Meeting Fires Creative

After exploring Montréal and the lakeside area my Dad visited as kid — the Family Connections from my last post — it was parts unknown for the next few days. We aimed our little rental car east, in parallel to the Vermont border to our south and heading straight for Maine. Cool to be close to these states I’ve always wondered what they were like. With no plans to dip south this time, I think an autumn return to these parts might include a crossing to New England from New France…

First stop for us after Selby was the charming town of Knowlton. A quick stop for snacks and caffeine, we were taken by the quaintness of this place. A perfect, rolling road led into town, the trees and shrubs just waking up from winter and it felt cozy and welcoming. An old stone church on a hill caught our eye and we took a minute to appreciate the calm of this place. From Knowlton, a short drive to Bolton and area… the lushness of the forests really impressed and the fields and barns reminded me of Western Canada’s prairies. Not sure what is grown around here specifically, but this whole area is rich, organic land producing a lot of the province’s food – fruit, grain, cereals and greens. Red roof barns, silver silos and bright green punctuate the landscape while dark clouds gather above. Ideal weather for a road trip with images in mind.

Down another tight, winding forest road and a spire appears before an abbey comes into view, a monastery overlooking Lake Memphremagog. Here we are at Saint Benedict Abbey, in Saint-Benoît-du-Lac. This abbey was founded in 1912 and constructed over many years, the building looking at once very modern and classically church like. Going inside – whoa. The tile work of these Benedictine Monks is spectacular. This is a community of about 30 monks, practicing the Bendictine way of life and creating from the land – cheese, cider, fruit spreads and books. We saw their cheese on menus throughout the region and have to say, not bad at all. Smoked Fontina – yes please.

Overnight accommodations were found on the outskirts of Magog, another beautiful little town on the same lake as the abbey above (it’s a very big lake). It was peaceful and the slow mist of passing showers lulled us to sleep in our roadside inn. Up early, we visited a superb bagelry and cafe called Fabrique de Bagels Café Noir. Key words for this morning: bagel, black garlic, lavender, maple candies. Fuelled and ready for nature, we went to Mont-Orford National Park. Spring was waking up that morning – the raindrops stopped falling from the sky, instead making their way down branch and leaf to softly drip onto the Maple forest floor. A grand pheasant was just off the trail and the woods were alive with birdsong. It felt like a dream – bright green shoots and buds, birds everywhere loving life, a changing sky and finally the big reveal of mirror-like lakes and soft hills rising from their banks. We walked softly on this damp earth, eyes focused on the ever changing wood. A wonderful stop.

The drive towards St-Georges was longer than anticipated. Some lovely abandoned farms to stop and trespass explore, otherwise it was a get-er-done kind of drive. We passed through Lac-Mégantic and onwards to St-Georges, a place we picked on the map as somewhere close to ‘sugar shacks’ and to break up the drive to Québec City. Yep, nice river going through town and a picturesque church on the hill above. But most sugar shacks were past peak and otherwise, I think one could skip this town. We had a very poor dinner here and it was an easy place to wake up and get out of! A quick stop at Tim Horton’s – in this town, zero English spoke from what we could tell – and with a successful order under our belts off we go. Bypassing Québec City for now, we headed for the hills.

East of the City on the northern banks of the river, Canyon Sainte-Anne is a huge channel carved from the rock by the mighty Sainte-Anne-du-Nord river, coming hard and fast down the Canadian Shield to empty into the St Lawrence. We took the suspension bridges and pathways around this impressive Chute. Henry David Thoreau even came here to see the spectacle back in the day. Coming from BC, I can see how Québec has an abundance of water, and water power, with hydro powering the province just like us. The massive, pilgrim site of Sanctuaire Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré was an easy stop, the spires visible from all directions.

From here, it was a quick drive back to Québec City and a fantastic tour of the old city, Canada’s origins and the modern implications of the very rich history of Québec and indeed, Canada itself. We stayed in Saint-Roch and enjoyed the arty neighbourhood, architecture and great food. A post on Québec City along with an assortment of digital images may happen, but as it’s a place of regular visitors and I was on my ‘three shots per day’ mission, minimal imagery for this post. As before, all these shots were taken with my old family Pentax Spotmatic II with experimental Harman Phoenix colour film, the results were a surprise when I got these back from the lab. Enjoy the odd colour shifting and hazy vibes. À bientôt!

NOTE: This is the third post from a spring trip to Quebec. My creative goal was to capture 2-3 shots per day using one roll of experimental C-41 colour film in my 50 year old camera. It sure was limiting, but allowed me to slow down and try to compose a scene and commit. I would say my success rate was about half or less, with the bizarre-at-times halation and colour shift this strange film provides. A total surprise when I got these back from the lab, I present them here full frame and grainy as heck.