We left Percé on Monday morning after a brief visit to the interpretation centre. We wanted to learn more about the birds in the area. I also managed to find a great print to take home as a souvenir. Leon and I have a tradition of buying a print from each place we visit to hang on our wall back at home.
We drove down the coast to the Baie des Chaleurs, passing towns like Chandler and Hope and New Hope. We stopped in Paspédiac to buy stamps so Leon could mail his postcards to Mom, written in French. We also stopped at the poissonnerie for some salmon and shrimp. Another feast was in the making.
From there, we drove to New Richmond and stopped for a picnic of shrimp salad sandwiches while we planned our visit to New Brunswick. Our time in Québec had to come to an end if we wanted to make the ferry to Newfoundland next week and still have time to stop and visit with Lorraine and Mike in Halifax. The drive along the bay is lovely. You get a sense that this area was an expensive resort in years gone by. Carleton-sur-Mer is especially swanky with all kinds of water sports available, shops and quaint restaurants. Of course, Leon travels with his own personal French chef at all times, so we rarely eat at restaurants anymore. We are just too harsh with our critiques.
Once you leave Québec, you round the bay to New Brunswick via Campbellton. The view is nice enough but you can really tell it’s not a rich province. Odd in a way, we wondered why there weren’t farms or cows or something to indicate the richness of the land. Certainly the cultural heritage is apparent as most homes in this area fly the Acadian flag. But sadly, at least one home in five is for sale.
About the return of my husband – well, as soon as we crossed the border out of Québec, Leon started speaking English again, with the odd French word interspersed (New Brunswick is a bilingual province). I had about forgotten what his voice sounded like. You can understand that he was a man of few words while in Québec. But he has managed to coin a few terms, not the least of which is “le tour du Maritimes”.
Turning my world upside down! 