Photos from St Andrews by the Sea, Cap-Pelé, and Hopewell Rocks.

I find New Brunswick to be stunningly beautiful and the people I met were among the friendliest folks anywhere.

St. Andrews is a very interesting little town -- especially before the day trippers arrive. We had only one day there and could have easily spent three. Rossmount Inn has the best food in N.B. The land bridge to Miller Island is cute as we watched the Fundy tide washed it away in minutes. The kids enjoyed the Salmon Research Center too. Next time, we would like to visit the St Croix Historic Center and Kingsbrae garden.

I was in Cap-Pelé, N.B. and wandered onto a gentleman's lawn because he had a big bienvenue sign in front with a bunch of crafts on display. He came out, invited me and my kids into his house and showed us around his collection of monkey dolls. (1723 of them!) He told me he continued his wife's collection after she passed away, and he's been working on the crafts as a hobby after his retirement. (I took some photos of his work and they are in this album.)

Afterwards, I went to Leslie Leger's Fishery. Since it's working season for smoked herring, the factory's not giving out any tour. But I wasn't going to leave Cap-Pelé, the capital of smoked herring production in America, without having a taste of the herring. Monsieur Leger found me lurking outside his factory. He chatted with me and found out what I wanted. He then went into the factory and came back with a bag of smoked herring as a gift for me, a total stranger.

Needless to say, I consider the Acadiens among the nicest people in the world. [ August 2007 ]

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