Year's end

It seems we're back to normal on the banks of the Rideau and the Ottawa; a year's gone by since I thought of starting this blog and it's midwinter again, no doubt about it. In a windchill of -20º I waded over the crunchy surface of our riverside park to take this photograph as the sun began to set in clearing skies.

Merry Christmas

After the mild December we've had, there has been some debate as to whether or not we'd get a white Christmas, but there's no doubt now that we do have one. Last night as we walked home from our friends' house (they also live near the Rideau River) the sky was clear and starry; the snow didn't begin to fall until 3 a.m. or so, but at -16ºC the river's surface was freezing rapidly and the lamps on Cummings Bridge were reflected brilliantly in its sheen. Looks and feels like Christmas, I thought.

Freezing over now

Back to Ottawa! The Rideau has started to acquire its icy winter crust, but open water is still predominant, with a few hooded mergansers swimming on it. Hardly any snow has fallen on the banks as yet, so the new plaques on the ground under the young memorial trees by the river path through New Edinburgh park across the river are still readable; they have touching and thought provoking messages beside the names of the people they commemorate:

... Loved forever and ever.

... Walk in peace.

... drowned, trying to save his dog ...

aged 21, who died tragically, mourned by the whole community ...

and there is one in Italian exhorting us to celebrate the life of everyone.

European rivers

Over the Neckar

I saw all three of the expected European rivers, the Thames twice from the air as we flew into London, first from Canada and two weeks later from Munich, after dark.

Over the Seine

The Seine was its usual self, cold, grey and atmospheric. Our hotel overlooked it by the Pont de Neuilly; we sailed up and down the river on a Batobus for an hour while on December 3rd by the Quais, now a UNESCO World Heritage site. I remembered Baudelaire's poem Receuillement which imagines the dying sun going to sleep under an arch of one the bridges, ("Le soleil moribond s'endormir sous une arche...") like a homeless vagabond perhaps. I learned the poem by heart in 1970 and haven't forgotten a word of it as my husband will confirm, since I recited it to him on the Batobus.

The Seufzerallee by the Neckar

On the banks of the Neckar, in Tübingen, I walked past the place where another poet once lived, Friedrich Hölderlin, and I saw the "Avenue of Sighs"—Seufzerallee—on the river island where students at Tübingen traditionally bemoan the fact that they haven't studied hard enough for their exams.

I even saw the Rhine as we crossed it at Strasbourg on the train journey from Paris to Stuttgart, where the river marks the border between France and Germany. Rhine-Donau cruise ships were docked there in readiness for next year's season.

We haven't left yet

There's still a large flock of geese padding about in the park today and nibbling at the snow-covered grass. Perhaps, before heading south, they're waiting until our river has frozen over.

I shall be away too, tomorrow, but not for as long as the geese. I'm coming back to Ottawa on December 12th. The rivers I'll see during my short migration are the Thames, the Seine and perhaps the Neckar.

A new season starts

For the record, here is the first covering of snow in our part of town this winter, by the Rideau River, this photo taken on November 23rd. Much of the snow has melted since this morning; no doubt it will be back soon. The warm colours come from the low rays of the late afternoon sun, most welcome after a grey and white start to the day.

Another beautiful morning

I drove east along the Rockcliffe Parkway on the bluffs above the Ottawa River this morning and the view was wonderful, all the houses along the rue Jacques Cartier on the opposite bank lit up by the morning sun. The grass by the road was silvery with frost ... and so were the wing covers of our 'plane that's parked at Rockcliffe airport.

Seeds in the wind

Not many flowers are still in bloom along the banks of the river, but the potential for next year's flowers is already there.

Dandelion seed head in November

Dandelions by the river in May

Dandelions are much in evidence around the time of the Ottawa Tulip Festival (in May), so much so that Kemptville in the township of North Grenville, further up the Rideau River, hosts a rival Dandelion Festival.

Milkweed seed head

The pods of the milkweed plants, once empty of seeds, can serve as pretty Christmas decorations in a vase or doorway plant pot. In people's gardens, these plants are often seen as invasive nuisances, weeds that are hard to eradicate. However, the flowers of the milkweed are famous for attracting the Monarch butterflies that migrate here all the way from Mexico. I'm afraid their numbers are diminishing, so they need all the help they can get.

