Ile de Madeleine, Quebec. Welcome to this beautiful archipelago, 80 miles west of PEI, a five hour ferry ride to a magical land.
The island is full of great places to kayak
The land has broken free and yet belongs to the sea
Light houses abound
A funny sign worth paying attention to! Cliffs are higher than in PEI!
In every corner there's an end of the road and the beginning of the sea
Sense of openness in meadows (buttes) and dales (sillons)
les buttes et les sillons, hills and vales, make up even the linking sandways
Everything gets old, but in a charming way
The sand dunes blow a lonely sense.
Bike trail, one. Well, not really. More like a goat path. But, oh, so gorgeous! Better to walk.
Bike trail, two. Look at the views and don't worry about gliding off the edge. Hum!
Cliffs and sea
A beach goes on and on and on
Life's a beach au ile de Madeleine
Facing the waves, a lone cormorant thinks about his next move
Beach town--Ile du Havre Aubert.
Close up of Ile du Havre Aubert' beach.
Ile de Cap aux Meules from the spit between this entry ile et ile du havre aux Maisons. Meules means grindstone--go figure?
View from Havre aux Maisons
On the bay
Along the road
Notice the lack of trees. There is a stunted forest in the middle of the larger islands
On the loud side!
Matching boat. Tradition has it that fishermen paint their boats and houses the same color so both can be seen: boat from shore; house from sea. Brings joy to those fishing in the deep and need to have a sense that home is near.
Yellow House to match the boat. Tradition.
No porches, no garages were the norm. So much wind, no point in sitting outside.
Porch of our B&B on Ile de Havre Maison, Le Butte Ronde. Fantastic setting and delicious breakfasts. Highly recommend.
View from our B&B window
Purple House. We could not think of a colour not seen in the paint jobs on Ile du Madeleine.
Back yard of B&B
Laundry hangs freely everywhere. Pottery from the island reflects this with brightly painted houses boasting blowing laundry as the theme.
Red and green house
This old house
More colour
Yellow and rust
Blue house
Barn and green house and hay for the cows. Barn of the only 5 star restaurant on the island. Fantastic food and excellent conversation: half in French; more than half in English. Eat here: Le Tables des Roy. (not roi). Really, really delicious and the wine. . .!
Shops in a village - au Havre-Aubert
Grand House on a hill
Reminiscent of home on PEI
Largest wooden church in Quebec and, of course, on the islands
Sign of Acadia
Wind
Colored to match a house
Personality!
Sense of the past
Nice walks through dunes introduced us to scary fingers on the dwarfed evergreens
Likin' the lichen, dunes
Cranberries for the pickin'
Heavy on God. A cross on the highest hill of each little island. Only saw one small Baptist Church, but lots of Catholic institutions of all kinds.
AT THE MUSEE de la MER: Singin' in the wind. Welcome to part of the displays at the Ile du Madeleine aquarium. Excellent way to learn about the wildlife of the sea near the island.
Hi, there!
Enough is enough. Where's the fish?
Dark mode
I'll be seeing you in all the old familiar places
Ile du Madeleine's aquarium. Welcome.
Lots of buttes and meadows everywhere
coastal route
Beach debris.
back yard
LE SALON DE THE, LE FLANEUR: Wimsey by Authure at her restaurant in Estang du Nord. Next group of pictures shows her art.
Welcome to Etang du Nord (an area, not really north, but more in the center). This scene welcomes all to Le Salon de The, Le Flaneur,a restaurant with the best apple cheesecake in the world and the most lively, expressive art I've seen in a longtime. All the creation of island artist Arthure. The next few pictures are from the cafe and museum.
Maison au Arthure, Dolls she created seated among guests
Corner nook for tea
From Cinderella
Collection
Joanna & Charlie in the imagination of someone who never met either one!
Joanna, now, in my imagination
Susan
Kate or Sissy?
Lynne
Dad, anybody's
Chef and Dad
Island character
Albert
You name him with artist's Dad in painting. We all know someone who looks like this, yes?
Herb
How I'd love to name this one! Wouldn't you?. . .
. . .OR this one
Laundry made famous on the island
Mystical sea woman.
Wimsey, two
Un autre, au revoir!
Fishermen honored.
Sandman, one
Sailor
Looking for land
One cafe where I got to sing when a charming French pianist started to play. Fun for me and something special. Cafe de la Grave, Havre-Aubert
Local flora
Traditions
Cormourants
Keeping the traps dry
Crab traps
No nonsense levee in the Madeleines. Gotta keep that water back. John took notes.
John musing!
