Blogs from Quebec, Canada, North America - page 4

In this trip, we visit the Quebec's eastern regions of Bas St-Laurent and Gaspesie. First region sits in the estuary of St-Lawrence river and second one in the St-Lawrence gulf. First stop was 'Le bic' national park. It's a very scenic region, with cliffs, many small bays, emerging rocks, salt marshes, etc.... Park has many hiking trails of all difficulties along with bike trails. Sea kayak excursions are also possible. It's a good spot to observe sea birds. Seals are also to be seen, but they are shy and you need to be patient. There are 2 types of seals: common seal and gray seal. The common seal is smaller with a cute face and an all over pale grey color with small black spots. The gray seal is larger, darker and have a dog face. ... read more

We’re camping on the Ile-d’Orleans….and this blog today actually begins in the year 1579, in Outlines, Marne, Champagne-Ardenne, France. Jean Roy dit Desjardins (Joigny) (Lauzier) was my 11th great-grandfather, on my mother’s maternal side of the family. All we know about Jean Roy is that he seduced Marie-Marguerite Boucquenier (Brouchu) in January 1604, and did not marry her, although she gave him a son, Olivier Roy, who was born and baptised on October 2 1604 in Saint-Andre's Roman Catholic church in Joigny, France. Here is a link to a photo of the inside of that church today: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3580894#/media/File:Joigny_-_Eglise_Saint-André_2.jpg Olivier grew up in that region of France, and became a ‘Maître Tonnelier”; that is, a Cooper, or barrel maker. He married Ma... read more

For the last 3 years, we were supposed to go to Africa. It was the continent I have never been to and many family types of unique animals live there, that i have never seen in the wild. In end of 2019 and start of 2020, my wife hurt her foot bad, so we decided to go to a closer place instead. We went to Nicaragua. We are very familiar with central america as we went there many times before. Then pandemic started. No place out of country to go for 2 years. Finally start of this year, situation improved with COVID. Sadly, I went to hospital for some chest pain, and even if it wasn't serious in the end, my health insurance blocked me for 3 months. Then my wife went to hospital too a ... read more

The flight to Montreal reminded us that there are little people in the world. We found that some of the little people do not cope with being on a plane for 3 hours. Our ears and the co-passengers were subject to over two hours crying and screaming. The required face mask did not protect us! We stayed at Auberge du Vieux-Port which is in old Montreal and overlooking the harbor. Most of the buildings are converted warehouses from the 1800s with thick granite walls. Some of the sights we saw include the Notre Dame basilica. Although it doesn't have the historical significance of the namesake in Paris, it is from 1800s and is absolutely beautiful. The mixture of blue and gold was breathtaking. The organ was playing and reverberating the whole church Another sight included the ... read more

Enfin!! Ce ne sont pas ces derniers 24 mois de disette qui m’ont fait oublier que j’avais hâte de repartir et de savourer à nouveau le plaisir de préparer un séjour à l’étranger. Vous me direz sûrement que j’avais amplement le temps de fignoler mon prochain itinéraire, vous avez bien raison! J’ai eu beaucoup de temps! Et comme ce ne sont pas les destinations qui manquent, et que vous connaissez maintenant mon goût pour les endroits qui sortent un peu de l’ordinaire et qui sont moins envahis par les touristes, j’ai arrêté mon choix sur l’Islande. L’Islande mystérieuse, pays de volcans et de glaciers, où le soleil ne se montre pas en hiver et ne se couche jamais en été. Origine des Vikings, en plein milieu du cercle polaire, un pied en Amérique du Nord et ... read more