July 18 After stopping overnight at the Walmart in Matane, we are now on the Gaspe Peninsula, another “don’t miss” item on our list. We are headed for what would be one of the highlights of the trip, although we don’t yet know it, Perce.
From the journal: “Knowing we had a destination to go to, Marcel was up early. We were on the road by 6:20 am eating our peanut butter sandwiches on the go. We stopped somewhere to get a few groceries, as we are hoping to stay for a couple of nights. As we drove through Matane, we discovered it was a beautiful spot. They had a walkway on the river that runs through the town. Very picturesque. A beautiful morning. Sun is shining and no wind.
This part of the trip has got to be the most scenic so far. Even though the highest we ever got was 300m, it was full of rolling hills (mountains as the locals call them), and along the coast. The beaches were different at every turn. Every time there was a bay, there was a town and a church. Huge churches in Quebec. How does a church sustain and maintain itself with a small congregation that it has? Some of these towns are only 600 people. Must be very generous in their donations. At some places there were warnings that waves could wash you into the ditch. Although when we went through the sea was not close to the road. Houses dotted the seashore and were very colourful, although small in comparison to houses that dot the ocean on the west coast.”
