July 15: So Beautiful I Gaspe’d!
Sometimes beauty catches you at unexpected moments. Yesterday I wrote my blog while on the ferry from Saint Simeon to Riviere-du-Loup and posted it before disembarking, thinking there couldn’t be anything left to write about later in the evening that would top what I had seen earlier. Boy, was I surprised!
After getting off the ferry in Riviere-du-Loup I headed north on the Gaspe Peninsula along the coastline towards Saint Damase, the little town where my host for the night lives. I hadn’t planned on taking any pictures since the ferry had run late and I didn’t want to arrive at my host’s home any later than necessary.
As night fell and the sun started going down, I began to see an explosion of color on my left. The blue waters of the Saint Lawrence River and the brown mud flats in the forefront started to turn an amazing shade of purple. Above them the sky was pink and yellow with a burst of orange where the sun was. Closest to me there was still enough light to see the multi-hued green grass waving along the roadside. At that point I couldn’t resist stopping to capture what must be one of the prettiest things I have ever seen in my life.
After a wonderful evening with my host, I left Saint Damase this morning to continue up highway 132. What followed was a series of beautiful views of the Saint Lawrence River and then the North Atlantic Ocean as I traced the coastline through one little town after another. Brightly painted houses and immaculate lawns all faced the water as homeowners took advantage of the good weather to landscape and paint.
Waves gently lapped the rocky shorelines on my left and a variety of sheer cliffs, hills, and mountains appeared on my right. The road rose and dipped as I crested one ridge after another and then descended into a little bay or cove with another rocky beach and brightly painted grouping of homes and businesses.
I arrived in the little town of Perce on the Gaspe Peninsula in time to take a photo of the bike in front of Perce Rock and check into a quaint hotel. The owner greeted me by name, and we had a delightful conversation in a mixture of English and French.
My meal at La Maison du Pecheur was delicious. The freshly caught local fish was lightly grilled and accompanied by a wine reduction sauce and seasonal vegetables. I decided to be brave and try the local delicacy –fried cod’s tongues – and decided they tasted better than they looked. The homemade cheesecake with berries and whipped cream was the perfect finish to the night.
