CANEAST SEPT 1-4
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SEPT 1
We are having a day off. Too windy for cycling so just relaxing. There are tide charts in the visitors guide and we figured out when would be the best time to walk the beach along the rock formations, just a short walk (500 metres) from our site. These are amazingly interesting caves, reddish sandstone formations.
They are called “Les Sillons” or furrows that have been carved by the wind and the sea. Spectacular. See the pictures below:
SEPT 2
Another quiet windy day. Nixed a bike ride. Had Lobster poutine instead. Visited some craft and arts places. Booked a raku workshop (tentative Wednesday) and booked a concert at the smoke house tonight. We travelled to another part of Havre-Aubert to go to a tea house and sculpture gallery called Le Flaneur - it was closed for a private function. We discovered a large sculpture called "Les Pecheurs" at the shore. There was also a arts and crafts market nearby. Lots of little shops painted in bright colours. In the art gallery, we saw some amazing portraits in black and white encaustic! The artist is Sebastian Maltais - check out his website:
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| FJ is helping me today...I need it |
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| This abandoned machinery was used to repair ships on the water. |
The smoke house concert was interesting. A single artist singing humorous/political satire. Unfortunately, it was all French and was not as entertaining as we had hoped. It was obvious that he was a story teller more than a musician – unfortunately we could not join in the laughter because we didn’t understand the story. Maybe French lessons are in order. We may return for a tour in English which they offered just for us!
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| The smokehouse process |
It was an extremely windy night. (Remember this.) Something woke me at 1:30 a.m. The power was off. I woke Elizabeth because her CPAP machine had stopped. She spent the rest of the night without it. We both figured the power was out because of the storm that was the tail end of the tropical storm Erin.
I guess I could have gone out and hooked up the battery inverter… but went back to sleep thinking the outage would be brief. Six hours later the power was still off. I was thinking I should fill the water tank just in case. Bahamas or Bermuda were in the news because of the hurricane. So, I dressed thinking I’d go up to the office and see what was happening. I checked the Quebec Hydro web-site and they showed all as normal. Strange. I checked the fuses and breakers in the trailer. All good. Then, just before heading to the office, I checked the plug at the hydro post where our cable ran. Yup, it was loose. Pushed it back in and away we go…Hydro 101. The wind must have blown it loose! Ya just never know!
SEPT 3
Another quiet day. Went to town for some errands. Wired in a new 7 pin trailer plug. Went for a nice walk on the beach.
SEPT 4
Off to a Raku workshop. This was so much fun. About 10 people gathered for this hands-on workshop. Annie-Cécile Tremblay
had pre-made/thrown our pots and cups and we picked a piece we liked and started to decorate with the glazes. Next, she fired them, then placed them in garbage cans with sawdust, and finally they were cooled in water. We then had to scrub off the char and ash. This was a fun and a worthwhile afternoon to bring back a souvenir hand made on the island by an artist and ourselves! Our bowls are wonderful! See the pictures.
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| View from the Raku studio in Bassin |
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| Outdoor studio |
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| Jerry's before |
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| Elizabeth's before |
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| Preparation |
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| Elizabeth's pot into the sawdust |
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| Scrub-a-dub-dub |
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| Elizabeth's finished product |
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| Jerry's final product after the garbage can and scrubbing |
Dinner at Vent du Large. This is a restaurant on the Havre‑Aubert peninsula that offers live entertainment. The owner Francois Guay (and wife Isabelle are from Montreal) was a touring musician, he performed with the Cirque de Soleil. Every night, he plays and accompanies local musicians. This night a singer performed some a variety of French songs. Others dropped in and out during the night. Francois wanders the room accompanying the stage musicians and will stop by your table to play and chat. At sunset, on the lawn, he plays classical music (Bach) on his cello with the ocean as a backdrop.
YouTube / click this link: https://youtu.be/8UP9PBEOLpQ
We tried the seal rib appetizer but after one taste, found that they were not for us. We settled on fish and chips, followed by some delicious handmade Gelato. It was a musically magic evening! Though in French, Francois occasional spoke to Elizabeth and I in English, and we felt very welcome. This is definitely a venue we will revisit!
So long for now.
Love the bowls! I’m busy taking notes.
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