After my discovery of New Brunswick at the end of June 2018 with my blogger friends, someone whispered in my ear:if you liked it, you will love Gaspésie . Not deaf to the e-za, the sentence came back to me immediately when one evening in November, at the cinema alone, the Man and I discovered the Air Transat ad about Canada. The vacation plan for the following summer was still very vague, but we had rather left for the American West. Neither one nor two, in a few minutes, it was decided:this would be Canada , and more particularlyQuebec (including Gaspésie)
So I'm taking you on a trip to Quebec in two blog posts. We start with Quebec City and Gaspésie .
Vacation day 1:arrival in Québec with Air Transat. Recovery of a rental car and installation at the hotel (as downtown as possible) for 2 nights. Ours was bad, so I won't give it to you. Sleep very early because jet lag in the face.
Holidays day 2:visit of the city at dawn (report to jet lag). I recommend private tours“ Tours See Quebec » in order to learn more and have a good base of history to start your tour across Canada.
TO SEE in Quebec:
The Citadel which also allows you to have one of the most beautiful views of the city and the St Laurent. It is still active but you can visit it (exciting and varied guided tours) and watch the changing of the guard.
Downtown, Old Quebec , is to be discovered on foot simply for a superb first immersion in Quebec. Don't forget to buy popcorn at Mary's, attend street performances, walk along the St Laurent under the incredible Château Frontenac (don't hesitate to go inside, there is a small museum section accessible even to non-hotel guests).
The Petit Champlain district, super cute, very touristy of course, but unmissable.
Parliament and the Plains of Abraham Park
Vacation day 3:In the morning, head for the Montmorency Falls , barely 30 minutes from the city, then return and cross Quebec City to reach Lévis on the other side of the St Laurent (without going through the bridge). I strongly encourage you to do so for the crossing (duration of 15 minutes with departures every 30 minutes), if only for the sublime view of the ferry over Old Quebec.
Lunch on the go and hop, road to Rimouski , the next stop for 2 nights!
Vacation day 4:Bic National Park ! First national park of a long list. It is small but obviously more than enough for a day. The weather was inclement that day but we were still able to take 2 nice walks in this park and see our 1st seals and squirrels :
Ile aux Amours – Les Anses, to Cap Caribou
Then we walked to the Fourche à Louison from the Rioux farm, passing through the HA HA bay (whose name did not fail to make children chuckle)
A short interlude on the operation of National Parks in Canada because honestly, I didn't know! So I must not be the only one (huh?) In short. National parks are not all free, very few are even. At the entrance to the park or at the entrances for older children, you will find an "orientation center" which allows you 1/ to pay for your access to the day 2/ to retrieve the maps and all the information you need to hiking or other activities offered. It's super well done. Interesting point also:you CANNOT get lost on hikes. Everything is perfectly signposted. The levels of difficulty and the durations are fairly well representative. The guides are there to help you choose the circuits adapted to your context, the time you have and the weather at the time. Finally, I recommend that you visit the websites of each park before the trip, as this will allow you to assess what there is to do and thus adapt the number of days you wish to spend there.
Vacation day 5:we leave Rimouski for another great day on Route 132, direction Bonaventure where we booked an EcoLodge for 2 nights (at Cîme Aventures). Well, I'll tell you right away, we weren't really thrilled, especially since the canoe trip we had booked there for day 6 was in fact an ultra "family" thing (too much for us who like activities a little muscular) and that we could not change. On the other hand, to note absolutely in your tablets:the La Pétrie bakery (you don't change a family of gourmets who win!)
Holidays day 7:magnificent short journey to reach the famous town of Percé . Very touristy but indeed, it is unavoidable. We stayed there for 3 nights.
On Percé, I recommend that you, if you can, do some scuba diving at the Nautical Club. We were super well supervised, knowing that the 14 year old was terrified, she was in fact taken by a top mono and she had the most beautiful dive of the 4 of us!
