Gaspésie #4 – Reford Gardens and home

Merry and I love visiting gardens. Our long-standing desire to visit the historic Reford Gardens was part of the reason we decided to vacation in Gaspésie this year. We learned of this garden some years ago on our first visit to Frank Cabot's amazing garden, Les Quatre Vents, on the north shore of the St. Lawrence. You can get an idea of just how wonderful Cabot's private garden is at: http://www.northerngardening.com/public_gardens/les_quatre_vents.htm Les Quatre Vents is far and away the most beautiful and most interesting garden I have ever visited. When we found there was also an important garden on the south shore, we wanted to visit, but since it is much further down the river we had to save it for a separate trip. It took us almost ten years to return.

Day 7 - To Métis-sur-Mer

After hiking in the morning and a nice seafood (what else?) lunch we finally headed west on Route 132. I had settled on Métis-sur-Mer as a promising destination. In the nineteenth century this village was a favorite vacation spot for Scottish families from Montreal. The village is still composed of mostly English-style cottages with high privacy hedges. The village spreads along a large bay on the River with a picturesque lighthouse at the western end. We looked at an inn in the village center, but decided instead to stay in a very private small cottage right on the river at Auberge Métis-sur-mer www.aubergemetissurmer.qc.ca/bienvenue_en.htm. From our porch we could see some small rocky islands and the lighthouse. Seals occupied the rocks further out. We were the only diners at the superb restaurant maintained by the Auberge: poached salmon with baby shrimp. The meal was perhaps the best we've had on this trip of very good fish dinners. We fell blissfully asleep despite the bright green light that flashed across the bedroom, three flashes in an row, six times a minute, warning sailors along this rocky coast.

Day 8 - Reford Gardens at Grand Métis

After a nice breakfast at the Auberge, we drove about 5 minutes west to Reford Gardens http://www.jardinsdemetis.com/english/. A giant Adirondack-style chair marks the entrance. This is largely a woodland garden built along the banks of a stream. Because of the compressed late spring this far north almost every conceivable spring flower was in full bloom when we visited. There is an impressive azalea garden. I was also impressed by the gentian garden as well as a nice collection of primulas in full bloom. Of course, we saw the famous Himalayan blue poppy that is the garden's trademark. At the heart of the garden, on a lawn with a belvedere overlooking the River, is the summer home of Elsie Reford, the original designer of the gardens. An extensive exhibit in the house shows how 19^th century robber baron wealth was used to transform this place into a pleasure ground for wealthy Anglophones from Montreal.

The garden is now a non-profit directed by Elsie Reford's grandson, Alexander. In recent years the garden has hosted an international garden design festival that, unfortunately, was not yet open when we visited. One piece from an earlier festival was set up on the main lawn. It consists of a dense group of blue stakes of various heights painted different shades of blue and orange on each side and set up to walk through. The effect is hypnotic and fun. I had to laugh as I heard some folks from a bus tour walk up and remark, “It's just sticks.” One serious fellow heard me laughing and noted, “some people are easily amused.” We wandered through a collection of other more traditional contemporary sculpture. We both agreed sculptures made of rounded boulders tightly contained in rusted steel by Jean Brillant were especially wonderful. Finally, we relaxed with some nice salads in the garden gazebo (green beans and onion for me, smoked mackerel and potato for Mer).

We both liked this garden. It has charm, is nicely laid out and very well maintained, yet we agreed that it does not qualify as one of the great gardens of the world. It aspires to this greatness, and may someday achieve it. It was a very pleasant way to spend part of our day.

Back at the Auberge I indulged myself with an hour massage by Lise, then a light supper of fresh baked bread, salad and a savory mushroom soup. We watched the tide come in one last time.

