One more Group of Seven sighting and one more animal sighting and then we will be ready for the LONG drive home. Yesterday we visited the lighthouse in Pointe-Au-Père built in 1909. That means it would have been around when the Empress of Ireland sank. It is 108 feet tall, the second tallest lighthouse in Eastern Canada. We climbed the narrow circular stairs to the top. Being inside a lighthouse with reflecting prisms and glass is a very different feeling than seeing one from the outside. Even though the day was slightly cloudy we could see an incredible distance away. Have you been inside a lighthouse?
As we drove away from Bic National Park this morning a fox followed beside our car. Ray stuck his cell phone out the window and got a pic. He yelled, "tell me…what did the Fox say?” The fox didn’t answer. However, if we are starting to talk to the animals perhaps it is a good time to head home.
You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. Heading west on Route 132 we had to stop at the Empress of Ireland museum. Ray’s grandparents and father were all pastors with the Salvation Army and are buried at the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto. So, for almost his entire life he has seen the monument to the 167 members of the Salvation Army that perished when the Empress of Ireland sank. Those 167 are only part of the story. The Quebec Maritime tragedy occurred only Two years after the Titanic disaster the (May 1914) on the St Lawrence River just outside of Rimouski, Quebec. A Norwegian ship ran into it in the fog and it went down in only fourteen minutes. The number of passengers lost (840) was greater than the Titanic. The ship lies deep down on the floor of the St. Lawrence—deeper than Ray is qualified to dive. Professional divers have recovered many artifacts. Others have collected the stories of those lost and those who survived. When we watch movies tragedy can be romanticized. In reality, a tragedy is a tragedy. I have included one of the stories from the museum for you. Had you heard of the Empress of Ireland before? You are Always in My Prayers. Love Mom.
Our last day in Forillon and all water activities are still closed down due to high winds, but at least the sun is out. This has given us a chance to do a few things we might not have time for otherwise. There is a hike to a look-out tower at Cap Bon Ami that provides you with 360 degree views of this entire area. And yes, that means when you finally make it to the end of the very steep hike you still have to climb the tower. The Fitbit says we climbed 150 flights of stairs total. It was great to see all the things we have checked out in the last few days from a birds eye view. In the evening we went searching for le castor with a naturalist. The walk was in French but he was kind enough to toss a few English words our way. However, when you come face-to-face with a beaver the awesomeness of that probably doesn’t need translated. About four days ago there was a radio programme on CBC talking about using beavers to reforest land. Well, that is exactly what they are doing here at Forillon. Since 2017 the beavers are taking over the area that was once the old Route 132 and the forest is starting to re-establish. We are heading down with our coffee to watch the seals swim by. Stay Safe. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. Rain continues to pour from the sky and storm surges still include 90km/h winds. Travel includes being able to roll with a change in plans. So, we hopped in the car and made a mini road trip to Percé Rock.
Fueled with pain au chocolat and cafe from the local boulangerie we braved our way to the top of the Percé rock lookout. Legend has it that the explorer Samuel Champlain named the rock in 1607 because it appeared “pierced”. Back then it had two arches, but now it only has one. Still, is easy to see why this massive rock is considered one of the natural wonders of the world. Do you know another thing rainy days are good for?—trying the local specialties. We found an eatery with a glassed in porch overlooking the rock. Its the Maritimes so Ray had to have the Guédille au Homard. I went for something just a little more Quebecois: Soupe de Poissons du Pêcheur avec Rouille, croûtons, et formage. This dish works a bit like IKEA furniture—you get all the pieces but you have to assemble it. You put the Rouille on the bread and float it in your soup. Then you sprinkle the cheese on top. The hot soup melts the cheese and you end up with all this delicious goodness. Your mission should you choose to accept it: Cheese and bread make almost any soup taste better. Toast a piece of bread until it is almost dried out. Heat up a can of soup—you choose the flavour. You probably don’t have rouille hanging around but float the bread on top of your bowl of soup and sprinkle it with grated cheese. I promise it will be yummy. Email me a picture & I’ll post it. Stay Safe. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. Yesterday evening we arrived at Farillon National Park. Often called “A Gem at Land’s End”, this is almost as Far East as we will travel. Our campsite faces the St. Lawrence. We take our coffee down to the beach and watch the seals swim by.