Obviously, a day must be devoted to visiting Bonaventure Island National Park , located just opposite Percé, the boat crossing (possible from 9 a.m., remember to book!!) lasts an hour because you first go around the rock, then around the island to discover the fauna and flora. :seals but especially gannets. The island is home to the second largest colony in the world! That's wonderful. Then we dock. The return is faster (about 15 minutes). On the island, several hiking trails are possible. We did the longest (barely about 9 km), very easy to access (no climb, perfectly marked path) and above all sublime landscapes. We make a nice stop at the colony of gannets, there are guides there to tell us about it.
In conclusion:not to be missed!
To do also the Géo Parc de Percé . No need to pay, you can climb without worry on foot… the view is absolutely crazy from Mont St Anne . For the more adventurous, you can descend by zipline (paid).
Let's talk food! Ba yeah! In Percé, you absolutely have to eat an ice cream at the Bar Laitier Aux glaces de l’Anse , there are also 2 excellent restaurants to pay for if you can (remember to book and there for once whatever the restaurant because everything is shielded from 6 p.m.):Le Comptoir Monsieur Emile and the House of the Sinner .
From Percé, you can get to Gaspé in 45 minutes. , which is the other essential stop, especially to be able to discover the Forillon National Park . We spent a morning there for a quiet little hike (4 km) to the … end of the world (just that) with the Cap Gaspé lighthouse. Departure under the clouds and then magic of Quebec, the sun arrived and the landscapes were then sublimated.
Looking back, I regret not spending more time there. One or two more nights on Gaspé would have been great to take full advantage of this huge park. The bad weather prevented us from making our canoe trip to see the seals but also note this possibility!
Vacation day 10:road to the next stage Saint Anne des Monts and more specifically the Gîte du Mont Albert (for 3 nights). This cottage is actually a hotel (also offering comfortable cabins by the river) located in the middle of the Gapesie National Park, WITHOUT ANY NETWORK (they are connected by satellite) next to the interpretation center. From there, you can go hiking, do water activities on the lakes and rivers, there is something for all levels and all tastes.
Here, we have chosen the most difficult:the famous Mont Albert hike with the return by the valley of the devil, in all more than 22 km, with a drop of mental illness of almost 1 km. We had a lot of it (especially since we did the whole climb for 2 hours in light rain and we arrived at the top without any visibility)… fortunately everything cleared up then and there, once again… WHAOU:tundra alpine and rocks of orange colors. This orange rock is serpentine, which is very rare in North America. It was very difficult indeed but as the teenager said "luckily it's beautiful!!! She summed it up perfectly! I REALLY had a hard time making a selection of my photos…
The hotel, it was recommended to me and I agree:it is to be done (and therefore to be booked VERY early)! Above all, if you really want to discover the Parc de la Gaspésie , this one is still a good 30-minute drive from the 1st city (Saint-Anne des Monts) so you might as well be there! On our side, we had two small "cottages" by the river, with a gas barbecue which made the Man super happy (well we too, we VERY wanted a good grill!!) but we also tested the "gourmet" diner of the hotel which is very famous. So, indeed, it is very good, however the service is typically Quebecois, we had a good laugh (but it's not bad huh, it's just funny to wait 15 minutes for a table when half the room is free AND that the server is embedded in your discussions, comments on your choice of dish and hands you your plate as in the canteen).
Finally, this time, the good local bakery is Marie 4 pockets !
Vacation day 13:we continue the pretty road to Matane , town of no particular interest (except that its church is for sale, there is an excellent micro-brewery where you can dine and once again a very good bakery to have a snack while the laundry is being washed at the nearby laundromat). We stayed one night to cross the St. Lawrence the next day (impeccable hotel and located 5 minutes by car from the pier). Again remember to book your crossing and reconfirm at least 24 hours before (we had a bad surprise but luckily we were able to be put back on another crossing). Either way, you arrive at Baie Comeau or further north at Godbout in about 2 hours.
Vacation day 14, here we are on the other side of the shore of the St Laurent, we said goodbye to Gaspésie. We begin a long day of driving (still absolutely magnificent) to reach Tadoussac !
More in a future post!
