The Rock Stars Of Metis-sur-Mer

My touchstones of geological wonders on the Bas St. Laurent, Quebec

Mark Raynes Roberts

Standing alongside the gigantic “Goliath” monolith rock I named on Baie de Sable Beach.

I’m not thinking AC/DC, Van Halen, Motley Crue or even Black Sabbath, when I say there have been rock stars appearing on the shorelines of the St. Lawrence River for thousands of years. These are of the geological kind.

Returning to Metis-sur-mer is an annual - and important - ritual. Metis is a hamlet on the south shore of the river, where Montreal families have been coming since the late 19th century.

It is where the famed Jardin de Metis / Reford Gardens are located. Originally the property of Sir George Stephen, a financier of the railroads who built a fishing lodge here, it was bequeathed to his niece, Elsie Reford, in 1921. She transformed the grounds into glorious gardens, which thrived in the micro-climate. Under the stewardship of her great-grandson and historian, Alexander Reford, the gardens attract international visitors.

One never tires of walking Metis beach to discover the varied cornucopia of rock formations.

I‘ve been fortunate to have two exhibitions of both my crystal art, (War Flowers 2016) and paintings (Restoration 2022) at the Jardin de Metis.

However, I’m a newcomer to this magical region. I was introduced to it by Sarah in 2010 as her family has a long connection to Metis. As an artist, I was immediately drawn to its rugged landscape. Sarah initially told me that Metis wasn’t everyone’s “cup of tea.” It could rain a lot. Much fog. Stoney beaches. There was tennis and golf, though. And card games and fires even in summer on cold mornings. It sounded perfect…like most of my sodden summer holidays growing up in England!

Over the passage of time these huge monolith rocks have found homes along the shorelines.

The rocks were an immediate delight. I’ve loved them since childhood. My mother encouraged me to collect stones on a wet family holiday (I told you) in the highlands of Scotland. On our travels, we visited Loch Ness, Inverness, Glencoe, Ballachulish, Ben Nevis, Fort William, Oban and even traveled the rocky road to Mallaig. I returned with a bag full of treasures, which I then proceeded to varnish and display in my small bedroom after identifying each stone.

Rocks are cold; almost unknowable. But I find them intriguing - they hold deep secrets of beautifully-formed stratas. They are time, an invisible force, but here it is, encapsulated. Time has pressed ridges of molten matter into solidified forms. They have held perfect fossils of our planet’s narrative for thousands of years.

Rocks are miraculous story-tellers.

Another stunning sunset of a silhouetted Boule Rock as seen from Metis Beach, Metis-sur-Mer.

Geologist and paleontologist, Sir John William Dawson of McGill University (October 13, 1820 - November 19, 1899) - one of the first summering residents of Metis - is credited with being the first Canadian scientist to establish a worldwide reputation for his work in geology.

After a chance meeting with Sir Charles Lyall, (considered the father of modern geology) in Halifax in 1841, Dawson went on to become a leading educator at both Dalhousie College and at McGill College in Montreal, where he was principal and head of the natural history department. Between 1855 -1893, he transformed McGill into a leader in medicine, physics and chemistry.

As early as 1870, a “McGill contingent” headed to Metis-sur-mer, led by Dawson, to conduct a geological study of the St. Lawrence River.

Dawson dredged the beaches for geological specimens from deposits of the Palaeozoic period which lasted from 570 million to 245 million years ago. In 1875, he began spending his summers at his own cottage, “Birkenshaw,” where he wrote many of his books and scientific papers. In 1883, he brought his son-in-law, Prof. Bernard Harrington, a neighbouring cottage to facilitate discussion on their geological discoveries.

The direct descendants are now our friends, who live in their ancestors’ historic cottages.

One of the most spectacular examples of the agate that can be found on Metis Beach, Quebec.

These rocks have seen everything. They weather the storms of life quietly and patiently. There is security in the knowledge that they stand firm; that some things never change. People return here, and time collapses. They can remember playing as children on these rocks, scrambling across them or sitting in imaginary seats on a fantasy train.

A selection of some of the extraordinary geological strata found on Metis Beach, in Quebec.

Metis beach has an abundance of unusual rock formations. I am always amazed by how rock can appear like jagged sharks’ teeth and then farther down the beach, like the soft skin of an elephant. The colours vary from steely greys to terra cotta red and opaque surfaces where light can change their appearance.

A tradition Sarah and I have had for many years in Metis has been to hand-inscribe small beach stones as place markers at the table. (My years of copperplate engraving training at the Birmingham School of Jewellery comes in very handy.) Guests have to leave them in our “stone drawer” to ensure their next invitation. We have over 40 stones in Metis, and a growing collection already in Chester now!

Enjoying another glorious sunset at Leggatt Point near the Jardins de Metis / Reford Gardens.

Communities such as Metis-sur-mer and Chester matter. They’re anachronisms in many ways, inviting a nostalgia for a time when everyone knew each other and life was simpler. That’s a lovely thing.

The people. The rocks.

Compared to the millennia of the rocks on the shore, our lives are short, very short, a healthy reminder not to stress about things we cannot change.

This place reminds me daily of how grateful I am to be living life in the NOW.

Happy Canada Day for tomorrow in this blessed country we call home.

One last touch before I go!