This morning we hiked to the Phare de Cap Gaspe. It is still a functioning lighthouse. At one time they fired a cannon to warn approaching ships. Now they have eight powerful electronic fog horns. Once you reach the light house you can descend another 385 metres to lands-end to see the rocks. It is easy to see why they would want to keep the ships off! When a hiker approaches you shouting “Il y a ours sur le sentier” it’s handy to know a little French. There was and we headed the other way, but not before I got my new friend to airdrop his pic. It’s six degrees, there is a storm surge, and 90 km/h winds this evening. Miss Boler is hanging in there. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. Back to Sainte-Anne-des-Monts to experience one of the coolest classrooms around. Exploramer might sound like an amusement park, but it is actually an education and research centre right on the St. Lawrence River. We suited up in our boots and waders and joined Matthieu, one of the resident biologist, to learn about the river and its tidal pools.
I’m sure I’ve walked by many of these tiny creatures before and haven’t understood the complex ways they adapt to tides. For example we looked at four types of snails: rough periwinkle, periwinkle, waved whelk, and the common moon snail (this one was in the research centre). Rough periwinkle can stay closest to shore because they can block off their shell opening and survive until the tide return. Periwinkle are a little bigger and can’t seal up as well so they have stay a little farther out so they don’t have to wait as long for the tide. Waved Welk have a little notch in their shell opening so they really can’t stay out of the water very long at all. Moonsnails are even bigger and have to stay under water and burrow deep under the sand. We were out there, in the rain, for almost two hours. Don’t worry—we had a snack—Matthieu introduced us to some yummy sea grasses. Also, did you know that there are sharks in the St. Lawrence River? Here’s a few: Greenland (lives up to 500 years), Great White (rare but there have been sightings), Blue shark (most common), Basking Shark (migrates through) & Spiny Dogfish (which is actually a type of shark). Of course we didn’t see any. But they had models in the discovery centre. Oh, and in the category of weird—Did you know lobsters can be blue and pee to communicate with each other? A huge thank you to Exploramer for this fascinating experience. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. At Sainte-Anne-des-Monts we turned right and headed inland to hike for a couple of days in the mountains. The Park warden at Gaspésie National Park suggested we get up at sunrise and hike MONT-ERNEST-LAFORCE. He promised that there would be few people and lots of moose. It’s just a small mountain, but if we could see some moose I was game. We headed off at 5:35 a.m. The views were stunning, but 116 flight of stairs on the Fitbit and still NO moose. We did hear something moving in the pines, but it was just a spruce grouse with attitude! By 8:30 we were back at our campsite listening to the river and enjoying breakfast, but still Moose-less. We hiked three trails and still no sightings of those sneaky critters. Moose or No-moose this Quebec National Park is a treasure. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. We are now officially on the Gaspesie Pennisula. As you follow Route 132 you discover many artist studios and galleries. Many are wood carvers and painters. However, as you pass through St. Flaive you can’t help but notice the unique sculptures created by Quebec artist Marcel Gagnon. Le Grand Rassemblement (The Great Gathering) has more than 100 stone figures poking out of the St. Lawrence. The tide was out when we arrived. We are going to try to catch them with the tide in on our way back. I bet they look quite different. Gagnon is also a poet. Here is a line from poem of the same name (Le Grand Rassemblement): “Et ils deviendront tous ensemble. Use grande rassemblent universal” Sometimes, even in English, I find poetry difficult. Give the translation a try—even if you have to Google Translate a few words it should make sense. In contrast the Reford Gardens are just a few km further down Route 132. Think Downton Abbey meets Gaspesie and you should be able to imagine this estate. Elsie Reford established the gardens between the first and Second World War. In the 1960s they were renamed Jardins de Métis after the nearby municipality. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon & the cafe had wifi 😄. Can you guess what the purple flower is? I suspect not many in the Listowel area have this in their gardens. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. Caution: word-by-word Google translate doesn’t always work—a hot dog is just a hot dog…not a chien chaud |
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Ray & Diane HomewoodSharing the Blessing of Travel in Quebec Canada Archives |