreal on right features 4 images of groups of people who founded city in the quadrants: the French fleur de lis, the English Rose, Scottish thistle and Irish shamrock. The middle white pine tree represents the indigenous peoples.
Our final destination of the day was a place called the Atwater market. It’s a shopping venue with indoor and outdoor spaces; outside currently there are a ton of flower and vegetable plants available to buy, but Christina told us by July 1st they’d all be gone. She said Christmas season is quite magical to wander this area as well. And in the fall the flower vendors are replaced by thousands of pumpkins!
It was still raining a bit but it didn’t stop usOne of the myriad flower vendorsLots of little shopsFresh fruit and veggies sold under canopiesEverything looked deliciousBread available at a bakery inside
I wandered outside the market for a bit; there’s a canal that runs near it which is apparently used for transportation and recreation by the locals. I loved the swan boats and the boat covered with flowers.
Finally, we headed back to the campground tired but having had a wonderful day. The next day was a travel day, from Montreal to Quebec City. Before I hitched up, I made sure to update my travel map. I think, if I counted correctly, I’ve camped in 28 states and 4 Canadian Provinces. Still more to come!
Travel with Me! 