Miles 343 (4687)
Two lanes 240 (3841) 82%
Top Down 343 (4263) 91%
We departed the walled city of Quebec by driving through the gates of he city, then across the St. Lawrence and down the fertile river valley. We had purchased a landscape etching in Quebec of the farms along the river with the island of Grosse Isle in the background. We drove to the approximate spot where this was done and took photos.
Gross Isle is very important is Canadian history. All travelers in the late 19th century who arrived by ship up the St. Lawrence were quarantined here and prepared for immigration. It was the Ellis Island (NY) or Angel Island (SF) of Canada.
Driving further down the broad valley we pulled off the road about 5 km, our eye caught by the sign for the “Cidererie”, the apple cider maker. We drove up and the sign said “Ouvert”. We are now deep into French speaking Quebec where they know about as much English as I know French. The door was locked. There was a phone number on the door to call to have it opened. Just as we were debating whether to call o not, Gilles (the farmer, cider maker, owner) drove up from the fields in his tractor, saw us, and pulled over. He greeted us and we entered.
Hard cider. Good stuff. More like a very dry apple wine. Alcohol 11%. It was very good, and not sweet. He also had hard apple champagne. We bought one of each.
Then on down the valley to stop at the Basque fromagerie. Ummmm. Fresh cheese, some it being made before our eyes. Of course, more purchases were made, and the apple wine, the cheese, along with the bread and summer sausage we bought in Ontario….became lunch.
Then on to Les Jardins des Grand Metis. The Reford Gardens. Mr. Reford was a high level executive in the Canadian Pacific Railroad in the 19th century. His summer home was in the lower St. Lawrence Valley. When he died, he left it to his niece, who spent 32 years developing these amazing gardens, all of which freeze and are covered by snow in the winter!
We are about two hours from our hotel and we need dinner, The evening is glorious. Warm and sunny. We traverse the Gaspe Peninsula and head down the valley of the Matapedia River. This river is on of the great salmon fly-fishing rivers of the world. We stopped at a market but they were out of fresh salmon, so we bought fresh Dover sole. 4 dollars for two large pieces. We stopped at a roadside rest near an old covered bridge, where the fishermen were wading at dusk in the shallow gravel bottomed river.
We broke out the BBQ from the truck, and cooked the sole. Delicious.
Tomorrow night though, it will be lobster.
Yum...Hard Cider
Gilles and Steve
The Classic French Catholic Acadian church with the silver spire.
Reford Gardens
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