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The Haute Gaspésie

L’Anse-Pleureuse, Rivière-à-Claude, Ruisseau-à-Rebours, Gros-Morne, La Martre, Rivière-Madeleine, Manche-d’Épée…

The poetic names of the Haute Gaspésie have a special beauty. Geography is everywhere and has inspired the name of almost every village in la Haute-Gaspésie.

Draw in black ink route No. 6 from Ste-Anne-des-Monts to Gaspé. Along the route, we find the name of all the villages and rivers that we meet.

The poetic names of the Haute Gaspésie

 

The Gaspésie is made of several regions and the divisions are both geographical and political. The question of where the region begins is an age-old question and one that has been responded to differently in every decade. Today, the Gaspésie is divided into eight regional counties and tourists are led through each one following the St. Lawrence as they go.

Colour photograph of booklet cover. The cover reads: Esquisse sur la Gaspésie par J. C. Langelier, Lévis, Mercier & Cie, Propriétaires du quotidien, 1886. The cover is made of a thin paper yellowed by acidity and time.

Cover of ” Esquisse sur la Gaspésie ” by J. C. Langelier

 

For many, the real Gaspésie begins in the Haute Gaspésie, where the pastoral landscapes and farmed land gives way to the rocky cliffs and nearly impenetrable shoreline takes charge. This is the land of fishing villages and forests, isolated but remarkable in its beauty.

Black and white photograph of the work on the Trans-Gaspésien road. In a forest landscape, on a steep slope, construction workers operate heavy machinery to do the road preparation work.

The building of the transgaspésienne highway in 1952 opened the centre of the peninsula to tourists and offered an alternative route for travellers.