We then drove to Percé where we stayed for the two nights. The first night, we had supper at La Maison du pêcheur, one of Percé's most famous restaurants. We didn't have a reservation, but there was a cancellation and we ended up with one of the best tables in the restaurant, with a view on the water and just underneath the original roof where members of the FLQ had drawn graffiti. The food wasn't that great, though. I had a sea urchin which had a bit too much cream in it and lobster with a maple and algae sauce. The lobster was a bit too rich.
We finished our evening at the motel bar, at the Pic de l'Aurore. This is the third time we have been to that specific motel. We always end up at the bar talking with the proprietor, Jean-François, and his girlfriend Marie. Even though they live in what is considered to be one of the most far off regions of Quebec, they are more worldly than most people I know.
The next morning, we headed to the Bonaventure island, where there are four hiking trails which all lead to a huge bird colony. We started with the trail which allowed us to visit all the abandoned houses on the island. We then arrived to the bird colony, which was a lot more impressive than what I had expected. This is what it looked like:
We took the fastest trail on the way back. I would probably go back another time to do the two remaining trails.
That night, we had supper at a place recommended to us by Jean-François, the Bistro Sacs à vin. It looked less touristy than most of the restaurants in Percé, especially since it wasn't by the water. I found the restaurant to be way better than the Maison du pêcheur. First of all, it was less expensive. For 60$, we had two soups, two entrées and one liter of wine. I had cod cakes, and they were amazing. I also tasted F's dish. He had homemade maple sausage. They were also really good and not too sweet.
We also talked with the proprietor, a nice French guy. I will be going back there for sure.
The next day, we drove to Shediac, a beach in New Brunswick near Moncton. The drive was long, so by the time we were done with the beach, it was time for dinner again. We went to a restaurant next to our hotel called Pisces. I had oysters and a bouillabaisse-like dish, which allowed me to taste all kinds of sea food: lobster, shrimp, scallops, salmon, mussels and calamari.
The following day, we went to Halifax. We walked along the harbor for a while. We were supposed to sleep there, but we thought it might be too expensive, so we got back in the car and went to New Glasgow, a pretty small town.
From New Glasgow, we drove to the Glenora distillery, which I believe is the only distillery in Canada which produces single malt whisky. We arrived in time for lunch and we both had a dish inspired by Vietnamese sandwiches. The sandwich had pulled pork smoked with wood from whisky barrels and pickled daikon and carrots in it.
We then visited the distillery and took a hike around it. We had dinner at the distillery restaurant, but it wasn't a particularly memorable meal.
The next day, we returned home. I liked traveling around the Atlantic provinces, but I don't think I will be returning there anytime soon (this was my second time in those provinces). Percé, however, is still a favorite of mine, and I would go back there again and again, even though this was my fifth time there.