Whale at Smiths Falls?

The organisation called Friends of the Rideau publishes a newsletter three times a year, and its latest edition opens with an article about the geological history of the region, including the mention of whale bones found at Smiths Falls. The article is illustrated with an extraordinary "photo" and caption which I hope they don't mind my republishing here. Ken Watson obviously has a sense of humour.

Humpback Whale at Smiths Fall Detached Lock

The rare sight of a humpback whale breaching in the basin just above the Smiths Falls Detached Lock. This large animal has a gentle nature and is always respectful to Rideau boaters. 

Whale photo - NOAA, Smiths Fall Detached photo - Ken Watson

An extract from the article:

... In 1883, gravel to be used as railway ballast was being excavated from the Welsh gravel pit, about 5 km north of Smiths Falls. Workers in the pit came across several large bones. Word of these bones came to the attention of J.W. Dawson of McGill University, a geologist who specialized in this sort of thing. He collected the bones and they were later identified as being pieces of a vertebrae and a rib of a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae). Later investigators found bones of beluga whales (such as those in a gravel pit at the northern edge of the Ottawa airport), marine clams and other evidence of a moderate saltwater environment that existed in this area at the end of the last ice age.

This saltwater environment was the Champlain Sea, formed about 13,000 years ago as the glaciers continued their retreat over the depressed landscape. Waters from the Atlantic Ocean mixed with glacial melt-waters and river drainage to create a brackish sea which extended past (west and south) of Ottawa. The southern limit of this sea on the Rideau Canal was near Nobles Bay of Big Rideau Lake. And, at that time, beluga whales, and at least one humpback whale, were swimming over what is the Rideau River today. That same sea is also responsible for the deposition of the famous (or infamous) Leda clay – the unstable “quick clay” that underlies large areas near Ottawa (and some other parts of eastern Ontario)...

At the water's edge

The river's edge by daylight

When we walk by the river in the dark, even though a full moon might be shining (that and the stars reflected in the water) we can't always see clearly what's in the shadows.

"That's not ice, is it?" said Chris the other night as we came through Bordeleau Park. Something pale, flat and thin had spread itself on the water's surface near the bank.

No, it wasn't ice (yet). It was a layer of fallen leaves.

A miniature river of stones

I am going to the Museum of Civilisation on the other side of the Ottawa River this morning and if I have time shall take a look outside at the Japanese "Zen Garden" ––created on a rooftop opposite the main building. This miniature landscape has a simple, peaceful look, resembling a mountain stream and its rocky banks, with pebbles representing the flow of water. (I took these photos about a month ago, so with the season's advance, the look will be different now.)

The Japanese co-designer Shunmyo Masuno has done such things in other parts of the world as well, using material found locally (here, the stones come from the Gatineau hills). You can find another picture of the Gatineau garden on his "Overseas" page (scroll down). It was designed with the theme Wakei No Niwa in mind, a reference to understanding and respect between the Japanese and Canadians. The pebbles may only be raked on ceremonial occasions by a Zen Buddhist priest. The garden was officially opened in 1995 in the presence of Prince and Princess Takamado of Japan.

Sun rising on the Ottawa

I'm cheating. This photo wasn't taken by me; it was linked from one of the websites I most frequently visit, the Ottawa page at The Weather Network, which incidentally is predicting a "feels like" temperature of -7º for tonight.

Posted by Gabrielle McCann, this photo was apparently taken this morning on the Hurtubise Boulevard in Gatineau, looking south across the Ottawa River. Note the leafless tree in the foreground!

The playground by the water's edge

End of October, 2011

A winding path leads from the corner of Rose Street and Cathcart Street towards through Bordeleau Park to the wall of the Chinese Embassy grounds, the playground at the end temptingly colourful beyond the trees. Children at the Bordeleau Park playground don't usually venture towards the river, although there's not much to prevent them from doing so, because their protectors are there and in any case because the playground has too many attractions for them to want to wander far.

