A Bus Trip to the Magdalen Islands

We're off to Îles-de-la-Madeleine or, in English, the Magdalen Islands. They were discovered by French explorer, Jacques Cartier, in 1534. Originally, owned by the French (although the natives had been fishing there long before), they came under British control in 1763 and were part of Newfoundland, before being annexed to Quebec.

Jim was originally coming along with Camino Lynne and her husband, Marc. As the departure date got closer, he decided he was happier at home. I think the 6:00 am pickup at the Big Stop in Lincoln turned him off for starters. 

(Upfront note: I have no idea why most of my photos ended up pixelated. I suspect it has something to do with the Blogger site, which I have been cursing for years. However, when it holds 18 years of blog posts, it's not a quick decision! My perfectionist side is having a hard time saying "let it go.")

After pickup stops in Moncton and Aulac, we were on our way to Charlottetown and then to Souris on Prince Edward Island. These fishing boats looked tiny as we crossed the Confederation Bridge.

Pretty...

At the terminal in Souris...

The ferry holds approximately 200 cars and the crossing takes five hours.

Lots of places to relax...

And some entertainment by Brigitte Leblanc...she played just the right amount of Acadian music and English favourites to keep everyone happy.

It was a beautiful day and people were enjoying the music and the ambiance.

What the heck is this? Unfortunately, the ferry did not have potable water due to an issue and we ended up with a sangria of some kind. Lynne, me, and Lynne's neighbour, Carolyn, who stepped in at the last minute to be my roommate.

Not to worry...we enjoyed it!

Land ho!

Our hotel for the next four nights...the Château Madelinot.

It is big. Not only was it handling our bus tour, but another as well.

Pretty chill...cows were wandering next to the hotel.

We were tired after a long day and crashed after our group dinner. Our view the next morning...we were on the first floor. In most hotels that would actually mean the ground floor. But not here, the ground floor was the third floor. Confused? We were too, but we had a walkout which was nice.

Picture of our beach taken by fellow passenger, Marci.

Beautiful artwork in the hotel lobby...

It was pouring rain, but most of our activities were going to be indoors for the day.

Our first stop was the Musée de la Mer on Île du Havre Aubert. Our hotel was located on Île du Cap aux Meules. The Magdalens are made up of 12 islands and 7 are inhabited.

The Museum...

It was a great idea to have the map enlarged and on the floor...

Never mind the floor...what the heck was that thing hanging from the ceiling? It is the skeleton of a young sperm whale that was found on the beach in 2008. It took seven years for a group of amateurs, experts and volunteers to extract the bones and bring it to the museum.

A model of the lighthouse on isolated Rocher aux Oiseaux (Bird Rock). The last family left in 1961 and after that a helicopter was used to drop off lightkeepers for a 28 day stint. It was automated in 1987.

What an life for the families who lived there. It is located 30 km from the other islands. Everything had to be brought up by winch or carried up the steep staircase.

It wasn't an easy life...

It is estimated that 500-1000 ships have wrecked here over the years due to shallow sandbars, violent storms and heavy traffic in the 18th and 19th centuries. Some of the treasures...

The churches of the islands...

The lobster industry...according to our guide, Gilles, one boat can bring in 17,000 lbs of lobster in a season. A lobster license can cost up to $1 million!

Hockey is a big thing on the islands and three players have made it to the NHL. Pretty impressive for a population of 12,000.

They also had an exhibit of Captain Acadia, a well known figure in Acadian comics.

Loved the kids' drawings...

And then it poured!

The owner of St. Hubert built this house and retired here. Probably only in the summer months!

Our very informative and funny guide, local Gilles Lapierre. He had so many stories. He told us that the largest family on the islands had 24 children! He said in the summer they work and make love. In the winter, they don't work.

It was time for lunch and we had options...there weren't any restaurants in La Grave big enough for a bus tour, so we were splitting up. 

Cute little craft shop...

The seagulls made me do a double take, but the one on the right with his wings back pretty much sealed the deal that they weren't real.

And it poured!

We wanted a lobster roll so we stood in line at Effet Mer as they weren't open yet. It better be a dang good lobster roll.

Me, Carolyn, Stephanie and Jane...we teased Jane a lot about stealing her cushion on the bus!

It was windy! But we ain't no quitters!

At last! People were still standing outside as you had to place your order and pay before you could sit down.

OMG it was soooo good! Totally worth the wait and getting wet! We certainly won't forget it!

Chemin de la Grave...very touristy with lots of restaurants and shops. Not so busy on a rainy day...

Some of the shops weren't open...

The hospital doesn't look that big, but apparently, they have 22 doctors. What?!! 

We did seem to travel up and down the islands; however, nothing is too far away. From the bottom of the island where we had lunch to our next stop, the fromagerie.

Mmmm...cheese! Sign us up...

It was already busy and then you had a tour bus pull in...

Amazing artists on the islands...

They had a slideshow set up for us...

And this adorable employee...he would have loved to have done the whole presentation himself instead of the slideshow! His English was very good and there were about 30 grandmothers ready to help him out with a word when he needed it! 

We sampled four different cheeses. All were delicious. Apparently the cows' milk has a very high fat content and they are fed solely Magdalen Islands grass and feed. 

And then it was time to buy some cheese! The showroom was lovely.

"What are you looking at?"

Nobody thought too much about how the cheese was going to stink up the bus! We all put it in our fridges at the hotel and our tour manager, Adam, bought styrofoam coolers to put in the luggage hold on the way home. No way he was going to drive in a bus for over 10 hours with stinky cheese. 

From there, it was a short drive to Le Barbocheux Winery. We thought we were going in for a wine tasting...we had no idea what else we would get! They have an interesting microclimate where they can grow apples, pears and grapes.

Marc and Lynne ready to taste some wine...

Carolyn looking like she's already had her wine!

And then this walked out. What the heck?!

And he started telling stories about how people made moonshine in jail. Gilles standing by in case he needed a translator. It was hilarious.

Just a taste of his character...and then he would shout Hallelujah and we would sample the wine. It was a show!

They have won many awards for their wine. Most were quite sweet made from raspberries or strawberries, and the dandelion one was...memorable. I didn't make any purchases there.

Our tour manager, Adam, and Leonce behind him...such characters.

Kevin on the left was so much fun. During Leonce's presentation, every time Kevin laughed it came out as a squeaky hee-hee. We couldn't figure out where the noise was coming from. It sounded like a bird of some kind. Leonce got these two involved in his act.

First, they're tough guys...

Then they pray...

Then they end up in jail! Never laughed so hard. Leonce is one in a million!

These guys were such great sports. Leonce took a liking to Tania...she was on the bus tour with her mother and two other sisters. 

Time to go...Leonce was still talking away!

It had been a busy day and we were on our way back to the hotel. I've done these screenshots after the fact because honestly, most of the time, I had no idea what part of the island we were on!

Interesting...this Tim Hortons is closing in September as they don't have enough workers after the students leave. 

A stop at a depanneur to pick up snacks or drinks...lots of craft beer made on the island.

Almost back to the hotel...hey wait, what are those stairs? We'll leave that for another day.

The meals were pretty good. Apparently, not memorable enough for pictures, but this mango sorbet was yummy.

A busy, fun day! Tomorrow we'll be doing a boat tour and the seal interpretation centre.