Day 9/10 – Home again

We reluctantly leave the Auberge after breakfast. We need to make miles today. We hope to get at least to Montreal by nightfall. We stop briefly near the village of St. Denis to look at the long dike built to recover marshy fields. On to the small town of La Pocatiere where we have a very nice lunch at Cafe Azimut. Merry visited her sister, Nora, in small this town with a major agricultural college back in 1971 while Nora was attending French language Peace Corps training before being posted to Africa. We get back on the highway and after some hairy driving in a thunderstorm we pull into the Comfort Inn at Boucherville, a suburb of Montreal, about 4:30. We're up early the next day and make it to the bridge at Ogdensburg before lunch. Because of our long trip through Quebec we expect problems at customs, but this doesn't happen. When I say we are bringing back some smoked salmon, the customs agent helpfully does the math to show we have well less than the 50 pounds allowed. We pass the time traveling south on I-81 trying to imagine a utopian novel that would include all our progressive values. Home at last, we meet our dog sitter, Mary, as she is just finishing her last visit. Joli is happy to see us. Ah!

Gaspésie #3 – the National Parks

One of the primary goals of this trip was to visit the three amazing Canadian National Parks located on or near the peninsula: Ile Bonaveture, Forillon and Gaspésie.

Day 4 – Parc National de L'Ile-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Percé

We wake up briefly at 3:15 am to see the first light of dawn on the Rocher Percé. At 6:00 we wake again to watch lobstermen pulling pots right in front of our room. We have coffee, croissants and home-made strawberry jam at our motel, then walk to the town wharf to board a boat. First, we circle the Rock then head out and around Ile Bonaventure, a wedge shaped island just a couple of miles off shore. I briefly spot two minke whales in the distance. As we approach the cliffs on the ocean side of Ile Bonaventure we see grey seals hauled up on the rocks exposed at low tide. The air is filled with large numbers of pelagic birds: common murre, razorbill, and black-legged kitiwake but mostly thousands of northern gannet. The high red cliffs on the ocean side of the island are literally covered with nesting gannets for about a mile. These beautiful large white sea birds with black wingtips are graceful in the air. In the latest bird census it was estimated that there are more than 60,000 breeding pairs of gannets here, plus scores of unmated juveniles. We land at the restored historic fishing village on the bay side of the island. After a ranger orientation we get lunch at the snack bar built in the 19^th century fish station. Barrels of salt cod used to be stored here waiting for shipment to Europe. After touring the restored offices of the cod company, we hike across the island to the cliff-top gannet colony. The trail exits the woods right in the middle of the colony. The sound of thousands of big sea birds is incredible. We can stand within 5-10 feet of the birds. They don't appear to notice our presence. Standing on the observation deck right in the middle of thousands of nesting gannets is an experience I'll never forget. We hurry back to the dock, but miss the boat. I relax in the sun while Merry explores the old fishing village. A modest seafood dinner back in Percé at Surcouf ends a perfect day. I strongly recommend everyone take a look at Merry's fabulous photographs from this day found at http://merryatsyracuse.blogspot.com

Day 5 – Forillon National Park of Canada

The day dawns clear, but quickly clouds up. By 7:00 the wind comes up and small, hard rain storms blow through. By 8:00 the showers end but the wind increases to 30-40 mph. We head north up the coast, pass the small city of Gaspé and enter Forillon National Park. We reflect on just how far it is by road to Forillon from Percé. They look close together on a map, but the road circles two large bays making the trip at least an hour. Next time we plan to stay nearer the Park. Our original plan for today was to take a whale watch from Forillon out into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. When we reach the nearly deserted boat dock at 9:30 we discover the tours are canceled due to rough seas. By this time the skies have cleared but the wind continues to pick up. We drive out to where the road ends on Cap Gaspé then tour the restored Anse-Blanchette homestead. Three interpreters in the colorful seaside fisherman's house dressed in costume from the 1920s are eager to help us sink into the atmosphere. The small barn against the cliff has some chickens, three cow milking stalls and old farm equipment. Another outbuilding houses and explains a cod salting operation, even offering a sample. Down in the rocky cove it is easy to imagine setting off in a small boat into the crashing waves for cod fishing.

