LA ROUTE DES ANCETRES FRANCAIS.
Day 34 – We made sure we didn’t sleep in this morning because we had a lot of ground to cover today. The weather when we got up was sunny, no wind, and BRRR! 31 degrees. We left at 9 a.m. and headed north and west off of Trans Canada Highway 1 and got on Route 460 towards Stephenville. As we departed the campground, we saw they were beginning road work on the campground roads – great!
In Stephenville we stopped for gas in the Honda. We knew from our trip in 2019 that we didn’t want to get low on gas for this drive. There are no gas stations beyond Stephenville all the way to the end of the Port au Port peninsula & return. We were really sweating it last time and barely made it back before running out of gas! We also grabbed a Subway sandwich to take with us in case there was nothing open anywhere to get lunch. It is remote at the end of the peninsula.
The town of Stephenville is a decent-sized city that services most of the southwestern coast of Newfoundland. It was once known as the “Acadian Village”. From 1848 to 1870 Stephenville was called Indian Head. The drive we will be taking is called the French Ancestor’s Route, or la Route des Ancetres Francais. “Newfoundland only gained control over their west coast in 1904. Prior to that, it was known as the French Shore, because France had exclusive fishing rights there. Today, many French place names remain, and the Stephenville to Port au Port peninsula area is still the hub of French Newfoundland culture.” from Newfoundland Labrador Traveller’s Guide 2023. The road signs are still printed in French & English, and some of the buildings are labeled only in French. There is a Park at the end of the peninsula, Parc Boutte du Cap. They have a few camping spots in the Park on the cliffs by the sea, and we wanted information on camping there. When we phoned them last month, the town’s representative spoke French. Now we know why.
We continued along the French Ancestor’s Route to Our Lady of Mercy Historic Church, the largest wooden structure in Newfoundland. Construction began in 1914. Adjacent to the Church is Our Lady of Mercy Museum, Gift Shop, & Tea Room. “Our Lady of Mercy Church: Newfoundland craftsmanship. Marble stations of the Cross. Original statues & altars, and stained glass over 100 years old. Open July 4 to August 20.” taken from the Newfoundland Visitor’s Guide
We made this same drive in 2019, but by the time we reached the end of the peninsula, it was so foggy that we could barely see the road in front of us let alone the incredible scenery. We were worried about running out of gas, finding a place to eat, and the dense fog. We drove the same route the next day and even though it wasn’t foggy then, the weather wasn’t close to how nice & clear it was today. With a full tank of gas, and a Subway sandwich to sustain us in case nothing was open, we relaxed and enjoyed the scenery.
The farther along the peninsula we traveled, the more remote it became. But it was not as remote as it was in 2019. We’d heard that “people from away” were moving to the more remote areas. This term includes people from St. John’s, the biggest city in Newfoundland, located on the eastern coast of the Island. We’d heard they were buying land and putting up fancy homes. We found this to be true. Here were the old villages that had so much history, old fishermen’s cottages perched near the cliffs, and right in the middle of the view is a brand new McMansion which totally did not fit in with the surroundings. We kept seeing this over and over. We wondered about the people who had lived there all their lives, maybe for many generations of raising families. How did this bode with them? Were they happy for the addition of money to their communities and their tax base? Will this ultimately change the way Newfoundland feels and looks? Time will tell. But it was kind of shocking, and we’ve been seeing this difference in most of the smaller, remote towns we are visiting again. There are some places we’ll be returning to this trip that we absolutely fell in love with on our last trip here. We’re afraid we’ll find them different now.
We drove thru many small villages, too many to name them all, but here’s several: Point au Mal, Fox Island River, Ship Cove, Cape St. George, Mainland, Petit & Grand Jardin, etc. We stopped many times and took pictures. We saw a strong, healthy young Moose running into the woods near the road on the way to Point au Mal. Moose #4 still had fairly long fur (or would that be hair?) from the winter! It happened too quickly for us to get a picture. We walked all around the area by the Hidden Falls. There, a friendly Newfoundland man told me that last week the Whales were migrating by in the Ocean in front of the parking lot. We walked all around the cliffs at Parc Boutte du Cap where Kittiwake & Razorbills were nesting in the rocks. The scenery was beautiful. We did find one place that was open to stop for lunch, a small cafe that was open all year. We had fish & chips. Four people came in to have lunch – they spoke only French – surprise, surprise. The high today out on the cliffs was in the low 50’s with very little wind and full sun. Very nice.
On the way back to the RV after taking the whole loop drive, we stopped once again in Stephenville. We picked up a few groceries, and we were reminded we were out there on a distant Island when we went to buy some produce. No fresh garlic. The last time we were here, tomatoes were impossible to find and onions of all kinds were pretty ugly. We are lucky to be able to get everything we have in the U.S. without even thinking twice about it. The temperature when we got back to the RV at 5:15 p.m. was 57 degrees. We had a nice day. Tomorrow we’ll be leaving for a different location. Maybe we’ll have a signal there.
For more detailed information about Barachois Pond Provincial Park, Stephenville Crossing, NL, click here.