It's early September. We cross back into New Brunswick from PEI passing over the long Confederation Bridge. I tell Gwen, "We're leaving the island of PEI going back to the mainland, see?" She says, "uh, yeah Mom, can I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" We stop at the Information Center expecting to pick up brochures and maps but find a wonderful museum, restaurant, gift shop, watch tower, board walk winding over marshes, and very helpful and friendly employees. The museum has an area for children to pick up and various items found on the beach. I don't think I've ever been in an Information Center as nice as this. I read in the marsh exhibit that mosquitoes are an important part of the ecosystem and are eaten by other insects, ducks, and bats. And it reassures us that we are making our contribution when we are bitten...... I shan't encourage bites however! I can't tell you how annoying the bugs have been. We have one little fly buzzing around the RV, but it couldn't be the same one we've had from a week or two weeks ago. They must be passing off the responsibility to buzz our RV as we go along, high-fiving each other as one leaves and the other takes over.
We head North along the coast of NB. We notice signs in French. We go to a grocery store and hear only French! This is so surprising to me as an hour ago in PEI it was all English and minutes ago at the Welcome/Information Center there was much English. I am disregarded at the check out when I cannot respond in French. We keep moving and find a good campsite on the water in Cap-Lumiere. We are just about the only ones at the campground. This is now post-season camping and we are finding that during the week, campgrounds are pretty empty and most will close by the end of the month. Our French speaking hosts are delightful. The cashier from the grocery was not a harbinger of a general attitude. It's rainy though, and we want to move on to less rain further north.
There is erosion here as there is throughout the Maritimes. A through road is now a dead-end. Lighthouses have often been moved back from there original locations. We get a spectacular rainbow at sunset and I get a picture. I will post it soon. PEI is now on our horizon and I tell Gwen, "that's PEI where we were before we crossed the bridge." She says, "Wow, really?" The idea excites her and I realize she is taking things in and I need to be patient about her having her having her own pace.
As I sit here at our current site looking at the water and the mountains beyond, Phillip is here with the son of the French hosts of the site. They are riding bikes and looking over my shoulder. If there are unusual typos - it's them. The little boy speaks no english, Phillip no French - I speak little French - we exchange names and they each are getting out their bags of cars now. Gwen and Dad are out biking. We started together but while on the bike path, my gears stopped working. It turns out a screw from Phillip's seat came undone and the bar jammed the gears. It's fixed but we decided to head back while they continued. Did I mention we are the only guests at this campsite today? There have been a few others, coming and going.
People here generally speak to me in French. I am now prepared and say in French, "Do you speak English, Please?" They are usually bi-lingual but not always. (I just got a good recommendation from the owner who says her friend cuts hair and can cut ours. 8$ a cut. Let's see if we can work something out tomorrow. I've been cutting the kids hair and it doesn't look to good.) Back to the French. I've learned a bit about the French speakers here in Acadia. The French here have a history and culture distinct from the Quebec French. This includes an unfortunate event where they were forcibly removed from their lands and deported when British and French fought over this land. Many died and some later returned to their lands. Some went to Louisiana creating the Cajun culture. Some can be found in PEI and Nova Scotia. Most are here in Acadia and in Maine.
I'm glad for the kids' exposure to the new culture and I am loving it. I love the differences and am taking it all in. We stopped at a Fromaggerie (sp?)on the way back from the aquarium yesterday - they were making the cheese right there - we watched them. They were making cheese curds that are often used in a very popular French Canadian dish of French fries, cheese curds, and gravy. I'm waiting for a place that specializes to try it. I'll really miss these cultural riches when we leave Canada. But for now, on to Quebec......
Lisa
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