New Brunswick's Acadian Coast and Québec's Gaspésie

Percé Rock, Gaspé

After Charlottetown, we decided to drive up New Brunswick's Acadian coast. Both Nova Scotia and PEI  (and, indeed, Québec) have historical and current connections to L'Acadie, but nowhere as strong as in New Brunswick. New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province in Canada.

French language (specifically, the Acadian dialect, and sometimes the hybrid chiac) and the Acadian Flag (often flown together with the Canadian flag) were predominant along the Acadian coast. Views on the drive were lovely, towns/villages very tidy. (We found it interesting that we never saw fences between houses in Acadia.) Lobster seemed king along this coast (Shediac calls itself the lobster capital of the world). We're glad to finally visit this vibrant community.

Flag of Acadia (adopted in 1884)

Shediac's "Largest lobster in the world" Left to right: Flags of Canada, New Brunswick, L'Acadie, and Shediac.

After Acadia, we decided to continue around Québec's Gaspé peninsula. It was Québec's "Fête National" (or St. Jean Baptiste day) and Québec's blue and white fleur-de-lis provincial flag was everywhere (usually without a nearby Canadian flag). Gaspé's most famous site is the Rocher Percé (Percé Rock), out near the end of the peninsula. The rock is indeed beautiful, though the village, while quaint, was rather overtouristed. For us, the whole Gaspé coastline, south and north, was stunning. Beautiful villages, tiny harbours, dramatic vistas, this 800+ km "detour" was worth it!

South coast of Gaspé

Percé Rock, from a different angle

Village on Gaspé north coast

After Gaspé, we headed West, stopping again in Québec city for one night, then off to Ontario (Kingston).

Big Left Turn: Westward Ho!

Fin... the end of travelling East

Reached the end(s) of Gaspé today (both Percé and Cap des Rosiers). From now on, we are heading West, towards home. 

Not sure which route or, if any, detours we will take, but after nearly 12000 km to date (11283 km to be exact), we've only got 5500-6000 km left to go.... 🙄

The Maritimes...

Fundy fish boats dried out at low tide (Alma, NB)

After crossing the border into New Brunswick, we had lunch in Saint John, then headed to Alma (NB) to check out the Bay of Fundy's "world's highest" tides. We were impressed: they are indeed huge!

Boats re-floated at high(er) tide (Alma, NB)

We then headed over to Nova Scotia, with plans to camp for a couple of nights at Five Islands Provincial Park, another good place to observe the Fundy tides. A very windy first night turned out to be fortunate, as the following windless morning brought out the many biting flies. With heavy rain forecast for our second night of camping, we decided to decamp in the early afternoon and head to Halifax.

Camping at Five Islands Provincial Park (NS)

Red Head, Five Islands (NS)

Halifax was another "return" for David. In September 1979, David flew off to Halifax to start a Masters degree at Dalhousie University. But it didn't work out (he and his supervisor didn't "work well" together... hah, that's putting it nicely), and he left Halifax by early January to start a Ph.D. at the University of Ottawa (which did work out very well...). So it was especially poignant for David that we stayed in the Dalhousie student residences while visiting Halifax on this trip.

We spent a lot of time in Halifax, and enjoyed this very livable city. We also took a day trip to visit Lunenburg, Mahone Bay, Peggy's Cove, etc. We were early enough in the season to be able to enjoy/appreciate Peggy's Cove without it being totally overrun with tourists.

University of King's College, Halifax (Canada's oldest chartered university: 1788)

The iconic "Bluenose II" in Halifax harbour (heading to the Great Lakes the next day)

Peggy's Cove, NS

Peggy's Cove, NS

Lunenburg, NS

After Halifax, we headed up to Cape Breton. Drove around much of the island, including one night camping in Cape Breton Highlands National Park (where we swarmed by flies, with both of us receiving many bites... camping is just not working out on this trip...). Our visit to Louisbourg National Historic Site was a letdown, partly because it wasn't fully open (Parks Canada again) but also because we are not much enthused by such a reconstruction and reenactment of 18th century life. But its history is fascinating and the location and surrounding countryside are spectacular. In contrast, we very much enjoyed our visit to the Alexander Graham Bell museum in Baddeck. Finally, the scenery along the Cabot Trail was spectacular (unfortunately, we didn't dare step outside our car due to the clouds of ravenous flies).

Reconstructed Fortress Louisbourg, Cape Breton, NS

The best part of our visit to Louisbourg... freindly goats!

Cape Breton has some strangely named places...

Broad Cove, Cabot Trail, Cape Breton Island (Lobster boats picking up traps)

Next stop was Pictou (NS), on the way to Prince Edward Island (PEI). We had not planned to visit PEI on this trip, but decided it just wouldn't be right to miss it (we've already visited Newfoundland and Labrador in a previous trip). We drove the 13-km-long Confederation Bridge connecting PEI to New Brunswick (the ferry schedule from Pictou didn't work out; indeed, we arrived on PEI before the ferry would have left Pictou). PEI is the 9th province we travelled to/in on this trip.

Gotta have lobster when in the Maritimes...

We are currently in Charlottetown, PEI. It is a tiny and cute city. Province House, where the plan for the Confederation of Canada was first conceived/planned is currently closed for renovations by Parks Canada (seems to be the year for this sort of thing...). And it is pouring rain. We drove around the island in the rain, saw lots of red mud (home of Bud the Spud), cute harbours, something called "Green Gables" 😉, lots of "Anne" this and that, and drove through Malpeque (famous for oysters).

