And Getting Home

Photos: August 21, 2016

This river has travelled from Lake Ontario. We traced its course from Montreal to the Gulf which the west side of Newfoundland faces. Now we are going upstream, back home.

A quiet walk on a Sunday morning past the church for breakfast at our favourite restaurant. Then we set out - back to the traffic near the city, back to the noises of the city, back to reality.

Greeted by a rainbow, painted like a watercolour on the sky.



Back to the beauty that is all around us. Back to the many activities that make my life here rich from work, to music, to concerts and many other intellectual pursuits. And life with Paul at home. Travel enriches. It takes time to process all we have done and experienced and to solidify the memories through rehashing, telling our stories and just sitting back and remembering.

All our Maritime photos can be found at: Flickr

From Woodstock New Brunswick to St-Jean-Port-Joli

 


Photos: August 20, 2016

Sometimes a town surprises you. We stopped in Woodstock, New Brunswick and were surprised by the charm of the town. There are a number of older wood homes that have retained the history. In the centre of town are a beautiful library and court house. Despite the fact that some larger stores have opened on the outskirts nearer the highway, the centre seems to still be vibrant.




We walked around after a lovely breakfast at the local cafe / art gallery: Creek Village Gallery and Cafe (I also parted with a bit of money there supporting local artists with my purchase).
And then it was back in the car.



We stopped in St-Louis-du-Ha!Ha! and only found a bar - liquid refreshment (non-alcoholic) before we continued on. Yes - that is really the name of the town. According to Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Louis-du-Ha!_Ha!

The Commission de toponymie du Québec asserts that the parish's name refers to nearby Lake Témiscouata, the sense of haha here being an archaic French word for an unexpected obstacle or abruptly ending path...

Or read this



Our destination was St-Jean-Port-Joli, a town known for wood sculpture by local artisans. We enjoyed a little climb down to the shoreline. The town sits on what was once the seigneury of Port-Joly.

There is a restaurant we like here: La coureuse des grèves. The name comes from a legend which goes something like this:

Each summer in St-Jean-Port-Joli, a beautiful young woman with black hair and eyes the colour of the forest would bring gifts to the fishermen who arrived from the four corners of the world - berries, a loaf of bread, nuts, honey... It seems her home was full of wondrous things from around the world even though she had never left the town. Then one autumn she disappeared. Some say she left with a fisherman from the Far East. Others said she drowned. The local fishermen mourned her disappearance. The women rejoiced and hoped she would never return.

Day 187:St-Jean-Port-Joli

Day 187:St-Jean-Port-Joli, originally uploaded by susanvg.

St-Jean-Port-Joli is a picturesque town. The town dates back to the 1700s (the church was begun around 1771 - its architecture is still representative of the style of that time, though it has been redone since) Known for wood carving, local sculptors carved figures of farmers, fishermen, women baking – local life. Some became accomplished artists and carved magnificent friezes for churches as well as sculpture on religious themes; others chose to honour the more prosaic – the local carving museum boasts life size carvings of some 20th century politicians as well as Harry Potter.

Standing in front of the church manse, this tree trunk has become a sculpture . It is a tree of life, from birth to death just as the tree was born, grew and died and has now been reborn as a piece of art.