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Ile aux CoudresJul 14, 2005
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``It was a dark and stormy night`` - our first night on...
And then the fog rolled in
Out door wood burning oven
July 14 - Ile aux Coudres
We took a free ferry from Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive to Isle aux Coudres. The island is 26 Km around the perimeter and a haven for cyclists like us. You see them lined up to get on the ferry either on their bikes or with bikes strapped to cars, vans, motor homes, etc. For a long time, the residents did things "the old way", grinding flour in windmills, baking bread in outdoor wood fired ovens, catching fish with woven wooden weirs - but with the arrival of great numbers of tourists, the "old ways" have become attractions rather than the way of life. It is still idyllic - with typical Quebec style farm houses made from stone with steep roofs and wide porches, hedges of bush roses, and the biggest clover we have ever seen (thus the air is full of their sweet aromas). We arrived in brilliant sunshine mid afternoon and decided to wait for the morning to do the circuit of the island. We woke to fog - but knew it would clear.... It did but turned into black clouds and a thunder storm when we were half way across the island (at that time stuffing our faces with apple brioches iced with caramel).
The weather has continued to be hot (up to 35 degrees) and humid. That is a recipe for thunder storms and have we experienced them! Within an hour the sky can cloud up and the temperatures can plummet and then the thunder and lightening start. We had quite a show one night on the island - and Randy being the patient soul he is, managed to capture it on film. When the rain starts pelting down, we are happy to have a hard roof over our heads - the tenters do not have a happy time of it.