Heading back across the Confederation Bridge tomorrow (and its $48 1-way toll), planning to drive up New Brunswick's Acadian Coast.

Back home in Canada...

Ron Terada,
You Have Left the American Sector, 2005.
 National Gallery of Canada,

By most accounts, we had a good visit with family (Michelle's brother and family). All are doing well (or much much better). Lot's of good humour and nobody got their eye poked out. People in the US were very nice to us (in addition to family, of course 😉). Everything is quite expensive down in the USA (except gas), especially for Canadians with C$. Even groceries. One thing that surprised us was that craft beer and hard liquor (such as our favourite rum: El Dorado 12-year) was more costly down here than back home in BC (definitely taking into consideration the US-Canada dollar difference, but sometimes even without); however, large-market beers (such as Bud) and many Californian wines were cheaper.

In so many ways, it was like going back in time. Back to Long Island NY not that far from the Bronx where David worked in the late 80s to mid-90s. Back to where recycling (and god forbid, composting) doesn't really happen. Back to quaint, archaic measures such as gallons, miles and Fahrenheit. Back to a time and place where credit cards don't have any security (they don't have chips on US cards) and they haven't heard of "the machine" that a waiter brings to the table to pay (When David described it to our waiter at a fancy restaurant on Long Island, he was incredulous, not really believing...).

Technologically, and in so many other ways, so far behind. We had a good time with family, but it is good to be back in Canada.

Entering New Brunswick, back home in Canada...

A brief visit to the Eastern Townships, then South to the USA (twice)

Michelle with right foot in Canada and left foot in USA (Haskell Free Library)

After leaving Québec city, we headed south. First to Sherbrooke, where we needed an oil change for the car (6000+ kms on this trip), then to North Hatley on Lake Massawippi, where stayed in a very cute auberge.

Next day, we headed to the Canada-USA border. We actually crossed it twice. The first crossing, an unofficial one, was entering the Haskell Free Library from Stanstead Quebec, via its front door located in Derby Line, Vermont. Quite a unique place, the building was purposely built to straddle the border, with a line on the floor down the middle of the building denoting the USA-Canada border. One is allowed to enter from either Québec or Vermont without reporting to Customs. If one comes
in from Canada, you must stay on the sidewalk and return to Canada immediately upon leaving the building. The border outside is marked by flowerpots on the street. Very unusual. Harkens back to a time when the USA looked upon Canada (and Canadians) as trusted friends.

Stanstead Québec/Derby Line Vermont border flowerpots

After Stanstead, we formally entered the USA, being interviewed by two women CBP officers, easily the friendliest USA Customs officers we have ever met. An enjoyable conversation actually.

Then we started the drive south into the USA. The further south we drove, the more the experience "descended" into chaos. Hades, here we come.

Québec city to Saguenay and back to Québec city

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Québec, from the Lévis ferry

Next stop was Québec (city), where we stayed 3 nights in the Vieux Port area. Michelle's first time here. It's a beautiful place to walk around. Again, we had some excellent meals. Fortunately, the walking helped with some of the calories. 

Le Moine Échanson: Our favourite meal in Québec

Québec (from the Port)

We also paid a visit to the Lévis fortifications. It required the ferry and then quite a long walk. Unfortunately, a little misinformation from Parks Canada over on the Québec city side didn't inform us the fortifications were not yet open. Nevertheless, we got a good look around (and in) them. These fortifications (part of three built across the river from Québec City) are different in that they were specifically built to protect Canada from the Americans. Hey Donald! We built a wall first... needed back in the 1700s and 1800s, and perhaps it'll be needed again.

Lévis Fortifications: Protection from American invaders...

Looking across St. Lawrence river at Québec from Lévis

After Québec city, we decided to visit the Saguenay region, Northeast of Québec. Saguenay is a fjord, famous for its beluga and other whales. It would also be an area where our French language ablities (inabilties) would come out.

We camped for 2 nights at Tadoussac. Had one night with huge winds and pouring rain, but our tent held up and the sun was out by morning. We did a nice walk around the dunes. The town itself is very cute (site of the first French settlement in 1599, but only 16 of 50 settlers survived the first winter). Now there is an excellent microbrewery (Microbrasserie de Tadoussac); their "Triplette" Triple Belge is SO good! (Perhaps this says too much about us that our favourite part of Tadoussac is the microbrewery....) 

Selfie looking West towards Tadoussac (with dunes visible)

Looking East up the St. Lawrence River (from Tadoussac dunes)

We drove all around the Saguenay fjord. Up the East side to Chicoutimi (now amalgamated as "Saguenay") then down the West side. (The West side is more photogenic.) We had a bit of an adventure after booking what we thought was a room with a kitchenette but turned out to be a room plus a bathroom and kitchen we would share with the (very nice) landlady and her cat. David is very allergic to cats (and dogs). Fortunately she was understanding (she didn't charge us) and our broken French didn't spoil things. We consulted Agoda and Booking.com and then continued on for another 45 minutes and found a lovely fully-equipped cabin for 2 nights in L'Anse-Saint-Jean (where David's French was truly tested; hey, we got the cabin we wanted, so that says something, n'est-ce pas?).

Looking up the Saguenay (near L'Anse-de-Roche)

After 2 nights in L'Anse-Saint-Jean, we drove (in pouring rain) back to Québec city, where we are now. Tomorrow we head south towards Sherbrooke and then our detour to visit family on Long Island, New York.