PEI and on to Carleton-sur mer

As it was raining Thursday morning we decided to use the car to visit some of the local sites around North Rustico and Cavendish. The skies cleared and Jane and I were able to go for a walk along a beach and visit Ann of Green Gables, another well maintained Parks Canada site that attracts large crowds of tourists, including busloads of Asians who are devoted admirers of Lucy Maud Montgomery.

The clear skies also allowed our friend Jeff to take his spouse Laurie and his children Annie and Gavin for rides on the motorcycle, which they all really enjoyed. Jeff, a skilled rider, had always wanted to ride a motorcycle on the island and I think he was grateful for having been given an opportunity to do so on a BMW. In return we had a great oyster and lobster dinner with the family.

Yesterday the weather was hot and the sky clear and sunny. After breakfast at the Inn where we met a charming couple from Lethbridge who are flying a small plane from their home to the East Coast, we rode 564k to Carleton-sur-mer, a small resort village on the shores of la Baie des chaleurs. About 10 kilometers before where our motel is located, we stopped to visit the gravesites of my maternal grandparents and some uncles in the Nouvelle cemetary, and then rode the Miguasha point road up and over "la Bûte à St-Onge" past the ancestral homestead. The views of Miguasha Bay and the surrounding verdant hills are magnificent and it's not hard to see why my mother, having been transplanted to the bleak landscape of Coniston in the mid-40s, had a lifelong yearning to return to her birthplace.

We were able to make a reservation at 'Le marin d'eau douce', a local fine dining establishment, where we had a good though uneven meal. The highlight were most certainly the locally brewed beer and the fish soup that contained many seared scallops and salmon, matane shrimp, mussels, and slices of carrots swimming in an expertly spiced rich fish broth.

We are presently waiting out the rain hoping that it clears before the meter on the motel room runs out. Then it's off to Percé for the rest of today and all day Sunday.