Friday, August 5, 2005
Rimouski, Quebec

Rimouski rhymes with brewski. Stretched along the St. Lawrence, a town of 42,600, it possesses a passed over quality. The old victorians erected during the town's heyday have been discreetly divided into offices for lawyers and accountants. The less fortunate have been stripped of ornamentation and entombed in vinyl siding, then carved into rental units. A few have been restored but not in the self-conscious gentrification we might regard as "historic". What has been going on in Rimouski is routine maintenance. And even though there is not much to do-ski in Rimouski, you have to love the name....melodic, rolling off your tongue like a cherry pit.

Cute French babe enjoying ice cream, but not the papparazzi.

As children, our mother would bake fresh bread. We didn't know then, but learned much later, that we couldn't afford store-bought loaves. The aroma stimulated a surge of well being and pleasure. The warmth of the kitchen, the anticipation of jam and melting peanut butter, were only a latent memory. This morning in the Les Baguettes en l'air, the local french bakery, an olfactory sense fifty years in remission is aroused. It is the pleasure of anticipation and profound orientation; I have my bearings. I realize, somehow, where I am in the deepest sense, unrelated to geography.

We traveled 25 miles south near the village of Sainte Narcisse to the Domaine du Canyon des Portes de l'enfer, which is french for a waterfall, deep gorge, suspension bridge, and huffin' & puffin' up and down 300 steps. It was worth it, even if you don't have a portable respirator. A suspension bridge a football field across hangs precariously over a gorge and the riviere rimouski, 300 feet straight down. It resembled a movie set from Indiana Jones.

The bridge. Joann and Ray Kolley, Monsanto retirees from St. Louis, shared the bridge with us.














Life on the caravan is not all excitement, a Disney world ride for the elderly. Today we had a "show and tell" program where everyone had an opportunity to exhibit crafts, hints, or a reminiscence. Do you remember grammar school ? About the same, except wine and cheese were subsituted for cookies and milk. There are moments for contemplation, introspection, and even time to embrace boredom. Pictured is the aftermath of a freshly carved fruit which we purchased at the Quebec farmer's market.




"PINEAPPLE-HENGE"

We leave soon for the Gaspe peninsula, a remote, sparsely populated and pristine area with few opportunities for web access. See you in a week to ten days.
Today, our lunch will be peanut butter and jelly on a fresh baguette.