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The town of GASPE , straddling the hilly estuary of the York River, is a disappointment after the scenic drama of the national park, a humdrum settlement of about 17,000 people whose hard-pressed economy is reliant on its deep-water port. This is the spot where the French navigator and explorer Jacques Cartier landed in July 1534, on the first of his three trips up the St Lawrence. He stayed here for just eleven days, time enough to erect a wooden cross engraved with the escutcheon of Francis I, staking out the king's - and Christianity's - claim to this new territory. Cartier's first aim was to find a sea route to the Orient, but he also had more extensive ambitions - to acquire land for himself and his men, exploit the Indians as fur gatherers and discover precious metals to rival the loot the Spaniards had taken from the Aztecs. Naturally, Cartier had to disguise his real intentions on the first trip and his initial contacts with the Iroquois were cordial. Then, in the spring of 1536, he betrayed their trust by taking two of the local chief's sons back with him to Francis I. They were never returned, and when Cartier made his third trip in 1541 the Iroquois were so suspicious that he was unable to establish the colony he had been instructed to found. Desperate to salvage his reputation, Cartier sailed back to France with what he thought was a cargo of gold and diamonds. His cargo turned out to be iron pyrite and quartz crystals. Just to the east of the town centre, at 80 boul Gaspe, the Jacques Cartier monument looks out over the bay from the grounds of the town museum. It consists of six striking bronze dolmens carved in relief that record Cartier's visit and treatment of the natives in ambivalent terms, along with anodyne homilies on the nature and unity of humankind. The museum itself, 80 boul Gaspe (late June to early Sept daily 9am-7pm; early Sept to late June Tues-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat & Sun 1-5pm; $4), illuminates the social issues that have confronted the inhabitants of the peninsula to the present - isolation from the centres of power, depopulation and, more recently, unemployment. Temporary displays concentrate mostly on local subjects, like the peninsula's artists and musicians. A good ten-minutes' walk west, near the top of rue Jacques-Cartier, stands the Gaspe Cathedral . Built in 1970, it's the only wooden cathedral in North America and its barn-like exterior has an extraordinarily dour and industrial appearance. The interior is completely different: the nave - all straight lines and symmetrical simplicity - is bathed in warm, softly coloured light that pours in through an enormous stained-glass window in the style of Mondrian. Just outside town, the white Sanctuaire Notre Dame-des-Douleurs is a popular pilgrimage site due to the healing powers it's said to have - and which are supported by the collection of crutches, braces and canes found in the chapel entombing Father Watier, the sanctuary's founder. Up a slight incline behind the church, the replica of the Lourdes Grotto (replete with outdoor altar) and the Garden of Mary's Sorrows are both attractive gardens with remarkable religious sculptures. Next door, the Site Historique Micmac de Gespeg (mid-June to mid-Sept daily 9am-5pm; $4; guided tours only), is a replica of the aboriginal village that stood at Gespeg ("the end of the land" in the Micmac language) in 1675, when aboriginal trading with Europeans was in full swing. The site offers interesting insight into how to build tepees and animal traps and carve utensils, but the visit is overlong at two hours.
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