4 September, 2017, Blog Post No. 13



4 September, 2017,  Blog Post No. 13
31 August – Percé to Bel Air camping at Sainte-Madeleine-de la Riviere Madeleine.  We stayed at a private camp at Percé which was almost empty, but with a magnificent sea view. The day started out in beautiful crisp sunshine and ended in a miserable cold downpour as we were setting up camp.  The weather is definitely moving into fall mode.  When it rains you would swear it could snow, but despite this, no massive changing of leaves to Fall colors.  Only odd trees and branches here and there have changed.  The camp at Percé was notable for supplying magazines in the men’s loo, definitely a step up in sophistication by the Quebecois.  Strong winds in the night shook the van. This day marks the beginning of our return journey.  As we rounded the Cap de Rosiers in the Forillon National Park, we finally stopped moving East and turned to the West.  Magnificent national park, wonderful beach vistas and cliff views. Pretty little towns, charming and colorful cottages, hole in the wall fishing ports.  Until the rain set in!!  We checked into our camp when the wind and rain became too unpleasant and went looking for a meal..  One restaurant in town turned us away at 1630 hours, because dinner didn’t start until 17:00 hours.  We found another more humble place and had a very good fish dinner (what else??), K with a seafood chowder, P with very fresh haddock.
1 September  Sainte-Madeleine to La Lucole St Lucia  A great start to the day, all of the night’s rain had vanished, and we started out in high spirits.  While most of route 132 which leads around the coast of Gaspe allows magnificent sea and cliff vistas,  once we discovered the Route des Navigateurs which took us thru every little hamlet and village it was an even better drive.  At 30kph it’s a slow route, but well worth it for the scenery and wonderful discoveries like a creperie where we had lunch ( chevre, honey and walnut crepe!). The server there recommended St Lucia as an ideal seaside camping stop so there we headed.  Found our quiet little campground as the weather began to deteriorate.  Heavy rain all night again.
2 September -  St Lucia to Camping Municipale de la Pointe at Riviere du Loup.  Stuck to the Route des Navigateurs to see all the. little villages and hamlets.  Found the perfect café for coffee and croissants in Trois Pistoles which was originally a centre of Basque settlers.  Visited the magnificent church (see pix).  Called at the Fromagerie des Basques, a local deli offering mostly cheeses which was jammed with weekend shoppers.  There we experienced Disneyland type crowds, complete with a parking lot which easily accommodated the camper van, crossing guards on duty.  We stocked up on cheese, bread . and paté for possible lean times ahead.  Happened upon a campsite at the Pointe in Riviere du Loup which had a great view out over the St Lawrence so made an early stop to bask in the sunshine and do some laundry.
3 September  Riviere-du-loup to Labotiniêr.  The day started off very bright, but by three the rain had set in again.  Passed through some lovely villages, Kamouraska and Notre Dame du Portage were particularly stunning. This region is reputed to have some of the prettiest villages in Quebec all with great views of boat traffic on the St Lawrence.  Had no difficulty finding great coffee/patisseries.  New discovery – Nanaimo bars made with raspberries!  Great scenery until the weather closed in.  Saw no sign of RV camping until we reached Labotiniêre,  Were very pleased to pull into a very basic little campsite ($10/night) next to the river.  It was very muddy and it rained all the time we were there.  However the river stayed within its banks.  We made an early getaway, with Ottawa in sight
4 September – La Botiniêre to Ottawa  Straight run to Ottawa, mostly on highway 132 and Highway 50 once we moved north of the river which afforded some very nice views of the St Lawrence seaway and all of the picturesque farming communities on the way.  Tempted off the highway 50  by a fromagerie at Montebello which is full of historic houses and hotels.   Rain set in in the late afternoon, culminating in a hailstorm and rain and thunder as we settled into our camp on the outskirts of Ottawa. 
A la prochaine
P & K
Hole in the wall, Perce, the Gaspe

Geology lesson, the Gaspe

More geology in beautiful Gaspe

Fine beaches, the Gaspe

Beautiful vista, the Gaspe

The Gaspe

We were the only customers, so we got plenty of attention

The largest vertical wind turbine in the world, the Gaspe

Horse and dogs, Trois Pistoles

A most beautiful church in Trois Pistoles, the Gaspe, all in painted wood to look like stone

Well earned relaxation for the weary travelers, Riviere du Loup

Magnificent Gaspe sunset

Comments

  1. I am way behind in the reading department but am enjoying your travels, travails and pictures.
    Are you sure the magazines were for reading not the "old style" TP?

    ReplyDelete

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