Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Mon Voyage À L'Acadie: Part 3: Paspébiac & Bonaventure, Quebec

The next day, we headed off with our cousin hosts for the town of Percé in Quebec by crossing over the J.C. Van Horne Bridge. Along our drive there is much forested land with views of the Bay of Chaleur and some very small towns. The most prominent architectural feature of these towns are the churches; most notably the Catholic ones as the Protestant ones are made of wood and painted white, just like the houses. Sometimes, the only differentiation is the spire and windows. Churches like these can be seen all over New England, but are smaller than those.

Below is a photo of the Roman Catholic Church in Bonaventure. Note the silver metal roof and stone siding. These are typical architectural features of Catholic churches in Canada. Some have brick masonry instead of stone. As can be seen in the next photo. Click to enlarge.



This photo was taken in the town of Paspébiac in Quebec.


This was a wharf and fish processing area that is now not used. The building above has been retrofitted into a restaurant. As you can see, there is nothing else in the area at all but trees! But, one fishing boat was at the dock, so I photographed it mostly because it had the town's name on the stern.


Flowers are amazing in this area of Canada! They don't suffer the extreme heat and have a very short growing season. Just look at the glory of these purple petunias! Have you ever seen anything like it?



And how about these nasturtiums and rainbow chard! Wonderful, eh?


Here I am purchasing a souvenier for Sean. This artisan, Hector Legrisley, has been crafting sailing boats in wood for 45 years. You see them everywhere! I bought the one he is holding for only $35 Canadian! Priced to sell, eh? My mom bought a smaller one like those on the second shelf from the bottom for only $15! He could be charging so much more for these! They are just gorgeous and he sells them from his driveway! Incredible!



Stay tuned... We are getting closer to Perce!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

aug 27th 2009
I'm glad you did a nice trip to Rocher oercé and around Chaleur Bay. I pwersonnally belive that Gaspé peninsula is the nicest area in Québec and I'm happy you appreciated to see it.
Indeed Guillaume is a charming guy...
I'm a regular reader of your site. Regards

Aimé
Trois-Pistoles,Qué.

Sue said...

Yes! I would move there if the winters were not so fierce! Thank you for your comment Aime!

Pamela said...

I also Love the Gaspe Penninsula. My grandfather was from Bonaventure and I still have wonderful family there and surrounding areas. My wish is that the waters stay as clean as ever and never allow the evil doers to destroy what is so beautiful. I love that area because of my great family but also because it's not industrialized or ruined.

Sue said...

I too hope it stays that way forever! I am sure the inhabitants will work to protect it if anyone dares to intrude upon the virgin shores!!! Thanks so much for your comment Pamela!