At this time of year I feel nostalgic, remembering the visit of our then two-year-old grandson a couple of years ago. He enjoyed this corner of the park very much.

End of October, 2009

Late autumn

Another restful walk home from the other side of the Minto Bridges and along the river banks this afternoon. Next week the clocks are put back for the start of winter time, although there is still plenty of colour and life around us, crows cawing from the unity tower, seagulls squawking from the fence posts on Green Island (where we've also twice seen a rabbit sitting in the grass after dark this month––the same one?), ducks on the water.

Some of the small trees growing on the banks are covered with black berries: I think they are either chokeberries (Aronia Melanocarpa, or some kind of buckthorn.

Water levels look very low in both the Ottawa River and the Rideau at the moment with stony beaches emerging; no doubt they'll disappear again soon. The Rideau Canal was already drained of most of its water a couple of weeks ago and won't take boats through the city again for another 5 or 6 months now.

A little red tree

The autumn leaves haven't yet completely gone in spite of some heavy rain and winds this week. Newly planted trees can be found growing by the Rideau River these days and being small are sheltered by the larger ones, so don't lose their colour so quickly. This young maple catches my eye near our house. You can see why.

A walk for the dogs

Sunday afternoon, as we left Cathcart Street, we saw a long line of people, far more than normal, taking their dogs for a walk by the river. There must be some reason for that, I assumed, and sure enough I discover that the Cumberland Lions Club organised this event to raise money for guide dogs, or dog guides, as they prefer to call them: a stroll from the De La Salle school opposite the Chinese Embassy following the river banks back to the Rockcliffe Retirement Residence on Porter Island—more or less our usual evening walk, in fact.

Here is a map showing the route of the dog walk.

I noticed that all the dogs were on leashes on this occasion; that's not always the case, but near our house it ought to be. Undisciplined, off-leash dogs can be a hazard to people and to themselves. An over-excited dog could veer off into the traffic on King Edward Island if it's not kept under control, or in early / late winter could run onto the thin ice of the (deep, cold, rushing) river and fall through, closely followed by its owner (trying to rescue it) in some cases. Such tragedies have been known to happen.

According to this map dogs are allowed to run free in Bordeleau Park and in New Edinburgh Park across the river. The Ottawa Bylaw 2003 - 77 has a good deal to say on the subject of dogs and parks: see sections 42-48 of that document.

Two tributaries of the Ottawa

We flew to Lachute and back last weekend, following the Ottawa River below us, and passing the mouth of the Rivière Rouge on the Quebec side, where a bridge has very recently been constructed to take the new Gatineau-Montreal highway across. This was one of the major obstacles for the engineers and construction crews on this project.

On the way home from Lachute (east of Hawkesbury) we overflew the mouth of the South Nation River on the Ontario side, in a landscape that's less wild and more cultivated. There's been a bridge there for some years, taking Highway 17 across, and remnants of an older bridge.

Aboard the Paula D.

CFUW-Ottawa's Diplomatic Hospitality Group invited diplomat families and friends to a cruise on the Ottawa River last week, on the Paula D., a river boat chartered from Paul's Boat Lines. About 130 people came along.

A Rockcliffe headland seen from on board

View from the Paula D.

The water was calm and smooth on a cold but very bright October morning, the passengers feeling the chill on the top deck, although it was cosy enough on the enclosed deck below where soup and sandwiches were being served. We sailed from the Hull Marina to beyond the confluence with the Gatineau River at Pointe Gatineau before turning back, but were too busy socialising to pay very much attention to the scenery, except for the Rideau Falls on the way out, which the boat approached closely enough for us to feel the spray.

With a D.J. on board the dancing soon began to dance and that and the sunshine warmed people up. Then, introduced by the Indian High Commissioner's wife Rina Gavai who was participating in the cruise, a special entertainment was provided by Indian dancers, demonstrating a classical dance in costumes meant for a warmer climate, and bare feet, with anklets of little bells.

