Iles-de-la-Madeleine 2006, continued

Added 16 September 2006. Pictures and stories from our trip to Iles-de-la-Madeleine, from September 2–9, 2006. Page 1 | Page 2

Seals

We first spotted seals in the fairly un-natural setting of the Aquarium in La Grave, where we didn't bring a camera. They were a cute couple of guys, though! You could look at them over-top, or through the window looking underwater. Jean amused himself and them by making fish-like motions with his hands, to their endless entertainment.

Our first natural sightings were on our Ile Boudreau walk, though it took us a while to realize that all the black dots in the water were actually seal heads. And though we had the camera this time, we had forgotten our binoculars. We'd parked near the start of the trail, though, so at the point we went to get the binoculars and confirmed we weren't imaging things: there were indeed many seals in water.

The "black dots" are seals. Really!

But that was far from the best sighting, because on our Ile Brion tour, the zodiak boat drove right into a huge colony of seals, until they were completely surrounding us. Though they are somewhat timid, their sheer numbers and the fact that they're used to this particular meant that they came pretty close, and even swam alongside us, much in the manner of dolphins. It was very cool!

No doubt these are seals!

Action shot: Seals swimming along beside the boat

Mes Iles Mon Pays is a long-running production on the history of Magdalens. Featuring locals rather than professional actors, it's relatively hokey, but had its charms. And it was our first inkling that seals are a somewhat sensitive topic to islanders. You see, Newfoundland is not the only place that has an annual seal hunt. One of the sketches in the play was on the necessity of this hunt, to preserve the balance of nature.

We learned yet more about this at the rather good Seal Interpretation Centre, part of the Club Vacance les Iles, where we signed up for our sea cave swim. Our tour was guided by a young woman from the islands. Downstairs we learned about the animal itself: the big two weeks the young get with Mom before being booted out on their own; the four types of seals seen in the area; the natural life expectancy (about 20 years). Upstairs focused on the seal hunt: ancient and modern hunting tools, regulations around the hunt, the various bans and protests over the years (Bridget Bardot and Paul McCartney are not the most popular celebrities in these parts), the lack of natural predator of seals, the amount of fish they eat.

Seal meat was also available on some menus. I tried it in the form of rillette at our Auberge, mixed with pork; it was very good, but I couldn't really pick out what made for the "seal" taste. On our last visit, Jean had also tried the seal stew.

Fish, Seafood, Seabirds

At the Aquarium on La Grave, they gather various forms of sea life for the summer, then return them to the sea before winter (when they close down). The museum guide there was very good, letting us hold starfish, showing us a lobster with her eggs (we had no idea the females carried their eggs with them for months, until ready to hatch), demonstrating how this flat fish (name escapes) really liked to be pet. It was odd—this fish would swim up to touching distance, then swim away in apparent ecstasy.

The Site d'Autrefois gave us our best insight into the lives of fishermen. As mentioned on page 1, this tourist site is run by a former fisherman whose near-fatal accident left him unable to continue in that field. The visit there began with about an hour of talk. He gave his own story, demonstrated lobster and other fishing techniques, described life in winter, discussed current issues affecting the island (environment, tourism, politics). It was different than visits to other historical sites we've been to, but in a good way. This is really a one-man show.

The property itself has older houses, barn, baraque (a kind of shed with a retractable roof, very characteristic of this region), chicken coops, all filled with various artifacts and costumed dummies from past times. In the pond is a full representation of lobster and other fishing. Then he had a section of miniatures—churches, horses, stores, and so on. It was kind of neat.

One of the miniatures at the Site d'Autrefois

Seabirds, you would see around all the time—herons, gulls, and so on. But at Ile Brion we saw the most interesting examples. You sometimes see puffins, but I don't think we did this time. However, we did see these birds (cormorans, I think) that just dive down into the water from enormous heights, then come up, fish in mouth: really impressive! You'd just see it happen out of the corner of your eye. We also saw some "penguins"—not the king penguins depicted in March of the Penguins, but the smaller black-and-white birds that can fly. In French, they aren't actually called penguins, but manchots.

A cormoran surveys his (or her) turf

Naturally, a lot of local seafood is available on menus. We were too late for fresh lobster, but in time for many other items, including sébasse (a mild fish, not related to sea bass); great grilled scallops; fresh mussels in various sauces (the Vieux Couvent, a former convent, now bar/restaurant, is particularly known for this); excellent crab and cod cakes (one at a tiny casual diner on the north islands, the other at the three-star Table des Roys, but both great); amazingly good smoked herring; and the Auberge's "pot en pot", which is shrimp, scallop, and lobster in a pastry. Yep, the islands are definitely a good destination for foodies.

