LES ILES DE LA MADELEINE

 

What a fun day we had on Saturday, September 27!  We were anchored in the waters just off the coastline of the Magdalen Islands which are a group of islands in the Acadian area of Quebec.  

Our “fun” day began with a ride on a Special Operations Boat.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Viking Polaris is an expedition ship and has a “garage (for lack of a better word) in the back of the ship that houses all kinds of specialized equipment including two submarines, several Zodiacs, loads of kayaks and two Special Operations Boats.  Our first attempt to ride on this boat was cancelled because of high winds so we felt fortunate that we were able to go out on it this morning.  We donned our waterproof coats and life jackets and off we went.  The boat can accommodate 12 passengers and we were looking forward to a small personalized trip in the waters just off the coast of the Magdalen Islands.

This excursion did not disappoint!  We were out for a little over an hour and enjoyed seeing the houses on the cliffs, the large variety of birds and seals.  The boats are normally used by a crew doing navigational experiments and bird watching.  There is a resident ornithologist on board and studying bird migrations is a big part of the ship’s focus in its studies right now.

We had a great time and came back cold and soaked!  By the time we returned to the ship we were on a tight timeframe to get to our afternoon excursions. We changed, ate a quick lunch and were off again!

Mark and I decided to go our separate ways this afternoon.  He did the “Highlights of Cap Aux Mueles”tour which was a bus tour of the Cap Aux Mueles region.  They visited a winery and a brewery and toured a light house.  Since this did not sound interesting at all to me, I elected to do a tour called “Fisherman & Acadian Settlement”.  It was a great choice!  We took a tender boat to one of  the Magdalen Islands and as we rode from one end to the other, our guide shared with us information about the history, cultures, economic resources, housing, education, etc.  I was a little unclear as to where exactly we were, but our guide kept referring the island by the name of Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine, and I’m going with that because I love the name!  Here’s a map of the island that I discovered in the museum.

The islanders rely on fishing as their number one resource followed by tourism, salt mining and arts & crafts.  There are roughly 12,500 residents, and they have several churches, schools and shopping opportunities.  The houses are mostly spread out and very brightly colored.  There are many theories about why the houses are painted so brightly.  One school of thought is that the tourists like it and another is so the fishermen can find their home after a day of fishing or an evening at the local pub!  Our guide left it there for us to decide!

Our first stop was to a museum.  As I mentioned in one of my blog posts on the world cruise, I am not a fan of museums, but did my best to enjoy this one.  Here are a few photos that I took of some exhibits and of the views across the bay.  This is the same area that our Special Operations Boat traveled on this morning!  The museum had a great gift shop! Just sayin………

Next stop was at a shopping area nearby.  Lots of little brightly colored shops that used to be fishing shacks.  Most of the vendors in these shops displayed their arts and craft wares.  I purchased a hand painted tote bag and a pair of handmade silver and cultured pearl earrings.

 

This is one of the shops that we visited. There were some beautiful handmade items.

Our last stop of the day was at an Orchard and Cider Tasting Room. We toured the orchard and enjoyed a tasting of two different ciders and gin, all produced at the facility.  It was very informative and fun.  At the end of the tour we congregated in the tasting room.  I was enamored a print that was on display there.  We were a small group and had fun trying to determine who the people were in the print.  The theme was - “Those who want the Apple!”

They grow an Apple in a bottle to mix with cider and brandy later!

After this nice tour of Les Iles de la Madeleine we went back to the ship!