PERC脡, Quebec
听
This was going to be a story about lighthouses ... until I met a peony named Elsie. And the world鈥檚 ugliest fish. And winkles in garlic-butter sauce. And a dented Second World War German torpedo. And galleries. And whales. And waterfalls. And a moose. And 50,000 northern gannets on an island. And cod tongues in sea-urchin butter. And a very big box of live lobsters in yet another picture-book village ...
We鈥檒l talk a little about lighthouses, too. But.
Some obligatory orientation: The Gasp茅 Peninsula is an extension of Quebec roughly the size of Belgium that鈥檚 bordered on the north by the St. Lawrence River and extends into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
It鈥檚 got coastline, mountains, renowned salmon fishing and trees that turn brilliant colours in October. Being maritime, it gets its share of rain and fog, which (along with shipping via the St. Lawrence) explains its 14 lighthouses.
Its population is about 130,000, compared 鈥� in the same amount of acreage 鈥� with Belgium鈥檚 population of 11 million. French is widely spoken, but anglophone tourists are welcome and won鈥檛 starve.
Largest town is Gasp茅 (population 15,000). It gave the region its marketable name: Gaspesie. Explorer Jacques Cartier planted a wooden cross somewhere near Gasp茅 in 1534 and claimed the territory for France, which didn鈥檛 quite work out.
The western gateway, for most visitors, is the river town of Sainte-Flavie, and therein begins the problem: You have to really want to get here to get here. The town is a 10 1/2-hour drive from Toronto and nine hours from Boston. Air sa国际传媒 flies in and out, but a flight from, say, Chicago could get you to Paris cheaper or faster or both, depending on the number of stops.
That鈥檚 the end of the problems. The rest is all discovery and joy.
Driving clockwise along the river from Sainte-Flavie on Highway 132 (the road that hugs the water and most everything else worthwhile here), and past Marcel Gagnon鈥檚 80 bizarre statues (the first hint that artists live and thrive here), signs invite us into the sprawling Jardins de M茅tis, a.k.a. Reford Gardens. Elsie Reford, a lady of means (the means derived from her uncle being a founder of the Canadian Pacific Railway), began planting stuff on the family retreat 90 years ago.
Her great-grandson, director Alexander Reford, 53, has been in charge of every blooming thing (including its treasured blue poppies) for the last 23 years. The garden is a National Historic Site.
鈥淭his,鈥� said Reford, 鈥渋s a beautiful peony here.鈥� The peony is the Elsie, named by the American Peony Society for his great-grandmother. It鈥檚 a hybrid 鈥� possibly an accident, but as with humans, unintended pollination sometimes works out splendidly.
One of the gardens鈥� hosts is Paul Gendron, 70. His grandfather was lighthouse keeper at M茅tis Lighthouse just down the river. 鈥淎nd my father was assistant keeper,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 grew up there.鈥�
Every lighthouse has its own story, its own personality. We鈥檒l let you discover them.
Three lighthouses east is the charming village of Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, not only the home of the aforementioned winkles (local sea snails, enjoyed at Restaurant du Quai and better than they sound) but of Exploramer, which we鈥檒l describe inadequately as a hands-on aquarium and seaside experience.
A touch pool delights visitors who like touching wet things. Not in the touch pool are great white sharks, one of several species of shark known to lurk in the neighbourhood.
Just past the third lighthouse and the first waterfall 鈥� in English, Wedding Veil Falls 鈥� is La Martre Lighthouse. Yves Foucreault, who worked here for more than 30 years, continues to show the place off a few years after new management 鈥渢hrew me out.鈥�
鈥淒o you know about the big fight between the lighthouse keeper and the priest?鈥� he began. It鈥檚 a good story, especially if it鈥檚 really true but even if it isn鈥檛.
We mention the lighthouse at Cap-des-Rosiers because it鈥檚 sa国际传媒鈥檚 tallest (34 metres) and because it鈥檚 just before the entrance to Forillon National Park, one of three parks in Gaspesie.
The park is the base for Bay of Gasp茅 whale-watching cruises. 鈥淪ometimes it takes half an hour to gain a good view,鈥� said onboard naturalist Marc Trudel.
On this day, it took 14 minutes to view our first humpback. Fin and minke whales followed. In Forillon, I found my moose, a bear, a porcupine and one more lighthouse, the Cap-Gasp茅, a beauty.
Gasp茅 town is a pleasant-enough stop. Here is the Gasp茅 Museum, and it contains that dented torpedo, apparently fired by a German U-boat prowling offshore in 1942. 鈥淚t went off course and kind of ran into the rocks,鈥� guide Nathalie Spooner said of the torpedo. A man found it on the shoreline and kept it in his barn, charging neighbourhood kids 25 cents to see it.
鈥淗e called it 鈥榯he world鈥檚 smallest museum.鈥� 鈥� Now it鈥檚 in the bigger museum.
Perc茅, about 400 kilometres from the start of our drive, is a tourist town, a concentration of motels, souvenir shops and restaurants, one of which, La Maison du Pecheur, provided the cod tongues (again, better than they sound).
And speaking of sound: If you鈥檝e never heard the sound of tens of thousands of northern gannets, plus penguinlike murres and razorbills simultaneously making bird noises, you probably haven鈥檛 been around Bonaventure Island-Perc茅 Rock National Park. The island is accessible by Perc茅-based tour boats. Iconic Perce Rock teases photographers with different patterns and colours as the sun makes its rounds 鈥� and our exploration ended here, five lighthouses short of full circumnavigation. (We flew home out of the Gasp茅 airport.)
Except for one more quick stop, at L鈥橝nse-a-Beaufils, a fishing village just past Perc茅. Here, a genial lobsterman 鈥� at a visitor鈥檚 request 鈥� opened a large cooler filled with living, freshly gathered lobsters.
鈥淚 wish I could show you a blue one,鈥� he said, holding up one of them.
Yes, there are blue lobsters. Every lobsterman, like every Gasp茅sie gardener and guide and naturalist and chef and artist 鈥� and lighthouse 鈥� has a story.
听
Alan Solomon is a freelance writer.