People

On this trip, we did a better job than we usually do talking with the locals and other tourists. For example, at the fête champètre, we sat and talked with some locals, who were frankly kind of relieved that the number of tourists was diminishing. And certainly, with our three tours, it's unavoidable to talk with the guides and the other people on the trip with you. Then we'd sometimes see them again later, at stores or restaurants. The other people on our sea cave swim just kept going on about the wonders of the local beer. Our Ile Brion trip included a whole group visiting a Montreal-based woman who had bought a house on the island (she's pictured on page 1), plus a guy who had only just now managed to get a trip to the islands after signing up for it for eight years in a row. (It's a much more dicey proposition in September, because of the winds.) And our first zodiak trip included a blind man, which made for a different experience: the texture of the caves, the smells, and the water motion took on heightened interest.

Zodiak boat tour with guide; the blind fellow is in the foreground, facing away from the camera

A lot of the shops are owned by the craftsmen themselves, who are of course pleased to speak about their work. At la Grave we visited a shop where the owner makes jewelry from polished stone of the islands; I bought an agate necklace there. On Iles des Loups, the woman made jewelry from found objects: polished glass, sea shells, stones... I also couldn't resist some of this as well. At an Etang du Nord shop, the owner gave us sucre à crème samples and gave restaurant recommendations. But the most interesting owner had to be the owner of Le Flaneur tea shop. One half is a tea and pastry shop; the other is where she sells "fantasy figures". She has stories around each one: these twins are the product of this little and his maid. The wife was too busy with her dramatic career to think about her husband. And so on. It's really a magical place.

Some fantasy figures at Le Flaneur gift shop

This woman is also a book publisher, and we bought one of the books from her house, on the subject of the islands themselves.

The service at the restaurants was generally good and friendly. At the Table des Roys, the wine steward actually remembered us from our one visit two years earlier! This reminds me of the Verses hostess; maybe it's a thing with people who work in fine restaurants.

Our Auberge was a family-owned affair, where the husband is chef, the wife manages the restaurant and inn, and their daughter is the waitress. Though an older place, we enjoyed the quaintness. On our second dinner there, we overhead people at the neighbouring table speaking in what sounded like a Franco-Ontario accent, and then they mentioned "20 King". Jean couldn't resist turning around and asking if they were from K-W. And you know, they were. In fact, they live in our neighbourhood. We ended up having breakfast with them for the next two mornings and comparing travel experiences (both this one and others). Probably some lesson here in how far you have to go to meet your neighbours... At the airport in Toronto, we also spoke to some people who had made the journey back with us, and were concerned that the fresh fish they were "importing" survived the journey. (It did.)

Our Auberge, in the bright colors typical of the region

Art

Walking around Le Flaneur, we were both thinking that it would be really nice to own an example of her work. But though agreeing in that point, we found we were drawn to opposite examples of what she did. Jean liked the more fantastic examples which, to me, were just too Halloween-like to picture in my house year-round. I liked the "prettier" examples which, to Jean, looked too much like dolls. Amazingly, though, we were able to come together, finally, on one figure: Don Quixote, who was neither too ugly nor too doll-like. And also reminded us of our Spanish trip. So he's now ours.

Now tilting at windmills in Waterloo, Ontario

We were actually tempted at a number of other galleries, however. La Baraque gallery featured polished stone sculptures of seals, fish, human figures, and bears, with beautiful lines and details. Some were even two-sided, depicting, for example, a fish on one side and a flying bird on the other. The Gallerie Méduse, a glass-blowing gallery, also showed paintings by a local artist that were just stunning. We found that a lot of artists there used very bright colours in their work, likely reflecting the colour and beauty of the area, creating art that was very appealing to us. And the prices were not excessive for original pieces of work. If only our art budget were unlimited...

The Inconvenient Truth about les Iles-de-la-Madeleine

While not particularly seeking this sort of information, we nevertheless found out the following during our week on the islands:

• For the first time in memory, this past winter the Magdalens did not even have enough snow for snow-shoeing.
• The lack of snow is threatening the islands' only source of fresh ground water, as snow is normally a major source of replenishment.
• The sandy shores of the islands are "naturally" being eroded by the sea at the rate of 1 meter a year—significant, but still allowing for habitation for another 500 years or so, if the rate holds. Recently, however, less protective ice has been building up around the islands, which could lead to faster erosion.
• Because of melting ice, the waters of the Gulf are expected to rise significant over the next 40 to 50 years. This increases the risk of flooding on these low-lying island.
• Though over-fishing was the main factor in the cod disappearing, the warming of the waters around the island is largely why they're not coming back. That's also why the mackerel found there are small: big ones bypass this area for cooler waters.
• The warmer waters are also affecting the traditional lobster season: in the last weeks, many more lobster had to be returned because they had already laid their eggs.

On small, resource-dependent islands, global warming is none too theoretical. The threats are greater and they strike sooner.

So if you want to visit the islands—and we'd highly recommend it—I wouldn't put it off too long.

See also our Picassa Web Album, with all the best photos from our vacation (48 photos, viewable as a slide show).

Also of possible interest: Pictures from our first trip to the islands (and other maritime sites)—Part 1, Part 2, Part 3