Quebec

So yesterday, I arrived at my hotel (nice big room, in a strange triangular shape, with exposed brick walls) at around 3:30. After making sure I could find the institute, I wandered the city for a couple of hours. I don't think I've ever been here in winter - just summer and fall. It was actually much warmer than I expected (3^oC, but by the water there was a bitter wind). Climbing all the hills made me feel out of shape. It was interesting to see areas of town which overflow with tourists in the summer, empty after about 5 pm. Carnivale is over, so, it's past the winter tourist blitz too. In fact, my friend arrived early at the restaurant and before I could reply to her text, she had found me (since there were so few people around). I had a lovely dinner with my friends and their 5 year old son. It's wonderful to have friends in various cities (especially when one can arrange to meet on short notice). Coincidentally, I knew two of the scientists at the defense today too.




In August, one could barely walk along these streets. It's funny to see them empty.

Today was pretty exhausting; thinking in French, at a high, technical level, all day is really tiring. Not only that, but the scientists spoke different sorts of French (from France, Quebec, Switzerland). They were all very nice and complimented me on my French, but it was sort of funny as people tried to work out how bilingual I am. I was so tired afterwards, that I decided to come to the airport early. It wasn't obvious what I could do with an hour or an hour and a half, with all my bags, and wearing a suit (so I didn't want to tramp through the snow). Then, I left my hat in the cab, but I was able to retrieve it, but finding my cab in line at arrivals. (Luckily for me, this is not a large airport). Also: thumbs up for free wifi at the airport! So I can blog quietly, until they assign my flight a gate.

the mighty St Lawrence

Honestly, the way the ice was rapidly flowing, I'm not sure how those ferries just kept plowing back and forth to Lévis.

Trip photos: More New Brunswick

I was tempted to call this "the rest of New Brunswick, but I know that's not fair. There are places we didn't visit or drive through. But, we did visit Saint John, Saint Andrew, camp on Deer Island, and visit Frederictor, and then drive from Woodstock to Québec, passing through a lot of the province. It was pretty thorough for a short trip. All my photos of Saint John are of people you don't know, and their kids, so I'll skip to Deer Island (near Campobello).






Seals!

Bunny rabbit!

We drove down to the ferry to Deer Island, after visiting friends in Saint John. RJH had camped there two years previous, and had wanted to bring me there. We found a site in the woods, where we could watch the tidal whirlpool, the seals and even a passing minke whale while sitting by our campfire. It was a beautiful place. In the morning we explored a little and then drove to Fredericton, to visit so more friends. On the way, we stopped briefly in St. Andrews, which is a very pretty (if touristy) seaside town.







Deer, outside Fredericton.

We spent a couple more nights at the camp and visiting RJH's family and then we headed northeast through NB towards Québec. I love the moose signs in NB. Unlike the simple 'MOOSE' signs south of the border, in New Brunswick they want to ensure you understand the scale of the issue.



They aren't kidding. That isn't even an especially large moose. They have special moose fences lining hundreds of kilometers of highways, with one way exits for stray moose. I was trying to explain to our young 8 year old friend in Saint John about the fences around Osgoode Hall, here in Toronto (home of his aunt's employer, the Law Society of Upper Canada). I explained that the fences were built to keep the cows from harassing the law students, 150 years ago, when there were apparently, random wandering cows in downtown Toronto, menacing law students. The gate has two corners, which evidently is too much for the bovine brain to manage. I explained that the fence was like the NB moose fences, except for Ontario cows, designed to allow animals out, but not in. His 3 year old brother, without missing a beat, asked, "If moose can get out, but not in, why do they need the gates at all? How do they get there in the first place?" That really impressed me. I was always pleased if I could get an undergraduate to display deductive reasoning and critical thinking. Though, I wonder sometimes if it's common at 3 and we scare it out 'em.

Trip photos: New Brunswick - The Camp

We stayed at the cottage for a few days, which was a nice escape. In New Brunswick, as in Northern Ontario, they call it the camp, not the cottage. We couldn't even get cell service there (which was, frankly, a treat grumble, grumble, newspapers which call or email journalists at all hours grumble), though we did have a weird assortment of satellite TV, when it was too cold in the evenings, even by a campfire. There was a channel which appeared to play strictly reruns of The Littlest Hobo, complete with vintage ads, for instance.* We went canoeing and took photos on the lake. Let me tell you that trying to position a canoe for a photographer who insists on sitting in the stern and stalking loons is no mean feat. RJH sorted through his old things (photographic equipment, archery supplies and old photos) while I followed a frog around taking his photo.