Indian classical dancers entertain the cruise passengers

On an autumn evening

A calm, fine evening this evening, with the poplar trees making perfect reflections in the Rideau, the surface of the water tinged pink by the sunset. To the delight of my visitors from overseas, a beaver swam in circles, slapping its tail on the water and diving when it noticed we were there. A flock of geese took off from the lawn beside the newly named John G. Diefenbaker building. We looked for groundhogs on Maple Island but only found their holes.

Frost is forecast for tonight with the temperature probably dropping to 0º.

25 years of protest

Pulling out into Cathcart Street yesterday, I drove past a group of people standing at a trestle table that had been erected in the Bordeleau Park. On the table was a large cake decorated with a 25. That's an odd place for a birthday party, I thought, but it wasn't that exactly. It was a gathering to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the King Edward Avenue Task Force, a pressure group that for the last quarter century (!) has been trying in vain to do something about the heavy volume of traffic rolling down this large road through our residential neighbourhood. A report of their get-together on Saturday morning made the front page of the City section of the Ottawa Citizen today.

The MacDonald-Cartier Bridge, from the Gatineau side

The local politicians and councillors all claim to support the Task Force and agree that something has to be done, but very little headway is made, the sticking point being the need for an alternative to the MacDonald-Cartier interprovincial bridge, towards which King Edward Avenue leads, straight as a die, drawing heavy vehicles right through Ottawa's downtown core. And, as the article in the citizen says, drivers on their way home to Quebec race along the avenue towards the bridge at 75kph, even though the posted speed limit is 40kph. There are not enough bridges across the Ottawa, but where should the new one be built? that is the perennial question.

...any discussion of building another bridge to link Ottawa with Gatineau - across Kettle Island or the Upper and Lower Duck islands have been well-discussed options - are generally met with strong opposition from those neighbourhoods ...

The old rail bridge (at the bottom of my photo),
with Lemieux Island behind it

So far, the only candidate who has come round to our house before the provincial elections next week has been the Green Party candidate, Dave Bagler. He told me he favoured "the Canotek option" for the siting of the next bridge across the Ottawa, and also thought that the disused rail bridge (the Prince of Wales Bridge) upstream of the Chaudière Falls should be repaired and brought back into service.

I agree. All it takes is the political will to make these things happen.

Red and green

Wikipedia photo of Staghorn Sumac

Along the banks of the Ottawa the sumac (rhus typhina) leaves are gradually turning red; some of them are still green. I pointed out the bi-coloured sumac bushes to my husband today as we were driving above the river, but because he is red / green colourblind, he said, "I don't see anything different from the usual." It's a pity he misses such a beautiful juxtaposition of colour.

The sumacs' conical fruit (aka drupes) have been red since mid-summer. As First Nations people know, or used to know, apart from their medicinal properties, these plants have numerous other potential uses:

... The leaves are rich in tannin, up to 48% has been obtained in a controlled plantation. They can be collected as they fall in the autumn and used as a brown dye or as a mordant. The bark, especially the root bark, and the fruits are also very rich in tannin. A yellow dye can be obtained from the roots. An orange dye can be obtained from the inner bark and central pith of the stem, mixed with bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis). A black ink can be made by boiling the leaves and the fruit. An oil is extracted from the seeds. It attains a tallow-like consistency on standing and is used to make candles. These burn brilliantly, though they emit a pungent smoke. Pipes are made from the young shoots and are used for drawing the sap of sugar maples. They are also used as flutes. The plant has an extensive root system and is planted as a windbreak screen and to prevent soil erosion.

(from Plants for a Future)

The geese are gathering

Flock of geese on the Rideau (photo taken this time last year)

It seems that the geese have begun to prepare for migration again, gathering in large flocks near the Ottawa River now, and practising their formation flying skills in family groups.

Bird strikes are a hazard for pilots at this time of year. There were many geese at Rockcliffe airport today and while Chris was flying today he heard Air Traffic Control reporting signals from skeins of geese on their radar equipment. I spotted a long line of geese flying above the airport myself, pointing this out to some people from Germany, for whom it's a novel sight.

One of the ways in which the birds navigate, it seems, is to follow the course of rivers.

