I took the coach from St G to Quebec and had to wait 3 hours
for another coach to Gaspesie. While I was waiting I spilled yoghurt all over
myself (height of sophistication) and also met an Australian guy who is a
journalist for an exploring and adventure magazine. He had missed his coach to
Charlevoix, which was where I had been the week before and he had been to
Ste-Anne last weekend, so we were doing a kind of exchange.
The coach journey was beautiful for the majority of the ride.
We drove right alongside the St Lawrence River and had terrific views of the
mountains. I arrived quite late at night and Susy met me at the petrol station
which is what Quebec uses for a coach station in really rural Quebec. We went
to her lovely apartment and made dinner. Then we watched pitch perfect and planned
what to do the next day.
The day began with a trip to the cultural centre. There had
recently been a driftwood competition so we admired the craftsmanship of the
statues that people had made. We went inside and found musical instruments made
from driftwood! We then went and played piano for a bit. Susy was amazing….I
was not so! She made me try a piece with 3 over 2 (pianists will understand!). We decided to go to a restaurant called Chez Bass which was right
on the waterfront! We got there in time for the sunset, but it was slightly clouded
over, so we couldn’t really see it. The water was still really pretty though
and I realised how much I love being by the water. We also visited a hippy shop
which sold gifts and clothes from various places in the world like Thailand.
That evening we went to The Sea Shack, which is one of the
coolest places I have ever been to! It is just a bit further East than where
Susy lives. We got dropped off on this hidden road and had to walk up and down
it to find the entrance to the wooden staircase which leads down to the shack.
It was lit by fairy lights and lead all the way down to the beach. There was a
spray painted van where people can sleep, a hot tub, a gite and a tepee. We
went into the main part and headed to the bar where they were serving
cocktails. Every time the big ship bell was rung it meant that someone had
bought a round of shots for the whole bar. Everyone was really friendly and
everyone spoke to everyone.
The next day we attempted hitch hiking up to the National
We then went for a walk in the forest but decided that we
wouldn’t need snow shoes. Big mistake! As you can see, the snow was knee deep!
We walked probably maximum 200 meters before stopping for a lunch of Cheetos and
cereal bars and heading back!
We went into the chalet to warm up and on the way we saw a
little baby wrapped up in a toboggan! We spoke to the grandfather and he said
that this is what they do with their babies because you get sick in winter when
you don’t go outside for fresh air.
Inside the chalet there was a lovely open fire which we
warmed up beside. After this we went to Chez Bass for dinner again and bumped
into Susy’s responsible who was entertaining visitors from BC. In the
restaurant there was a picture of all the ship wrecks off Gaspé and a rather
amusing picture on the loo door. (It’s from an aria from Faust by Gounod)
We then went to the water front and climbed down onto the
frozen sea! We then got told off by a concerned visitor to the town!
The next morning I took the coach back to St Georges just as
a big storm was hitting that closed schools in SAdM for a few days. Just as
well I left when I did, as lovely as it would have been to have spent more time
there.
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