Tuesday 26 September 2023---The politician most responsible for Québec's modern road network was Joseph-Léonide Perron, minister of roads from 1921 to 1929. To be quite frank, he was adept at garnering votes for the Liberal party by promising (and to be fair, delivering) improved roads in various nooks and crannies of the province. When the road linking Gaspé's coastal villages opened in 1929, it was named Boulevard Perron, a name that still exists here and there. Almost overnight, the automotive tour of La Gaspésie became a thing. Numbered route 6 for many years, the road became part of route 132 in a reorganization in the '70s. At just over a thousand miles, 132 is the longest designated route in the province. Starting at the New York border, southwest of Montréal, it follows the south shore of the St Lawrence, rounds the Gaspé Peninula, and turns up the Matapedia valley to close the loop at Sainte-Flavie. I'm sure the road we drive on today, from Grande-Vallé to Matane, is much improved from the early days. In fact, we find maintenance, repair, and upgrade ongoing in quite a few places.

Along the way, we visit lighthouses at Cap-de-la-Madeleine and La Martre, and stop for a brief walkabout in Ste-Anne-des-Monts.

We arrive in Matane and check in at Hotel-Motel Belle Plage, where Marc and I stayed in 2015. The restaurant is not open this evening, which is too bad, because it's very good (or was, back then); but that gives us an excuse to eat and hang out a while at La Fabrique, Matane's brewpub. It's not in the same dining league as Belle Plage for food, but the beer is good. It suits us fine.