The Gaspe and Charlevoix 2003 Trip

by Bob Forest your roving reporter

July, 11th, 2003. Dorval shopping Centre. Our rendezvous for myself and Helen, Marc Bourgault and his wife Michelle, Terry Burke and his wife Lynn. Left the shopping center about 10 am, which gave us a lot of time to make it to our first night stop which was Montmagny. There we stayed at the L'Oiseliere Hotel, which to my surprise was a beautiful hotel, with a very large and beautiful landscape pool. I forgot to mention, this pool is indoor. Next to the pool, you could have a Cappuccino served to you at your table.

That evening we had a wonderful meal, and if ever any of you go to Montmagny, it is a definite place for you to stay.

The next morning around 9:30 am, we left for Rimouski, following the shore road, 132 east; we stopped in many of the little towns, like St. Jean Port Joli ,St. Pacome, St. Pascal Trois Pistoles, and many more. We only had about 170 miles to do, and it took us all day. We stayed about 20 miles east of Rimouski, again at the same place we stayed last year, called Maree Douce in a little area called Pointe au Pere. It is an excellent B&B, again highly recommended.

When we arrived in Pointe au Pere, Marc, Helen, Lynn and Michelle went to visit Jardins de Metis. From what they saw, it was worth the visit. Terry and I wanted to see a car museum, which I thought was only 20 miles away, but was more than 80 miles, so we did not see the cars or the Jardins de Metis.

Saturday morning we only had about a 4 hour drive to Charlo, N.B. Terry and Marc stayed in Campbellton and met the group from Halifax, 9 more cars in their group. Consisting of a 54 Rolls 4 door, 54 Sunbeam Talbot, a TR4 IRS, and the rest all MGB's.

They all met at a local Restaurant in Campbelton, which was not very fast with the service, but the food was good.

Sunday morning, Helen and I left Charlo and met the group in Campbellton, and departed from Campbellton around 10 am and headed for the Town of Gaspe, our first stop was a drive up Mount Saint Joseph, which is 1820 feet high. A few of the cars stopped ¾ ways up as they were close to overheating. The rest of us headed to the top and it was very worthwhile as the view of Carleton and Bay de Chaleur was great. Then headed down and met the group at an ice cream parlor and enjoyed some good ice cream. Then we headed for our hotel. Our Hotel was 45 minutes past Perce so we stopped on the way to have a quick look at the Perce Rock, I have seen it many times and it still amazes me, after staying at the look out for about 20 minutes, we headed for Gaspe, our place of stay was the Hotel des Commandants, for us that was the perfect location to stay, as it was 45 minutes from Perce and 45 minutes from other sites in Gaspe, so it was very central. Our first night there we ate at a B&B called the L'Ancetre Chevalier Lauzon which was the oldest house in Gaspe, the meal again was sumptuous, and we finished about 10 pm, and walked back to the Hotel.

Monday, we all headed for Percy, where we did the Boat thing and also got off at Bonnaventure Island, and did a nice walk, meaning not me, I stayed and watched the sights. You know what I mean, Birds, Birds, and more Birds.

The next day, we headed for Forillon National Park of Canada, and there to my surprise saw The Fort Peninsula Coastal Battery. This was one of the principal Canadian military stations during World War II. The Fort Peninsula military complex was to protect the port of Gaspe from possible enemy attack. It also had to ensure defense of the Fort Ramsay naval base near Gaspe, one of the most strategic naval bases on Canada's east coast. We got to see the two artillery guns, and the underground stronghold housing powder and shell magazines. I never knew this existed, we had never learnt about this place in our history books. It was a well kept secret. Very worth while seeing.

We stayed 3 nights in the town of Gaspe, and we could have stayed a few nights more as there is a lot to see. Another surprising site, is the Rice fields, yes the Rice Fields, who would have thought there were rice field in Quebec. It seems many, many years ago, Philippine and Vietnam families moved to that area, and were successful growing frozen rice. It was delicious. Just a side note, I had a few of the Mari timers convinced that they were rice fields, the marshes looked like rice fields but were only marshes. Even our waiter, who went along with our story, told the few members that were still not sure, that when he was 12 years old until he was 15 worked every summer in the rice fields. You should have seen the expressions on their faces, they could not believe it, but now were firm believers, until we could not hold our laughter back. This same evening all 12 couples had our last meal in the Town of Gaspe at the Hotel des Commandants, Excellent meal and service.

On the 17th of July we headed from Gaspe to Matane, that is most probably one of the most beautiful drives in Canada, I would say close or even to the Cabot trail, again always on route 132. There is nothing like being in a sports car top down and cruising with the ocean on your right side for hundreds of miles. We arrived in Matane and stayed at the Quality Inn, and some ate at the Motel, and others went elsewhere, The 6 of us from Quebec, ate at a wonderful sea food restaurant called Table du Capitaine. Before the supper, Leight MacDonald and I went for some Kite flying on the beach, the winds were not that strong, but the kites flew and it was a nice break for us.

The morning of the 18th, we said our goodbye's to the Halifax group and the three MGB's from Quebec headed for Riviere du Loup, for a Ferry crossing to St. Simeon. The crossing took about 2 hours and when we arrived in St Simeon, the landscape was just spectacular. Driving to our destination in La Malbaie, the Remontee Apartment Hotel, the roads were twisty and hilly, the perfect drive for the MGB's or any sports car for that matter.

Once in La Malbaie, where we stayed 3 nights, we drove to Tadoussac and there to a boat outing to see the Whales and did we see whales, all types, Beluga, Humpback, and others. Then on the way back the boat headed into the Fjords, which are just beautiful. We also visited the famous Tadoussac Hotel, and to our luck, when we entered a glassed in patio, with piano, someone was playing and singing songs from Andrew Lord Webber. He really could play that piano, and had a beautiful voice. It turned out that he was a tourist guide from Toronto, and had 55 Mexican's, wealthy ones I might add. So that was a lucky happening for us.

We also visited back in La Malbaie, the Casino, which took 23 minutes to loose my $20.00. I must say, the Hotel and Casino are really worth visiting, both are very beautiful.

Our last day in Charlevoix we visited Baie St Paul and the village there is very quaint, with all the coloured shops and bistros, which we visited and of course had a café au lait.

On our way back to La Malbaie, we stopped and ate at a Restaurant called The St. Laurent. If ever you are in that area, you must stop at this place, it was one of the best meals we have ever had. Also they have their own little wine cellar which you go down and choose your wine, a good thing, they have the prices right there below the bottles, so no surprises when you get the bill.
Monday the 21st, we left for Montreal, and on our way back, we stopped for lunch at a rest area and had a wonderful picnic.

We said our good byes at our last gas stop and arrived home at 4 pm. Distance driven,1712.38 miles or 2755.81 Kilometers, this is from our house and back. This info came from my GPS, so it is accurate.

Again, I say, that when you take a holiday in your sports car, the holiday starts when you back out of your garage, and finishes when you drive into your garage. Not when you get there or leave the place, so get out there and enjoy your car.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank Bob Hamilton, who did all the organizing of this trip, hotels, meals and side trips. All of us from Quebec send you a thank you.

©VEA