A little ways on at a cove called Petit-Gaspé we stop to watch seals playing in the surf only a few yards off the beach. Then we drive through the forest to the north shore visitor center to take in the natural history exhibits there. Finally we drive to Cap-Bon-Ami, an overlook from which we can see the cliffs at the end of Cap Gaspé. There are small seabird colonies in the cliffs here, mostly black-legged kitiwake with a few cormorants, some razorbills, black guillemots and harlequin ducks. Gusts of wind literally strong enough to knock me off my feet cause little trouble for the birds. We hike a ways down the beach then back to the shelter of the car. The wind truncates our exploration of this spectacular park. Back in Percé I hit the grocery store to stock up on local smoked salmon and local beer to bring home. We have dinner at Table de Roland. Mer opts for Cod a la Gaspésie (broiled with onions and bacon). I have good poached salmon with tomato cream sauce. Tomorrow we head inland to explore the Chic-Chocs.

Days 6/7 – Parc National de la Gaspésie

After a last croissant at the Motel Fleur de Lys we check out and drive down the south coast for about 100 miles to New Richmond. We gas up, then stop at the local information center. The kind woman at info center tries to help us get a reservation at Gite du Mont-Albert, but no luck with either internet or phone. She does correct my pronunciation of “Gite.” These small holiday accommodations are everywhere in Quebec. To be understood you have to say “jit.” She also tells me that we should ask about “forfait” at the Gite. We drive inland right along the Cascapedia River, one of the premier salmon fishing streams in Canada. Several times we catch a glimpse of people using large green, wood and canvas canoes, with three or four occupants, for fly fishing. We see one such boat anchored in a small rapid with two men as paddlers, one guide in a suit, vest and fedora, and one fly fisherman. We reach the Gite about noon. This is no simple holiday cottage. It's a magnificent wilderness lodge. The only comparison I can think of are the historic lodges at the Grand Canyon and Zion. It's located right at the foot of 2^nd highest peak in the Chic-Chocs, Mont Albert. The highest peak, Mont Jacques-Cartier, is nearby. When booking our room I ask about forfait. It turns out forfait means “all inclusive.” For about $250 [compared with $125 for the room only] we got a large room overlooking the mountain, a four course gourmet dinner and a hugh breakfast buffet.

We spend the afternoon wandering around, taking in the mountain atmosphere and checking out the visitor's center. Dinner at the lodge is wonderful. After a good night's sleep we decide to take a short morning hike. We drive a dusty dirt road to the trailhead for Lac aux Américains, a crystalline lake in glacial cirque. This trail climbs quite steeply for about 1.8 km, but has been so well maintained that it's not really a hard hike. There are few other hikers. When we reach the top we find a pile of still unmelted snow right by the trail. The lake is surrounded by a crescent of jagged mountain ridges. We are quite close to Mont Jacques-Cartier but the trail there is closed to protect the small herd of woodland caribou that live on the plateau near its peak. We stop to view the chutes (waterfalls) de St. Anne then descend to the village of St. Anne des Monts. We pull up for lunch at Poissoniere de Quay, a combined fish market and resto. I finally get to try a homard club sandwich; just an ordinary club sandwich but with lobster instead of ham or turkey. Yum.

Gaspésie #2 – the North Coast Road

The first three days of our trip to Gaspésie took us the length of the south shore of the St. Lawrence River from the Thousand Islands, where the river empties out of Lake Ontario, to Percé at the eastern end of the Gaspé peninsula; a trip of just over 900 miles. Most of this journey was through rural eastern Quebec. We wish we had remembered our French phrase book. Bilingualism stops at the Quebec border. We were able to get by fine with simple English, a very little French, gestures, pointing and a smile. Our “bonjour” and “merci” got a thorough workout. There were no serious misunderstandings.

Because we traveled in mid-June, just at the start of the tourist season, there were some places not yet open, but this worked in our favor, since everyone who was open was anxious for business and offered off season rates. The weather was generally cool and dry, but a windbreaker came in handy.

Just a word to our birder friends: if you have not yet visited this part of the world, make your plans now.