We went out of a hike in the woods to a place where RJH had found a waterfall. We pulled down an abandoned logging road and - in a very successful instance of animal spotting and identifying - I said, "Bear!" A full grown black bear was in the middle of the road, less than 10 m ahead. RJH stopped the car and said, "Don't get out." It was my turn to think he was crazy. "Of course not. Do you think I'm crazy?" I said, as he got out the drivers' side so he could grab the appropriate camera and lens from the back seat. The bear did not like the looks of this and reluctantly sauntered off before RJH could get a photo. We waited a bit and pulled forward. RJH found the vole that the bear had been eating (and the apparent reason for his reluctance to leave). He asked (RJH, not the bear or dead vole) whether it was such a good idea to go for a hike, since we saw the bear. I said I thought it was fine. Bears don't like people and he knew we were there. Plus he went right and we were headed to the left. So we entered the woods, making sure we weren't too quiet. I shot more photos of frogs, while RJH took long exposures of the small waterfall.

 

When we repeated the story about the bear, everyone seemed surprised I agreed to go in the woods. I think they suspected a city girl would be afraid of a bear. But, it was a black bear, which are pretty common in Ontario - it's not like it was a brown bear (Ursus arctos horribilis, the Grizzly bear) or a polar bear, neither of which I would like to meet in the wild**. I mean, I wouldn't like to get within a couple of metres of a black bear, or find one in my home, but when I was a kid, we used to go to the dump, in cottage country, simply to go watch the bears. It's not like it was a moose, I joked to RJH. We had dinner at his sister's place, which is basically in the woods. On our way home, in the dark, we saw five deer, a fox and of course, a moose. I was pretty good with the animal spotting. I said, "Deer!" and "Fox!" on cue (and, for that matter, "Cat!"), but mostly I said, "There!" and pointed. We we ended up on a narrow gravel road and came across the moose, what I actually said was "Whoa, whoa!" which was pretty inarticulate, but RJH saw it as soon as I did and we weren't driving very fast. The moose was pretty surprised to see us, in the middle of nowhere, after dark. She looked over her shoulder incredulously and took off. We told his family how we had seen the bear, the moose, five deer, the fox and four frogs, all in one day. RJH seemed to think it was hilarious I included the frogs on this list. I don't know why. Small amphibians are animals too. Though, I suppose I didn't list all the birds. Like ducks and woodpeckers are a given.

 *For non-Canadian readers, this was a show of my youth, about a stray German Shepherd who wandered around saving lives and solving problems (low-risk 80's TV show type problems). I'm not even kidding. "Maybe tomorrow, I'll want to settle down... until tomorrow, I'll just keep going on..."

 **Yes, I do know that the chances of meeting either in New Brunswick are essentially nil.

Trip photos: Maine

So the next morning we drove to Bar Harbor. It was bright and sunny and lovely. Though the town was quite touristy, it was at its summery best. Parking the car was a challenge, but a lot manager waved us into a full lot since RJH owns a small car (buying criterion: large enough for one hockey bag). We wandered around town, took more ironic photos with large, stuffed moose and wooden lobster, and young Japanese tourists taking photos with serious cameras wearing moose-shaped hats, and bought some lunch. We had pricey but tasty lobster rolls and local blueberry soda on the grass overlooking the harbour.



Then, we went to the nearby Acadia National Park, which RJH knew from childhood. We visited the Sandy Beach and drove up Cadillac Mountain. RJH said it reminded him of Cape Breton in miniature. With ten times the tourists, I added. It was lovely despite the crowds. They say on a clear day you can see Nova Scotia, but I am unsure whether this is believable.



We left Bar Harbor and hit traffic. It seemed we would never get off the island. We had plenty of time to inspect the hardcore quaintness of the local architecture. Eventually, we made it back to the highway and headed north to New Brunswick, stopping for an unduly complex attempt to buy ice cream near Bangor. The highway to the north is a bit monotonous: just trees, with the odd risk of more turkey or deer or moose. There was one lookout with a view of Mount Katahdin, so we stopped.



After that, it was just trees, until suddenly there was a sign for the border. We had dinner with his parents, though it was late for them. I was caught off-guard having never previously entered a new time zone by travelling north. We had an uneventful drive a further 40 minutes to their cottage where we were staying.