The Gaspe is a peninsula along the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River, in Québec, in eastern Canada. Gradually the river widens to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The peninsula is separated from New Brunswick on its southern side by the Chaleur Bay (Baie des Chaleurs) and the Restigouche River. It is located 560 km from Montreal and 340 km from Quebec City by road. If you ever go there, the responsibility is solely yours.
In summer 2005, on a summer vacation from Kuwait, Pirjo and I made a-good-week-long trip to the Gaspe by car. Orienteering in this part of Canada may sometimes be a bit laborious; skirting tractors is a skill that many learn only by bad experience. On the other hand, the traffic in big French-Canadian cities, as in Montreal, has been described horrendous. Pedestrians there are common game. Anyway, I wouldn’t brag too much about driving six years in Montreal. As I quite reasonably had already learnt how to cut up in the Montreal traffic, it was only in Kuwait that I came to know how to speed 120 km/h at 45km/h zone, and how to drive a one-way-street in wrong direction, comfortably. In Gaspe, we had no problems with reckless drivers.
When we moved to Norway, I had a foreboding of some problems that my driving could face there. But, Tromsø is such a small town that we didn’t need a car. All drivers were really polite and gave way to pedestrians, just as if they all were mothers-in-law. What’s wrong with them?
The original French name Gaspé may come from a Mi’kmaq Indian word gespeg, meaning "land's end", or has been transformed from a Basque word gerizpe, meaning "shelter". The Gaspesian Mi'kmaq (MicMac) are sometimes called “the Indians of the Sea”, and were noted for their fishing skills and distinctive birch bark canoes that were capable of crossing open water. Also, they were known for their fierce and warlike character.
The Gaspe Peninsula is in close proximity to the Atlantic Provinces, and has many maritime features, including rugged shorelines, fine fishing and a laid-back, friendly population. The houses in the country side are often isolated and pretty “laid-back” too. Anyway, this is no Mid-West; these people speak French that the actual inhabitants of France may understand, but still may have some hard time with.
On our way, we also visited Quebec City. In this region of Canada, the French language is almost completely the only possible means of verbal communication. Regarding the native language, in Montreal the French speaking people comprise about 70% of the population. In Quebec City and Gaspe the figure has to be over 100%.
Quebec sovereignty has for a long time been a hot potato, especially in Quebec. The flag of Quebec (Le Fleurdelisé, as in the photo above) was first officially introduced in 1948. Since then, and especially after General Charles de Gaulle’s Vive le Québec libre speech, during Expo67, the debate on the sovereignty of Quebec, and the “threatened” position of the French language, have taken very interesting forms. As an example, l'Office québécois de la langue française, the Office of the French language in Quebec, maintains a group of police force for monitoring that no public text in car doors, offices, shops or other places is, by size, bigger in English than in French. The guys walk the streets with a tape measure on a utility belt. If you violate this rule, you may lose your source of livelihood.
Occasionally, travellers get hungry. Usually we spent the nights in small motels. There was a good chance for me to try to utilize my “peg leg French”. As stated above, the status of the French language in Quebec "is a bit threatened”, and also I had to sit the l'Office québécois de la langue française French examination for being able to see private patients. It took three years of intensive studying, and four attempts, to pass the exam. Greetings and thanks to Véronique Lamontagne, my French coach. Véronique’s father, a colleague of mine, once described my French almost incomprehensible. I agree with his statement.
Minivans are handy if you don’t have a balcony. We figured out that in case we don’t find a room, we could sleep in the back of the vehicle. We removed and left the back seats in Montreal, and so there was a plenty of room for two sleepy “stupidoes”.
A couple of years before, with his friends, our son Miika took the minivan for a somewhat longer ride to Las Vegas, then to Yellowstone, and finally they came home via Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. Above, the guys are cooling down two or six weary feet in a hot spring. They actually did sleep some nights in the van.
As the selection of available motel rooms was excellent, we didn't have to sleep in the van. In general, for some unknown reason, tourists hadn't found the places we happened to visit. Does it tell something about our taste? Some places perhaps over estimated their own services. The name of the room refers to “the 7th Heaven”, which, however, was beoynd our reach. There was no ladder.
Gaspesian motels take security issues seriously. So, we didn’t have any problems in that department. En route, even the traffic was really easy although numerous steep hills distracted Pirjo’s peace of mind. First up, and then down we went; Pirjo closed her eyes in the downhills. Obviously, I kept on driving almost the whole trip.
Gaspesian hospitality and services exceeded all our expectations. Also, afterhours' entertainment was covered by the motel keepers. Food in various, most often small, restaurants was tasty. Fish understandably was the main item, but it didn’t bother us. If we two are so fishy also by nature, I don’t know. Perhaps someone could tell. And then breakfasts, including only porridge and a slice of salt fish, were simply magnificent. We adopted this concept for domestic use.
Located offshore of the peninsula's eastern tip, Parc national de l'Île-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Percé is perhaps the best known tourist attraction in the Gaspe region. A 470 metre long rocky island, in front of a lively village of Percé, has surprisingly been named Percé Rock (in French: rocher Percé, "pierced rock"). The French name comes from a natural arc, or hole, in the cliff that actually has become some kind of natural icon of Quebec. Those who understand Finnish know that there is a loanword in the Finnish language that in French accurately depicts an anatomical structure that you yourself don’t easily see. The very icon of Quebec.
An “inunnguaq”, or an "imitation of a person", built by some by-driver right next to a road in Gaspe. These figures are often, a bit inaccurately, called “inuksuk” that actually means "something that acts for a function of a person". “Inuksuks”, built by Inuit people, have no human resemblance, but are just heaps of stone used by mariners for orienteering. Officials often dismantle “inunnguaqs”, built by non-Inuit folks, as the figures could misdirect tourists e.g. to seeking hiking trails. I made one small. Those who followed Vancouver Winter Olympics have seen one of these as the symbol of the games.
So, it was the most eastern part of Quebec. Being extremely rural, but also a tourist attraction, it is no surprise that almost all the people we talked with were from somewhere else. I tried to speak French to an elderly couple from France; they thought I’m local. Well, now you have an idea how Gaspesian French would sound.
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