Blogs from Îles de la Madeleine, Quebec, Canada, North America

Having visited three islands in one day, I could slow down a bit as I had only one main island yet to visit. I decided to revisit the highlights of Cap-aux-Meules including visits to Plage du Nord, Bel Anse (to view the majestic red rocks from high), L'Etang du Nord lighthouse and Plage du Corfu Island. All easily merited an additional, more leisurely visit. Thus, you may notice some familiar photos from my earlier blogs. Additionally, I visited Parc des Bucks, a lovely hiking area in downtown Cap-aux-Meules. I hiked 3 or 4 trails, basically followed various trails around the perimeter of the park. It took a little over an hour. The trails have good signage but tend to be "rooty" so care has to be taken with your footing. Was one of the first times ... read more

Am visiting Iles de La Madeleine for a week; numerous islands in the Gulf of St Lawrence belonging to Quebec, Canada. Since there are seven main islands to the archipelago, I figured a full day per island would be sufficient. Living In New Brunswick Canada, a drive to Souris PEI, then a five hour ferry ride to Cap-aux-Meules, on Cap-Aux-Meules Island was all it took. I dedicated the first day to Cap- Aux-Meules Island. Following a quick visit to the helpful information centre, my first activity was the Sentier du littoral (Coastal Trail). A lovely trail in town. Two km long, it follows the coastline with wonderful views of the red cliffs and access to two sandy beaches where you can beachcomb and visit the unique red rock formations. At the start of the trail there ... read more

Havre-Aubert, 2 août Les Madelinots et les touristes étaient nombreux sur La Grave en ce bel après-midi d'un été enfin arrivé aux îles. Le Festival Acadien soulignait son vingt-cinquième anniversaire et la très populaire course des petits bateaux est encore aujourd'hui un moment de pur plaisir. La quinzaine d'équipe inscrite avait quatre heures pour construire une embarcation, disons plutôt quelque chose qui flotte, avant de se lancer dans la course. Chaque équipe devait secourir son « Évangeline », échouée sur un ponton au milieu de la baie, et la ramener saine et sauve à bon port. La plupart des équipages réussirent l'exploit mais certains naufrages firent le grand bonheur de la foule massée le long du rivage et l'ambiance était véritablement à la fête. Les gens d'ici, qui sont Acadiens d'abord et avant tout, conservent une ... read more

Hi, All -- One afternoon while driving around the Islands, we stopped at a quaint little house for tea and cake and met the owner / server & cook / artist who sat and talked with us for awhile. The next day we returned and she showed us her "gallery" in the basement (which had been dug out by her and her brothers). There she had gathered a number of her portraits of colorful residents. Next to each stood a full sized replica of that person with a sculpted face and hands, hair, in some cases arms and legs, dressed in their uniform or other attire. You can see in the first photo one of her creations -- though probably not a resident. The painting of the cats is probably the best I've ever seen; she ... read more

Hi, All -- First of all, I don't went to confuse you. We've been home for over two weeks. During the last half of our trip we had almost no Wifi connections so I couldn't send anything out on the internet. And after we got home, we had a lot of stuff to do. So here is my late blog of Iles de la Madeleine, a most magical place. Paula ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ In the 13 years Bob and I have been traveling, we found the Iles de la Madeleine (Magdalene Islands in English) to be the most enchanting, picturesque place we’ve visited in the eastern half of North America. We’ve spent the past five days here and it’s b... read more