Day 1 – To Quebec City
A long drive, north on I-81 to Alexandria Bay, then to Ogdensburg to cross into Canada. US Border Patrol is stopping cars as they leave the US, checking ID and asking where we are going. No idea why this is being done. East on Ontario 401 to Cornwall where we stopped for lunch and said goodby to the English language. At the Quebec border the highway is renumbered 20. We were frustrated by a giant traffic jam that stalled us in Montreal for about an hour. We finally made it through the tunnel under the St. Lawrence back to the south shore. Traffic thinned out and we made for Quebec City. The scenery here is generally unremarkable. We finally pull into a Comfort Inn in Lévis, QC directly across the river from downtown Quebec City having logged a little over 414 miles. We had a good Italian dinner along Boul. Pres. Kennedy at Pacini, a moderate priced Quebecois artisan pizza chain.


Day 2 – To St. Anne de Mont
The free breakfast at the motel is crowded so we sit with a man from Huntsville, ON. He's in QC to escape the upcoming G8 meeting in his hometown. He tells us that the enhanced security is making life a little too difficult for the natives. I mention the extra security at the border. A Quebecois biker at the next table pipes in that the US has been checking people as they leave for the past two months. When I ask him if he knows why, he shrugs and responds, “Who knows? They are your people.”


We hit the road. Today we will travel to the end of Route 20 Est. This is beautiful farm country laid out in “seigniorial” fashion with long thin fields stretching away from the river into the distant hills. We stop for lunch at Rimouski, the last really large town we will encounter for a week. The Point de Pere lighthouse is a perfect place for a break from driving and our picnic lunch. There is also a small museum here dedicated to the ship wreak of the Spirit of Ireland that lies just off shore. Also part of this marine park is a cold war relic, the decommissioned Canadian submarine Onondaga. We can't resist touring the sub since Onondaga is the name of the Indian Nation based in Syracuse and also of our county of residence. Claustrophobic. Then Merry climbs the lighthouse while I do some beach combing.


Back on Route 20 the further we travel the wilder it gets. At first small farms continue right down to the water until the very steep hills close in entirely and there is just no more room for farming. At the geographic start of the peninsula the big road stops and we meet two lane Rt. 132, the road that circles Gaspésie. By now the river is so wide we can't see the north shore. Some of the higher ridges have wind farms. We stop briefly at the base of the largest vertical wind mill in the world at Cap Chat. Finally we pull into St. Anne du Mont – total milage 732 (318 today) – and register at the wonderful Motel Beaurivage. The motel is right on the river at the mouth of a salmon stream for which the town is named. We didn't know it at the time but from here on all the villages will be situated in bays at the mouth of a stream, it's the only place with enough room. The motel sent us for dinner to another place they own, Motel a la Brunante, in the middle of town where we had the first of many wonderful seafood dinners. Afterwards we walked the rocky shore at low tide and watched it turn. At about 9:30 pm the sun set into the St. Lawrence in a blaze of orange.

Day 3 – To Percé
We woke at 5:25 am in brilliant sunlight. The sun has been up for a long time already and the tide completely in. We get breakfast at the motel and set off. As we travel along Rt. 132 through the region known as Haute Gaspé the winding road is squeezed between the bottom of high black slate cliffs and the sea, then cuts inland over a high rocky ridge, then back to the coast. The sea is filled with whitecaps driven by a stiff northwest breeze. Road signs show a skidding car with waves breaking over the highway. We stop to see what is left of the commercial fishing fleet at Riviere de Renard then turn east again toward Forillon National Park. 

By the time we stop for a picnic lunch at the Cap de Rosiers lighthouse the cliffs are red and while rock not black slate. From the lighthouse we spot our first three new birds in the surf: harlequin duck, black guillemot and common eider duck (saw a raft of over 500 of these guys). From the lighthouse we can also see dramatic, wild Cap Gaspé. We stop briefly at the information center for literature on Forillon Park because we intend to come back in a few days. Finally we drive fifty or so more winding miles, around more large bays, up and over to Percé and its famous rock. At mile 919 (187 today) we pull into Motel Fleur de Lys, our home for the next three days. Our room #2 is just off the beach with a stunning side-on view of the Rocher Percé. After getting settled we walk ½ mile along the seafront to La Maision du Pecheur, a fabulous seafood restaurant with seats by the window facing the wharf and the Rock. After a terrific meal of local lobster and salmon we stumble back to the room and collapse – too much beauty.

