A shop by the sea on Quebec’s Iles de la Madeleine.
Another short post today, partly because I realize Quebec’s Iles de la Madeleine (Magdalen Islands) are a pretty long road trip from Ottawa. However, if you’re in the mood to discover a unique part of Canada, I highly recommend them.
Sometimes you go to a place that feels out of time and on the edge of the earth. These islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence are like that.
With a population of just 13,000, the archipelago of seven inhabited islands and a scattering of uninhabited ones is the sort of place where you encounter the same surnames over and over, and everyone seems to know each other. And everyone seems to make something—cheese, beer, pottery—that you want to take home with you. (Be very wary of the well-named Corps Mort beer, which is 11% alcohol by volume, and stick with the lighter Écume beer if you don’t want to accidentally fall into the sea on your way back to your lodgings.)
A salty breeze blows incessantly, making the islands popular spots for sailing and kitesurfing. And on a clear summer night, you’ll see galaxies of stars you’ve never seen in Ottawa.
It’s not simple to get there from here. You can fly on Air Canada, via Montreal, or with Pascan Aviation from Saint-Hubert; take a cruise from Montreal with CTMA Cruises; or take a CTMA ferry from Souris, P.E.I. But if was easy, everyone would do it, right?
Intrigued? You can find out more from Tourisme Iles de la Madeleine.
Throughout July and August 2017, I’ll be posting one photo a day that I’ve taken somewhere across Canada, in celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary. Want to see more photos in this series? Click the “Canada 150 photo” text in bold near the top of this post.
