Perdue en Percé

"Si la beaute pouvait etre nomme,
Elle s'appellerait peut-etre Percé"

"If beauty had a name,
Her name would perhaps be Percé"

So the Gaspesiens believe, as did Frederick James, the American painter born and trained  in Philadelphia and who moved to Percé, where he died.

Percé has a long history of occupation, first by the Mi'qmak who migrated periodically into the area to fish.  Once the Gaspe was discovered by Jacques Cartier, the eastern tip of the Gaspe Peninsula became a fishing ground for the French.  In the late 1600's permanent residences were built by the French in the area, but no more than 30 people ever resided permanently in the Perce area.  The French were ousted and this area conquered in 1690 by two English frigates headed for Quebec city.  Thereafter, fishermen from the Island of Jersey lived in the area, joined by Irish and by Loyalists from the future United States who took refuge here because of the Revolutionary War.  In 1777, this area was estimated to have a population of 250.  By the end of the 19th Century, Percé had become the capital of Canada's cod fishing industry.  As cod fishing declined into the 20th Century, tourism began to increase, and the Gaspe generally became an attractive location for tourists from Canada, the U.S. and Europe.  Painters and other artists, including Frederick James, came here because of the spectacular scenery.  Today, Percé has a vibrant tourist economy and is still the center of artistic activity on the Gaspe.

Today was our day to learn all about Percé.  We started with the Lighthouse next to our campground, Camping Phare du Percé, which is on Cap Blanc just south of Percé:

The point is quintessentially Gaspe, with views of lobster boats, seagulls, gannets, and, in our case, Bonaventure Island, shown behind Kathy below, which, along with Roche Percé (Pierced Rock), is it's own national park.

The gannets we're riding the thermals this morning just off our point.  In the photo below, you can also see a white bird perched on a buoy marking some local lobster pots:

Looking south along the peninsula, we could see some of the characteristic red rocks of the cliffs in this area:

After checking out our lighthouse, we hunted down a local moose ("original" in French), who was so gentle he ate out of Kathy's hand!

We drove up to Mont Sainte Anne to get a view of Percé from above.  We we're lucky we had the Jeep, because only 4x4 vehicles were allowed up the road:

Wow!  We found an observation point with expansive views of Roche Percé and the town of Percé itself:

This was our favorite view of the town and the Rock:

Looking a little closer, we could also see the historic buildings sprinkled on the headland near the Rock:

Driving on from the belvedere, we headed toward La Grotte where a beautiful fresh Cascade tumbles down the mountain toward the Saint Lawrence Bay:

We drove back down into town and out to the point to get a closer look at Roche Percé.  Looking back, we could see Mont Sainte Anne, where we had been, behind the historic buildings of Percé:

To the north we spotted Highway 132 as it climbed it's 17 percent (!) grade up Cap Barre toward Gaspe two capes northward.  Kathy still marvel's that she navigated down that grade with the motorhome as we arrived in Percé.

Here, at the headland above the town, we got a closer look at Roche Percé.  At low tide, you can walk across to it, but be alert to the rising tide.

The Rock has the largest maritime arch in the world.  It used to have two complete arches, but the second arch collapsed in 1845.  There is one extant drawing of the Rock with it's second arch preceding the collapse:

...And here is how it looks today, from (ahem) our humble campsite:

After our excursion, we had lunch at a wonderful local restaurant, Biard.  Kathy had a luscious lobster club sandwich (again) and David had tasty bouillabaisse (again), and we retired to our RV to shelter from the rain and make homemade bouef bourgignon and bake homemade maple oatmeal bread (with our extra dark, strong Vermont Maple syrup), which was a hearty and tasty supper.

À la vôtre!