Saint-Maxime-du-Mont-Louis: The Bay of the Daring

Just the thought of rolling along Highway 132 in Haute-Gaspésie makes me happy. On one side lies the seemingly endless Gulf of St. Lawrence; on the other, the majestic Chic Choc Mountains. I’m on a ribbon of asphalt between the two, and the fresh salt spray announces itself when I open the car window. It’s a rainy day, and thick mist hanging over the sea and the mountains makes the tableau particularly poetic.

Saint-Maxime-du-Mont-Louis is located in a bay about 60 km from Sainte-Anne-des-Monts. It was an important fishing outpost in the 17th century, thanks to the goodwill of Denis Riverin, a French merchant and high-ranking official. With partners, he founded the Compagnie de Mont-Louis, which fished and processed cod. The village’s economy today is more diversified, ranging from cultural offerings to vegetable production, but fish processing remains a thriving industry. Entering Mont-Louis from the west side, you first glimpse the fishing docks, the Cusimer fish market and processing factory, then the Atkins et Frères smokehouse.

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The atmosphere inside is as bright as the exterior of the building, and its shelves are lined with local products. It’s a favourite spot for people driving through as well as outdoor enthusiasts who are feeling peckish. European tourists often stop here, too, when such things are possible.

Asselin is 42 years old and set down roots in Saint-Maxime-du-Mont-Louis 15 years ago. She sees a great many reasons to adore this little corner of Gaspésie. “The sea and backcountry are gorgeous — a grandiose playground. You have everything you need, the village life is beautiful, people help each other out, and I know the families of all of my employees. All that’s missing is tourist development, but we’re working on that.”

The innkeeper previously lived in Montréal for several years, working in restaurants and bars. “Whenever I had vacation time, I wanted to be in nature. I was tired of the city. So I decided to make the move, and the water drew me to Mont-Louis.” Asselin is not the only one to give herself a fresh start here where the sea and mountains meet.

Her inn has worn many faces since it opened in 2013. Before the pandemic, it was a restaurant as well. “It worked great for a time. I used to serve amazing breakfasts. But when the cost of ingredients increased, it became no longer viable. I also lacked the staff, so I was filling in by working 120 hours per week. I was exhausted. The pandemic let me slow down and restructure. I wouldn’t have been able to stop on my own. The café was where people gathered.” Though the restaurant is no longer running, L’Amarré’s terrasse — with its breathtaking view of the river and the bay — has remained, and you can still enjoy a local beer or espresso along with the landscape.

Asselin now runs a gourmet deli counter in lieu of the restaurant. She offers dishes chock full of local products, like her Thai salad with shrimp or halibut steak with beurre blanc. Her fresh vegetables come from the local market gardening company Les Jardins Taureau & Bélier and RAC co-op.

The change of pace did Asselin a lot of good: “I’ve got a life again, and I’ve rediscovered my passion for cooking,” she says with a smile, having also picked up a boyfriend and a new chef in the process. Asselin is here to stay. She plans to add outdoor activities and culinary workshops to L’Amarré’s offerings, which will serve to attract tourists to this village that everyone who visits seems to want to return to.

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I’m there to meet Yanik Élément, founder and director of La Pointe Sec. It’s raining cats and dogs. Between the swishing windshield wipers, I spy a huge mauve building, wild roses, the river, and lobster fishers lifting their traps not far from the shore.

Élément ushers me in through “Face b,” the small performance room that serves as a gathering place year-round. Soon, it will be the site of a village bar, where you’ll be able to enjoy tapas and local spirits. It’s meant to take over for L’Amarré, so that a four-season social space remains in the village. Élément has hired a young couple who have just arrived in Mont-Louis to run the bar. “The pandemic has given us a good boost. People in their twenties have moved out here. I like to believe that La Pointe Sec is a draw; culture is the best way to add life to a village.”

Élément is originally from here. He left his hometown at 17 to study music at university and to travel. In 2007 he wanted to settle down somewhere and bought the old, 5,000-square-foot cold store. For the next three years, he travelled back and forth between Montréal and Mont-Louis to renovate the building. “I’d never so much as touched a hammer before! I’m a jazz saxophonist . . . I have a sort of creative fervour. My father is a craftsman, and he showed me how to do some things. I learned new skills. I refitted everything inside the building by myself with recycled wood because I couldn’t afford new materials. But it yields unbeatable acoustics and makes the décor unique.”

Finally, in 2010, Yanik Élément returned to live in the village where he was born. He held his first year of programming, which featured emerging and local artists, in 2012. With help from the Machine à Truc co-op, which develops cultural and artistic events, he created the Festival Gaspésien de Contes et Légendes (Tales and Legends Festival of Gaspésie) and the Festival tout mélangé (All Mixed Up Festival).

La Pointe Sec also features a loft for artists’ residencies, and they’re working on developing a little studio. During the warmer months, the large concert room is open to the public, who flock to it, sometimes from great distances.

It’s set to become legendary.

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The company was founded by Charles and James Henry Atkins, two wandering brothers from the Eastern Townships who fell in love with Saint-Maxime-du-Mont-Louis. They’ve since sold the business to Guillaume Thibault, who’s currently the captain of the ship.

Thibault is originally from Brittany, France. He met James Henry in Gaspé, quite by chance. It was an encounter that changed his life. He moved to Canada with his sweetheart, Marina, and worked for Atkins et Frères for a few years before acquiring the company in 2013. He was 33 years old at the time: “Becoming an entrepreneur had never been my goal, but now I can’t imagine doing anything else.” Thibault takes the same care as the Atkins brothers in making quality products and maintaining a warm, welcoming environment. The salmon they use comes from New Brunswick: “I like that it’s fresh and local, and that I can offer a 100 per cent Canadian product.”

About 15 people from in and around Mont-Louis work for Atkins et Frères. The smokehouse runs year-round, as does its attached boutique. Thibault continues to grow the business in new, beautiful ways: soon, it will also be an “economuseum” teaching visitors the precious know-how behind the products they so adore.

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Strolling along the beach, I recall Yanik Élément’s words of pride about the proactive, upstanding, and daring character of his community. He likes the people who come to visit, too — a lively, interested crew. “Adventure tourists are also frequent visitors — they’re really daring people. You have to be a bit crazy to jump off Mont-Saint-Pierre on a hang-glider. That’s the alternative, indomitable side of Gaspésie. I love it!”