At the Acadian Village

Photos July 29, 2016

We spent much of the day at the Acadian Village. Old buildings from different areas where the Acadians settled have been relocated here. Currently the oldest dates from 1770 (it was being installed) and the newest from the mid twentieth century. To quote the site, the Village is "A living museum portraying the daily lives of the Acadians from 1770 to 1949." There are people in costumes who go about life as it would have been led at the time of the buildings where they are located. They are not acting. You can have conversations with them. One in particular touched me - she was in the home of her great-grandfather. She spoke about how even the gardens at each household are planted only with the vegetables that would have been grown where those houses were originally located.



The people work at the gardens, saw wood, cook meals and eat them, make rope, care for animals etc.



One woman was working with wool - washing the freshly sheared wool. She explained the process she goes through from washing all the way to dying it. There was a pot ready dye some newly spun wool which was soaking - the better to absorb the dye, we were told. She uses the recipes that would have been used in the mid 1800s.



The women prepare meals, wash the dishes and do a variety of other chores.



There is livestock - each farm seemed to have its share of chickens!



In part of the village there were tradespeople - a tavern, grocery store, etc. This is the grist mill.



We walked through a covered bridge which then took us to the early twentieth century complete with a hotel and a gas station.

I found this an interesting concept - it was not a village frozen in time but rather slices of life from different areas and different eras.



The day ended with another concert at Église Ste-Cécile - I found the sober pictures of the priests along with these portrayals of the stations of the cross somewhat incongruous on the wildly painted walls. I guess it just adds to the hallucinatory effect of the place.

In and Around Caraquet

Photos: July 28, 2016

What a great way to start a day that combined nature and sublime music, sunshine and driving rain, a rustic restaurant and a church full of surprises.



We are staying in this hotel which dates from 1891. While it is well-appointed to modern standards, it retains much of the old charms.



A walk in the morning took us past a spot for resting, or so I thought. Each bench had a sign complete with QR code indicating what exercises you could be doing at each bench - a keep fit park!



Swaths of flowers fill the meadows and meet the coastline. These flowers are common in the Laurentians in Quebec, where I spent my summers for over 30 years. I always see them with some nostalgia.




Cormorants and seagulls like the rocks which peek out of the water. They come and go, jockeying for positions on their favourite perches.



The skies turned dark and the temperature plummeted. We stopped for supper on Île Miscou at this quirky place - not much more than a shack. The walls were covered with old photographs of local fishermen as well as writing from the many people who have passed through here. The specialty here is local seafood all of which is served on styrofoam plates (not too ecological).

Our evening's destination was Église Ste-Cécile, home of the Lameque Baroque Festival. This church is a perfect example of not judging a book by its cover. This traditional exterior hides a riot of colour.



One woman described it to me as "it looks like the gumdrop factory exploded in here."  There is not a centimetre of white space. You can read about it here in French. This wild decor was the creation of Paul Gauvin under the auspices of the curé, Gérard D'Astous and was done in 1968.



Nothing can prepare you for this psychedelic church.




The purple tinge comes from the lights for the concert which was the reason for our visit there. It is always a joy to hear some of my favourite young musicians and to see them develop into very competent professionals. The concert was entitled: Stormy Winds (flute, recorder, oboe, bassoon with accompaniment on cello and harpsichord). While the drive home wasn't windy, it was certainly stormy! Perhaps a dark reprieve from the many colours of the evening.