The weather is still warm so we were wondering how the geese know that winter is coming closer. We assume it is the shorter days and longer nights that make them feel restless to get going. The tree tops are changing colour now as well. Do geese have colour vision?

Seniors and turtle eggs

In my other blog I made a link to The Rockcliffe, a recently opened retirement residence on the Rideau. Out of curiosity I browsed around their website when I'd found it and came across this description of the grounds, on their "news" page:

The Rockcliffe's most interesting creature neighbours were the very large turtles which crawled up the riverbank to lay eggs in our gardens. We decided to protect the nests as best we could from marauders. The immense Linden trees in the patio garden came into full leaf making lovely shady spaces where we could sit and listen to the birds. The outdoor bar was opened and we were able to enjoy dining on the patio.

This retirement residence is situated on Porter Island.

I see from the Library and Archives Canada website that Porter Island used to be home to the Good Shepherd Convent, also a fairly tall building for its day.

Ottawa to Kingston

Flying above Ottawa, as I have mentioned before, it's clear to see how the city's three rivers determine the layout of its infrastructure. In my photo below, the Gatineau River valley can just be discerned in the distance.

Ottawa, looking north from above the Rideau River 

We are thinking of hiking the length of the Rideau River one day, a 305km trek which could take a couple of weeks at least, especially if we had a load of provisions and clothes on our backs. There is a Rideau Trail Association too that organises group walking along the trail in stages.

(My brother-in-law Phil, by the way, a keen hiker in the UK, has just published a mischievous blogpost about people who walk in groups, illustrated by one of his own drawings.)

It would be nice to sleep in comfortable beds while we're foot-slogging to Kingston and there is a choice of possible lodgings on the way, although for some of the wilder stretches they may be distributed rather far apart.

Anyway, no end of possibilities. We could cycle the length of the Rideau too, if we wished, or could rent a boat. I've heard of people who have covered the distance by canoe. Following the Cataraqui Trail, it's also possible to cycle from Ottawa to Kingston. The Cataraqui River at the southern end of the journey flows into the St. Lawrence at Kingston.

The romance of boats

Docks on the Ottawa River at the Rockcliffe Yacht club

I had this in my drafts folder, the photo taken on August 27th. I can't remember now what I was going to write about it so shall publish it without any comment other than the blogpost title.

The red river

That subject heading doesn't refer to Winnipeg's river but to ours, the Rideau! We have just got back from a walk to the Rideau Falls, compelled to go out by a glimpse through our kitchen windows of the extraordinary sky. The Ottawa Citizen has already called it "a sunset to remember."

Here is a photo taken by my husband Chris from the Minto Bridges, looking towards the northwest:

To cycle beside the Ottawa

Doesn't that look appealing? (The trail, I mean, not the rattly old bike.) I had just freewheeled down to the river's edge from the Rockcliffe Parkway and had stopped to look at the views up and downstream. It was a perfect day for a bike ride.

No swimming in green slime

It has not been a good summer for Ottawa's river beaches and now they are closed for the season.

The Rideau River near our house looks unattractive for swimming at present, with the usual late summer green slime spreading across its surface. According to the biologists we shouldn't complain about this, because the visible presence of algae indicates a healthy river. Or does it? Parks Canada set up a Green Slime Monitoring Partnership (seriously!) for the Rideau River last year––here's the link to their preliminary results.

Glowing in the dark

The Lumière Festival went according to schedule in New Edinburgh last Saturday; Chris and I walked back and forth through Stanley Park for about an hour after dark, seeing the Marimba band perform, with the little girls dressed as fairies dancing to its rhythm, and the Propellor Dance by people in wheel chairs (coloured lights on their wheels) as well as able-bodied dancers. A maze of paper bag lanterns had been laid out on the baseball court. It was good, simple fun. At one point we caught sight of lights rising in the sky; a flight of balloon-lanterns had been released, a lovely and novel idea. On the river bank the usual home-made paper, glass or tin lanterns decorated trees and bushes and the tennis court fence, and floating in the river itself were strange, luminous figures.

