Finally, an update! We left Newfoundland as expected, the day after we were "stormed in." We visited more of Nova Scotia, went quickly back through New Brunswick and Quebec, and are now in Southern Ontario, on the verge of hitting Toronto.
Remember, as you go through the blog, to *click* on images you want to see better. They should enlarge when you click on them. Especially worth clicking on are the long, narrow photos, which are panoramic views of some sort or another.
Returning to our journey in a chronological route, here's some of what we saw in New Brunswick as we made our way along on the route east, after Quebec.
Let's start with a few images from along the road ...
Surrinder had zero preconceived ideas about New Brunswick, and Beresford/Bathurst proved to be a great introduction to the Maritimes.
Shamir had learned from Deb Lane in Manitoba that a high school classmate was now based in Bathurst. Shamir hadn't seen her for about 35 years. Not only was Mariane Paquet delighted to hear from him, she opened up her fabulous home and heart to us. We will remember her kindness and generosity for some time to come!
We spent 5 days enjoying the beautiful beach, exquisite food, great company, music, and wine ... it was hard to leave. She gave us a break from the van at an opportune time in the journey -- it was nice to live in a house again for a few days. Mariane had a huge yard with a wonderful vegetable garden, literally a short block from the beach.
Surrinder thoroughly enjoyed the garden and tried not miss her own so much!
And we went for two walks on the beach in one day!
Surrinder took the opportunity to bake muffins, peach/yogurt and bran/raisin ... 30 muffins in total! She definitely misses baking and having an oven! We also made lots of popcorn the old fashioned way ... in a large soup pot with oil and a lid -- very tasty!
Mariane introduced us to her neighbour, Lorenzo, who made us an authentic Acadian seafood chowder ... one bowl and we were full!
We joined Mariane and Lorenzo in a long drive to a concert at the renowned Lameque International Baroque Music Festival. Though the rains were ultra-heavy that day, Lorenzo showed us so much about his native Acadian fishing coast that our spirits were not dampened, so to speak.
The church was unusual -- have a look at the interior colours. Surrinder thought it ugly, but Shamir liked it. The four of us were unanimous that the music was glorious, however! The young soprano, Samantha Louis-Jean, had a beautiful voice and was simply gorgeous (she looked a little bit like Bree, our daughter-in-law).
We were also treated to a local day trip to a beautiful nearby falls:
We left Bathurst with full hearts and bigger bellies! Surrinder feels very grateful for all the wonderful friends and family Shamir has brought into her life.
We continued to explore New Brunswick along the coast and ran into a soap factory -- Olivier Soapery. Along with demonstrations of soap-making and a tour of the factory, we took advantage of their exterior hot shower facilities, to test out the soaps we had bought!
Further along, we stopped for the night at Pointe Sapin, across from a man-made fishing harbour. We were able to watch the lobster fishermen bringing their thousands of traps to the wharves, getting ready for the lobster opening a few days later.
The next morning, we walked along the beach nearby, seeing marvellous rock formations, sea-tossed lobster traps ... even a beautiful church nearby.
Continuing along the coast, we stopped at Kouchibougouac National Park, taking in some salt marshes and more beautiful beaches.
To end our visit to New Brunswick, we "u-picked" some delicious low growing blueberries.
As for the title of this post ... we didn't realize that New Brunswick is the only province whose official policy ... and practice ... is to be fully bilingual. You hear a lot of French in parts of Ontario, Nova Scotia, even PEI and small parts of Newfoundland (in addition to pockets in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) ... but only New Brunswick makes if a formal province-wide policy. And Quebec is officially unilingually French. Vive le Nouveau Brunswick!
Remember, as you go through the blog, to *click* on images you want to see better. They should enlarge when you click on them. Especially worth clicking on are the long, narrow photos, which are panoramic views of some sort or another.
Returning to our journey in a chronological route, here's some of what we saw in New Brunswick as we made our way along on the route east, after Quebec.
Let's start with a few images from along the road ...
Surrinder had zero preconceived ideas about New Brunswick, and Beresford/Bathurst proved to be a great introduction to the Maritimes.
Shamir had learned from Deb Lane in Manitoba that a high school classmate was now based in Bathurst. Shamir hadn't seen her for about 35 years. Not only was Mariane Paquet delighted to hear from him, she opened up her fabulous home and heart to us. We will remember her kindness and generosity for some time to come!
We spent 5 days enjoying the beautiful beach, exquisite food, great company, music, and wine ... it was hard to leave. She gave us a break from the van at an opportune time in the journey -- it was nice to live in a house again for a few days. Mariane had a huge yard with a wonderful vegetable garden, literally a short block from the beach.
Surrinder thoroughly enjoyed the garden and tried not miss her own so much!
And we went for two walks on the beach in one day!
Surrinder took the opportunity to bake muffins, peach/yogurt and bran/raisin ... 30 muffins in total! She definitely misses baking and having an oven! We also made lots of popcorn the old fashioned way ... in a large soup pot with oil and a lid -- very tasty!
Mariane introduced us to her neighbour, Lorenzo, who made us an authentic Acadian seafood chowder ... one bowl and we were full!
We joined Mariane and Lorenzo in a long drive to a concert at the renowned Lameque International Baroque Music Festival. Though the rains were ultra-heavy that day, Lorenzo showed us so much about his native Acadian fishing coast that our spirits were not dampened, so to speak.
The church was unusual -- have a look at the interior colours. Surrinder thought it ugly, but Shamir liked it. The four of us were unanimous that the music was glorious, however! The young soprano, Samantha Louis-Jean, had a beautiful voice and was simply gorgeous (she looked a little bit like Bree, our daughter-in-law).
We were also treated to a local day trip to a beautiful nearby falls:
We left Bathurst with full hearts and bigger bellies! Surrinder feels very grateful for all the wonderful friends and family Shamir has brought into her life.
We continued to explore New Brunswick along the coast and ran into a soap factory -- Olivier Soapery. Along with demonstrations of soap-making and a tour of the factory, we took advantage of their exterior hot shower facilities, to test out the soaps we had bought!
Further along, we stopped for the night at Pointe Sapin, across from a man-made fishing harbour. We were able to watch the lobster fishermen bringing their thousands of traps to the wharves, getting ready for the lobster opening a few days later.
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| Daytime view ... |
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| Same scene at night! |
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| The weather can be severe ... |
Continuing along the coast, we stopped at Kouchibougouac National Park, taking in some salt marshes and more beautiful beaches.
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| Look closely at the family ... look for "concrete" evidence of their activity ... |
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| Family Guy watchers ... now you know where "Quahog" comes from ... |
One final observation ... in the Superstores in Atlantic Canada, you can buy freshly baked bread ... choose how you want to slice it. See below ...
