Perce, Quebec

I love traveling in an RV. Aside from the usual things like having your own bed, your own toilet, your fur babies, and worrying about whether you will fit into a fuel station or not, you can stay and enjoy pretty much any area you want without unpacking only to repack, waiting for the kids to stop playing on the elevator in the hotel and wondering if housekeeping really did clean the room and give you clean glasses. It is a lifestyle and not an absolutely sure thing to save money. You meet many wonderful people that have the same interests and while in the park you have time to visit them.

We are in Perce, Quebec out on the southern tip of the Gaspe Peninsula and in a very spacious park over looking the Bay of St. Lawrence. Today is a free day and I have a great WiFi connection.

This is our view. You can see the space we have and the view is wonderful.

Yesterday, we took a boat ride out to Perce Rock. The tourist booklet states that Percé Rock is part of the Bonaventure Island and Percé Rock National Park. It is limestone and Its weight is estimated at 5 million tons, but it is crumbling at a rate of 300 tons per year. Perce Rock once had two arches, the one that connected the rock to the obelisk collapsed on June 17, 1845.

We arrived around 10am and the marine layer was buring off. The tourist booklet states that Percé Rock is part of the Bonaventure Island and Percé Rock National Park. It is limestone and Its weight is estimated at 5 million tons, but it is crumbling at a rate of 300 tons per year. The Rock serves as a summer home for many birds (double-crested cormorant, great cormorant, black-legged kittiwake, herring gull, black guillemot…).

Perce Rock once had two arches, the one that connected the rock to the obelisk collapsed on June 17, 1845.The Rock serves as a summer home for many birds (double-crested cormorant, great cormorant, black-legged kittiwake, herring gull, black guillemot…). The fog burned off nicely and you can see the obelisk to the right and the space for a previous arch to the left. At extreme low tide you could walk out to the rock but it is dangerous. This was taken on our way back from Bonaventure Island, a bird sanctuary that you can get out of the boat and explore.

A view of the remaining arch in Perce Rock. I love the marine layer and how it moves in and out, even on sunny days.

Every ledge on the lee side of the island is covered with birds. Some species migrate here during the summer and then winter further south off the coast of the United States. This photo does not do justice to the birds in the sky, and on the walls. There are literally thousands, if not tens of thousands flying about and roosting. The Island is a fifteen minute boat ride away from Perce Rock and slightly further off shore from Perce. The only way to the island is by boat. Your ticket allows you to get off and explore the island. No one lives on the island any more and their are forest trails and a climb up to a viewing station over looking the bird sanctuary. Due to the wet and rough trails, we decided to not get off and spend a quiet day at the RV. Most of our fellow travelers got off and hiked while others spent most of the time exploring at the welcome center.

John and Jeanette Fitzgerald, part of our fellow travelers made the long climb, Jeanette captured this great photograph of the Gannet colony. (Jeanette Fitzgerald retains all rights to this image)

This great photo by Carlos Fosseti, one of our tail-gunners shows the large number of birds that call the island home. Some of the birds already had chicks while others were sitting on eggs. (Carlos Fosseti retains all right to this image)

We finished our day with a wonderful meal at La Maison du Pêcheur (The fisherman's house) It was really good! The soup was a pear, beet and coriander puree, and we followed it with a seafood in a shell with the shell being made of mashed potatoes. We finished the meal with a nice piece of chocolate cake!

Today, as I update this blog, is a free day. The weather is beautiful and we just lazing around. Tonight we have a BBQ to celebrate the Fourth of July and our travel meeting. Tomorrow we will drive out of Quebec into New Brunswick where we will stay for one night before driving over the longest bridge in Canada to Prince Edward Island. I can not believe it is already July and we are are one third of the way through our trip. Have a safe and happy 4th! Looking forward to seeing you all come back.