October 2012 Maritime Cruise vacation:

Fall weather in the Maritimes is a bit hit and miss … more rain than sun but this year the temperatures were lovely for the nearly three weeks, 9/26 to 10/15, that we were away.  The two sunniest days were the first Friday in the world famous Mont-Tremblant Ski Resort area, and our day on Prince Edward Island toward the end of our cruise. The only total wash-out was the day we landed on the barren rock called St. Pierre. Why the ship even stopped there is a real mystery. Only 6,000 residents on the island, so extremely limited transportation and a 2 mile walk into town from the “dock” which is actually a tanker fuel loading facility, and as you will see from the pictures, the first third mile is up a very steep hill.  Talk about rank discrimination against the mobility impaired!

 

It is hard to say which Province we enjoyed the most.  Quebec is mostly French, so much so, there is little difference between it and France.  Montreal is a thriving megatropolis with the 5^th worst traffic in all of North America according to a survey posted the week we were there – we would not argue with that!  It was home to the ’76 Summer Olympics and remains an iconic city.  Mount Royal in the heart of the city is the old money area.  It has wonderful parks and overlooks. One evening up there, we counted over a dozen very fat raccoons in a parking area.  Safety concern kept us in the car so, sorry, no pictures.  In Montreal, as in all the cities we visited, the Catholic churches, Cathedrals and Basilicas are magnificently photographic – as you will soon see.  Most were named “Notre Dame”.  The Quebec City Basilica Notre Dame is the oldest in all of North America, and has the family pew box of “the” Champlain’s. The history of the Maritimes is as rich as any of the new world, if not richer.  Quebec City has maintained its roots and buildings dating to the 1600’s. It is the only surviving walled city in all of North America.

 

Saguenay, Quebec is at the end of the longest Fiord in all of North America and is the combination of 10 cities joined together.  Fall foliage was still a lush green in all of the costal areas. As we traveled inland and up in elevation, the leaves were just beginning to turn.  This was true for the entire trip.

 

Newfoundland is very picturesque, and we hope to return some day for a longer visit.  Captain Cook mapped the entire island over a 4 year period before he headed to the Pacific. The accuracy of doing so was amazing and his maps were used for 200 years.

 

We made two ports of call in Nova Scotia – Halifax and Sydney.   Halifax is thriving – Sydney, on Cape Breton Island is more rural.  We spent the day in Halifax at Peggy’s Cove. It has the “world’s most photographed” lighthouse …. we are sure it is prettier with a blue sky behind it and when no ships are in port!.  A bridge now joins Nova Scotia with New Brunswick, so, some day, we will make the drive.  We had no port of call in New Brunswick, so, we will have to pick that one up on the drive. We had $18 lobster rolls for lunch at Peggy’s Cove … they were $12 most every where else.  They were very tasty and a lot fresher than the New Zealand Lobster Tails we had on board ship, Lobster Night at the end of the cruise.

 

Prince Edward Island was a favorite. While not as mountainous as the others, nor, does it have any rivers, the beaches and sea-side towns are the stuff of movies, paintings and dreams.

 

Canada is no longer a place of bargains.  We purchased very little.  The exchange rate is equal to the US dollar, sales tax is 15%, and inflation has affected almost everything. Housing in the larger cities is comparable to New York City and San Francisco, however, there were housing bargains on Cape Breton and PEI.  We still love Canada and their people, so we will go back as often as our finances will allow.