Tadoussac

ferry across the Saguenay fiord

After a short ferry ride, we arrived in the the village of Tadoussac today.  It's a whale-watching destination at the confluence of the St. Lawrence and the Saguenay rivers.

From the observation deck of the old lighthouse we saw minke, beluga and humpback whales!

 The local churches around here are eye-catching. The one with the red roof, built in 1647, is reputedly the oldest wooden church in North America.









 

Charlevoix

 The Charlevoix region of Quebec, sitting on the north shore of the St. Lawrence, provides a wealth of stunning landscape views for a traveling guy like me, who gets excited by such things.

A half hour drive takes you up into the Laurentians with their sheer cliffs (highest east of the Rockies) and boreal forests or taiga, usually found much further north.

The Laurentians

a garden of calendula at Clef des Champs herb farm

Gail & I and our friend Litsa have embarked on a 'spur-of-the-moment' road trip through Quebec this week. First stop: the Laurentians... a beautiful region of quaint villages and ski resorts north of Montreal.

Tremblant Resort was 'Disneyesque'

Litsa & Gail with an Ironman from Michigan

on a practice run for the big race

We were lucky to get a room as the annual IronMan competition had arrived at Mont Tremblant with over 2,500 participants who swim, bike and run a marathon back-to-back!

the deer seemed too tame

Today we're off to the Charlevoix region!

Oakville Jazz Festival 2012

Three days of great music in downtown Oakville! But without more support, this may be the last jazz festival for awhile. It seems that the downtown merchants are complaining that it's not generating enough extra business. My one complaint would be that with all the fantastic rhythms in the air, not enough people were getting out of their seats and dancing!

Allen Toussaint

Eliana Cuevas

Holly Cole

Johannes Linstead

John Hammond

Magic Slim

Megan DeLima

Paul James

Mansfield Heritage Farm

photo by Kyra

I gave a photography workshop this week at Mansfield Heritage Farm, as part of a creative cooking class week for youth, organized by the organic farm's owner Joan Vanduzen, and chef Jean-Francois Archambault of La Tablée des Chefs in Quebec. It was a beautiful day spent with some very enthusiastic teenagers. Here's a sample of their creative work. Just click on a photo to enlarge.

photo by Taylor

photo by Brayden

photo by James

photo by Lukas

photo by Morgan