Off to Gaspesie

Upstate Outpost has been on a two week hiatus as we prepare for a ten-day road trip in Canada. We leave today (June 11, 2010) to drive all the way down the south shore of the St. Lawrence River from Lake Ontario to it's outlet in the Bay of St. Lawrence.


Our destination is the little town of Percé at the very eastern tip of the Gaspé peninsula.


The Gaspésie (official name) or the Gaspé is the eastern most part of the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River. The river is many miles wide in this section. Beyond Quebec City the river increasingly becomes a mixture of fresh and salt water that supports a wide variety of sea life including several varieties of whales. The peninsula extends into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and is separated from New Brunswick on the south by the Baie des Chaleurs and the Restigouche River.


Gaspésie is at the very northern end of the ancient Appalachian Mountains at the point they finally plunge into the ocean. The interior is filled with fairly high mountains that I imagine as something like a more northern brother to the Adirondacks. In Gaspésie the range is called the Chic-Choc Mountains. The highest mountain in the rugged interior is Mont Jacques-Cartier at 4160 ft (1268-m) but there are several others near this height. The mountains support a unique mix of mega-fauna including moose, white-tail deer and caribou, all sharing the same ecosystem. The interior is heavily forested and crisscrossed by deep river valleys so as a result almost everyone lives in small villages on the coast.


Our destination is the easternmost point of the peninsula called Cap Gaspé. The name "Gaspé" may come from a Mi'kmaq word gespeg meaning "land's end". According to the Commission de toponymie de Quebec, Gaspé may also be a mutation of the Basque word "Gerizpe" which means "shelter". Our general plan is to quickly travel on four-lanes highways to just past Quebec City, then meander along the south shore of the big river on Route 132. At Sainte-Flavie, the entry point for Gaspésie, this route splits to circle the peninsula, with one branch following the coast and the other cutting south across the peninsula. The two branches meet at the town of Percé where we plan to stay for three days.


There are a few things I hope to see and do on this trip. I want to visit Isle Bonaventure in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and see the colonies of pelagic sea birds that come there to nest. Of course, I also want to see the Rocher Percé in person and check out the seal and whale watching. We hope to rent a sea kayak and paddle along a stretch of the wild coast. I hope we can swing inland into the Chic-Chocs to get a taste of the mountains. On the way back we plan to stop at the Reford Gardens to see their famous blue poppies www.jardinsdemetis.com/english.


Along the way we will explore the culture, the natural world and the food, especially the seafood.


The incredible fishing off the Grand Banks is what originally drew Europeans to this part of the world. When Jacques Cartier first came ashore in Gaspésie in 1534 to make an official claim on the new world for France he was very surprised to find the natives were able to converse with him in a pidgin form of the Basque language. This is believed to have been the result of many earlier visits by Basque fishermen who started to visit the Grand Banks beginning sometime in the late 1400s. The native population was never very large due to the rugged coast, mountainous and heavily forested interior combined with severe winter weather. Over the next four hundred years different waves of European immigrants settled here. The original permanent French settlers first arrived about 1650. They were joined a hundred years later by a different cultural group of ‘Acadian’ French settlers evicted from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick by the British in 1755. Two waves of English speaking immigrants also arrived in the eighteenth century. The first wave was made up of British Channel Island fishermen who began to move in after the British defeated the French for control of Canada in 1759. The second wave was British ‘Loyalists’ fleeing north from New England after England lost her American colonies in 1783. A wave of celtic people arrived from Ireland and Scotland during the potato famine of the 1840s. Native people, francophones and english speakers have lived together in Gaspésie literally for centuries.


So, we're off to see for ourselves. I'll keep you posted.