Lumière Festival light sculptures

Swan lanterns, and their reflections

We timed our walk home to coincide with the finale of the fireworks competition that made for more colour in the dark sky. The rain did more or less hold off, that evening.

More fireworks beyond the Minto Bridges

Lumière lanterns coming soon

Dark cloud over the Minto Bridges

I have just found out that this year's Lumière Festival will culminate with an Evening of Light in the New Edinburgh Park next Saturday. The event begins at 5 p.m. but it's best to arrive after dark; it goes on until 10 p.m., the park being lit with homemade lanterns hanging in the trees. Ghostly free standing creations will be visible too and even some floating ones, tethered carefully on the Rideau River.

On previous years this has been quite magical, very atmospheric and cleverly put together; the children in particular love this occasion. However, last year's lantern festival, sad to say, was a wash out, the delicate lanterns lashed with rain in a cold wind. It is raining heavily as I write this and dark clouds have been hanging around in the afternoons and evenings, but let's hope for better luck with the weather this time round. A large number of local artists and performers have been engaged to entertain the crowds in the dark next Saturday. Good luck to them all!

Lighting up the sky

Walking home from New Edinburgh across the Minto Bridges last night, we had the Saturday night fireworks on our right, cloud-to-cloud sheet lightning in the distance on our left (and in the sky behind us), and the full moon above, reflected in the river. Visual overload! We didn't know which way to look.

Clouds over the two rivers

Getting a flight briefing

I'd like to add a note about our flight home from Montmagny on August 2nd and record how the cloudscape changed as we followed the rivers west to Ottawa.

Rising cloud seen from Montmagny

The journey began with a weather briefing at Montmagny airport by the St. Lawrence, where the crews responsible for Air Montmagny flights were sitting round in the office, waiting for the ceiling to lift before they could get airborne. Normally this 5-aircraft company (run by a father and son team––we met owner Jean Gosselin) does as many as twenty flights a day from Montmagny, among which are flights during term time to get eight school children from the Isle aux Grues to school on the mainland and back. I think that's a marvellous service. The children concerned think so too, as flying to school does have a certain glamour about it. As it says in the Wikipedia:

Durant l'hiver, l'île est uniquement accessible par avion. Information amusante : les enfants de l'île aux Grues doivent se rendre à l'école à Montmagny par avion car le traversier ne peut opérer qu'à certaines heures à cause des marées et cette restriction ne permet pas de synchroniser le traversier avec les heures de classe!

Orographic cloud north of the St. Lawrence

Chris filed IFR to Gatineau as the clouds began to lift over the river; after the previous day's storms there was a lot of moisture about. On the climb out he reported a cloud base at 500 feet and flew through that thin layer, through which we could still see some of the landscape below us. On the north shore of the St. Lawrence the mountains (Mont Sainte-Anne, etc.) were capped with orographic cloud. We were on course for the VOR at Quebec climbing to 8000 ft, but during that climb ATC reported a heavy build up of cloud (detected by their radar) on our route, a remnant of the occluded front now moving east of this area. Other pilots were reporting lightning flashes from the cloud and we could see that threatening part of the sky as well, so made a slight detour to the north to avoid it. The weather en route was reportedly better towards the west and beyond Quebec as we approached Trois-Rivières that was indeed the case, no more than summer cumulus ahead; although some of these clouds were beginning to tower it would be much later in the day before they'd cause much trouble.

Layers of cloud above the St. Lawrence, east of Quebec City

Edge of the storm near Quebec

Better weather ahead

Approaching Rockland over the Ottawa River

Flying in straight lines from VOR to VOR along the Victor Airways meant that we didn't overfly the confluence of the Ottawa River with the St. Lawrence at Montreal. As soon as we came beyond the higher ground of the Laurentians, around the Mirabel VOR, we could see a long way into the distance over the nose of our aircraft, the course of the Ottawa River leading us home. By that time it was a sunny, carefree day.

The Maritime Museum at L'Islet-sur-mer

Distant thunderstorm over the St. Lawrence

A week ago, we were on the south shore of the St. Lawrence seaway where, hampered from returning to Ottawa by the likelihood of severe thunderstorms, we rented a car at Montmagny to drive along the Route des Navigateurs (Rte. 132) as far as L'Islet-sur-mer. Our purpose was two-fold. First we needed to find somewhere to spend the night, and second, we wanted to visit the Musée Maritime du Québec.

