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From Rimouski to Matane a few places are worth a stop. The first is SAINTE-FLAVIE , a small coastal town that's home to Gaspesie's regional tourist office , 357 rue de la Mer (mid-June to early Sept daily 8am-8pm; early Sept to mid-Oct daily 8am-6pm; (mid-Oct to mid-June Mon-Fri 9am-5pm; tel 1-800/463-0323). Nearby at no. 564, the Centre d'art Marcel Gagnon offers a unique sight. The artist's outdoor work, Le Grand Rassemblement (The Great Gathering), groups more than eighty life-size statues and seven rafts starting on a strip of land and then leading into the water. The works are especially remarkable at high tide, as the statues emerge out of the river, and the rafts seem to float. MATANE , 56km further east, appears to be dominated by oil refineries and cement works, but in fact fishing and forestry have long been the mainstays of the local economy. The Matane River, which bisects the town, is spanned by a pair of bridges - one beside the harbour (part of Hwy 132), the other a shorter affair a few hundred metres north, next to the fish ladder, which was built to help salmon head upstream to spawn. The Festival de la Crevette , during the last week in June, takes its name from the prawn harvest but, in fact, celebrates the entire range of local seafood - all the town's restaurants and bars participate. At the Barrage Mathieu-D'Amours , the dam's observation area allows visitors to watch salmon battling to get upstream. Matane's tourist office is beside Hwy 132, just west of the centre, in the lighthouse at 968 ave du Phare ouest (late June to mid-Sept daily 8.30am-8.30pm; mid-Sept to late June Mon-Fri 8.30am-5pm; tel 562-1065). Simple institutional accommodation can be rented at CEGEP de Matane , 616 ave St-Redempteur (tel 562-1240; up to $40), while Auberge la Seigneurie , at 621 ave St-Jerome (tel 562-0021 or 1-877/783-4466; $40-60), and Gite du Phare , 984 ave du Phare ouest (tel 562-6606; $40-60), are both good B&Bs . Most of Matane's hotels and motels are pricey: Le Beach , 1441 rue Matane-sur-Mer (tel 562-1350; $40-60), is the least expensive of the lot but it isn't nearly as nice as Belle Plage on the same street, at no. 1310 (tel 562-2323 or 1-888/244-2323; summer only; $60-80), which has a good restaurant and is right on the sea. There's a municipal campsite south of the centre of town at 150 rte Louis-Felix-Dionne (tel 562-3414; $12.16 for two-person site; mid-June to Aug). The Cafes du Monde , 338 ave St-Jerome, has a nice atmosphere and serves panini . Across the river, the Bistro de l'Estuaire , 50 rue d'Amours, is the place to go for mussels, and Italia Pizzeria , 101 St-Pierre, serves good pizza. From Matane, car ferries run to Godbout (April-Dec: 1-3 trips daily; Jan-March: Mon-Sat 1 daily; 2hr 10min; $11.85 single, $28.35 for cars); and Baie-Comeau (April-Dec: 1-2 trips daily; Jan-March: 4 per week; 2hr 20min; $11.85 single, cars $28.35) on the Cote-Nord . Call 562-2500 or 1-877/562-6560 for sailing times.
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