Camped once more in Quebec City, we take a day to visit the north shore of the St. Lawrence where there are at least four economuseums. They are located in or near the town of Baie St. Paul and the picturesque Iles-Aux-Coudres. We are visiting the island because it has a working water grist mill and windmill. It is an economuseum, and like Heather Lawson’s ’strawberry bay stone’, will have artisans at work, an interpretive centre and displays as well as someone to answer all your questions. At Les Moulins de l’Isle-aux-Coudres, there is a watermill and a windmill, both artfully restored and fully operational. For me, the grist mill is a fantastic little trip. It is quite a remarkable piece of engineering. The windmill is also very ingenious as the whole roof swivels to catch the wind. Also in the area is La Papeterie Saint-Gilles, where one sees the art of making paper by hand. While these economuseums are what attracted us to the area, the town of Baie St. Paul is a very, very pleasant surprise. There are many, many talented artists living in the area and Baie St. Paul is where a lot of their works are on display. There are some really great art galleries here selling some really great artwork. The paper making shop is kind of relaxing. Watching the rhythm established by the artisans as they manufacture sheet after sheet of paper is hypnotic. This museum has also the distinction of being owned by Felix-Antoine Savard, credited with the founding of economuseums and as such, was the first museum of this type. The day after our north shore trip we head off to Ottawa but make one more stop at another economuseum featuring the extraction of essential oils from plants. This one is called Aliksir! This essence of the plant is used in various types of medicinal cures and therapies, fragrant oils, and aromatherapies. It is a nice place but more medicinal in purpose, leaving us feeling that we need to know and understand a whole lot more about the applications of these oils. Today there are economuseums all over Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. Check some of them out, you are sure to enjoy them.

Les Moulins de l’isle-aux-Coudres

Outside the mill

Also at the mill

Upon leaving New Brunswick, we were able to hook up with a friend of Lynn’s who also has a wandering foot. Jean Carey is also on extended leave from work and has recently returned from a trip to Australia and is en route to visit relatives and friends in New Brunswick. She then plans to go to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia and then points south of the Canadian-American border. We were able to intercept her at a small town in Quebec called St. Jean-Port Joli. It is a cold, wet and blustery day and Jean arrives late in the afternoon after a trip to Gros Isle that takes way longer than she expected it to. Nevertheless, a very enjoyable evening is spent going over recent and future trips and trip plans. When things take a turn to the knitting direction however, I graciously retire to a very good book I am reading. The next morning finds all three of us sipping coffees and hot chocolates before heading our separate ways. Bon voyage Jean!

Jean, Mascot, and Miss Piggy!

It is now Lynn writing … I decided that as every single Quebec village, town, and city we go through has a rather large church, that I should take a series of photos of them. I ran into problems right away. These edifices are often so large that getting them all in a single photo was impossible. Especially as there were electrical and telephone wires cluttering up the composition! Okay, so maybe I don’t need the whole church? Lawrie suggested maybe just the spires and I agreed that would be interesting. What do you think?