Chris going into the museum

The wonderful life story of Captain Joseph Elzéar Bernier, who had spent much of his life here, at L'Islet-sur-mer, was featured in a special exhibition at the museum. Born into the merchant navy in 1852, thrilled by his first sight of flying fish at the age of four, Bernier grew up to become a great and famous mariner, having been promoted to officer status (on his father's ship) at a very young age. By the time he was 17 he was already master of his own ship, the youngest captain in the British empire. He decided who should be his wife at a very young age as well (he and Rose, a local farmer's daughter, were 10 and 8 year olds when they met, and were married 8 years after that).

The ship that Bernier eventually acquired from Germany, originally named the Gauss, renamed L'Arctic, was his vessel of choice and he manned it with a crew of sailors who were nearly all from L'Islet-sur-mer themselves––what loyalty they must have felt for one another! His ambition was to reach the North Pole; though he never made it quite to the Pole, he was honoured for his accomplishments, having led 11 expeditions to the far north where the Inuit still remember and respect him. He died at the age of 82 at L'Islet, having made a journey to Rome the previous year, to visit the Pope.

More about Bernier and his Arctic expeditions here.

There were several other exhibitions at the museum, including one about Sea Monsters, and I toured the Chalouperie on the ground floor, learning some French and English vocabulary which I note here for future reference:

chaloupe = beach boat

On the deck of the Ernest Lapointe

chaloupe à rame = row(ing) boat
chaloupe à glace = ice boat (for the seal hunt)
voilier = sloop (although perhaps they meant skiff)
drosseuse = duck boat (used locally for hunting snow geese during the migration season)

Outside the museum our admission tickets allowed us to board the icebreaker Ernest Lapointe, a steam ship used by the Canadian Coast Guard between 1940 and 1978. We thoroughly enjoyed peering into the cabins etc and imagining life on this stylish vessel which sometimes used to accommodate VIP land-lubbers, as well as its regular crew. Had we wished, we could also have had a guided tour (in French) on board the HMCS Bras d'Or 400 hydrofoil that's kept high and dry in the museum park, but we'll leave that until another occasion. At one time this was the fastest unarmed warship in the world, but for political reasons she never came into service. The Canadian hydrofoil project was cancelled in the 1970s.

After enjoying this museum very much we meandered back towards Montmagny through the riverside villages and found Bed and Breakfast at a gîte on the Route du Souvenir in Cap St. Ignace, a place I thoroughly recommend for its cleanliness, for its attractiveness inside and out and for its value for money, not to mention the superb breakfast we were served next morning. It's called the Chocoporto, a restored farmhouse dating back to the 17th century. Incidentally the family to whom this old house had belonged were also called Bernier.

The Sunday cycle track

If we want to go to the Rockcliffe Flying Club on Sunday mornings in the summer we are stopped at a barrier where the Rockcliffe Parkway is closed to normal traffic. Chris winds down his window to say to the people manning the barrier, "To the flying club, very slowly, with both lights flashing?" and they smile and let us through.

The reason for this slight inconvenience is a very good one: the city allows cyclists and inline skaters dedicated access to the smooth surface of the scenic parkways for this four-hour period once a week (until September 4th, this year) so that they can enjoy speeding along without the need to worry about oncoming motor vehicles. Alcatel-Lucent have sponsored the initiative; good for them!

Ottawa apparently has the highest per capita population of cyclists in Canada.

Personally, when we're using our bikes, we prefer the route that takes us down to the unsurfaced trail right beside the Ottawa River, rather than along the top of the bluffs. The views up, down and across the river are exhilarating, the trail is nearly always in the shade and it continues from the old boathouse (belonging to the Ottawa New Edinburgh Club) all the way to Orleans.

The Ottawa River Pathway on the western side of the city is worth exploring too, whatever your self-propelled means of transport.

Cycle paths in Ottawa-Gatineau