Photos: July 27, 2016
I still remember my mother telling me that she learned of the St. Lawrence River in geography class as one of the great rivers of the world (this was in Russia in the 1920s). When you are this close to the mouth of the river it is incredible how expansive it is; it is easy to see its majesty and its beauty. The shoreline has stories to tell - time before our history, written in the boulders and rocky expanses, stories of the explorers who "discovered" this land that had been populated long before their arrival, tales of shipwrecks such as the Empress of Ireland which sits not far from here at the bottom of the river.
Sailors have long plied these waters fishing, transporting goods and bringing people to start new lives in North America.
Our road trip took us along the Matapédia River, one of the great salmon rivers in Quebec. This covered bridge was built in 1931
A walk through it is looking at geometry in action.
In New Brunswick we stopped at Petit-Rocher on the Baie des Chaleurs. This part of New Brunswick is the Acadian area. Many of the original Acadians had been expelled after the British conquest (some ended up in Louisiana - hence the Cajans); some returned while others managed to stay. The descendants of these original French settlers made lives here. The people in this area honour the Acadian culture.
You can often see blue, white and red objects celebrating the colours of the Acadian flag. We saw brightly painted fishing shacks, fences, and even chairs.
The pride in their background is obvious!
We passed many weather-beaten houses and barns. This one sported a modern accessory - a satellite dish - the old house embracing new technology. Our final destination - Caraquet.
