Percé to Matane, then to Lévis

It’s time to catch you up on where we’ve been for the last two days. On Monday we, Jane in her Mazda and me on Mahmotò, drove 362 kilometres from Percé to Matane. The highway which follows the shoreline, sometimes quite close to the water at the base of tall cliffs, is a beautiful road with stunning vistas around many curves. The traffic was quite light. In Matane we stayed at a Motel Hotel not far from the terminal from which we saw the ferry to Godbout on the north shore leave early this morning. 

This was the view from our bedroom.

We spent the better part of this morning at the amazing and famous Jardins de Métis/ The Reford Gardens in Grand-Métis. This was certainly one of the highlights of Retirement Rides 2025.

‘’Created from 1926 to 1958 by pioneering horticulturist Elsie Reford, the Reford Gardens are a National Historic Site of Canada. Some 3,000 species and varieties of plants, including the famous Himalayan blue poppy, are spread over fifteen gardens. 

In the summer of 1926, Elsie Reford embarked on a bold project: transforming a fishing camp into an extraordinary garden. With the help of local residents, Elsie succeeded in turning a spruce forest into a remarkable garden home to one of the most important plant collections of its time.’’

I would certainly recommend a stop at these remarkable gardens.  

Tonight we are in Lévis where we had a great oysters and steak dinner at a huge restaurant called Délice. Tomorrow should see us back home.