Micael Savoie

Cette année, fut la première à laquelle j’ai eu la chance de voir de mes yeux la fierté des Acadiens et Acadiennes.  Il m’est impossible de décrire en quelques mots cette grande fête qui rassemble tant d’Acadiens.  Caraquet est une ville qui détient un cachet spécial et les gens qui y vivent sont accueillants et chaleureux, ce qui en fait une ville très agréable à visiter.  Festival ou non, Caraquet est un endroit où l’on aime bien aller visiter de temps en temps.  La route du littoral acadien est superbe avec ses beaux paysages, que ce soit à Pokeshaw avec  son île aux oiseaux ou Grande-Anse avec ses plages et falaises impressionnantes.  Ils nous est impossible de passer à Caraquet sans faire un arrêt à la boulangerie Grains de folie et un petit souper au Mitchan Sushi lorsque le temps nous le permet.

Cette année, avec le Congrès mondiale acadien, Caraquet était d’autant plus vivante avec beaucoup de divertissements à différents endroits tels le violon fantastique qui s’est déroulé à la place du vieux couvent de Caraquet.  Il est évident que cette année le tintamarre du 15 août qui se déroule entre 18h et 19h suite au son de cloche de l’Église Sainte-Pierre-aux-Liens ne pouvait passer inaperçu.  Avec plus de 50 000 personnes présentes pour démontrer qu’encore une fois les Acadiens sont bien vivants et là pour rester. Lili Tintamarre escorté de musiciens y à fait sa première apparition, une géante d’environ 20 pieds de haut dessiné et construit par l’artiste Bernard Dugas et sa soeur Pauline.

Lili Tintamarre créer par Bernard Dugas et sa soeur Pauline

Environ 50 000 personnes ont assister au tintamarre de Caraquet

Lézardom Labo lors du tintamarre

People usually try to avoid it around sunrise/sunset or even at night but it during that time that the scenery strikes you.  I’ve driven on many road in NB and I consider this one to be the best, but the road condition are in bad shape. Driving that road you’re 100% sure to see wildlife so driving carefully is a must.  I took it earlier this week,  heading toward Edmundston on Sunday night I was in a hurry to get home before dark and missed most of the magic light but I knew I’d be taking the same road to come back home around  the same time.

On Monday the weather was really cold for the month of May, wind was blowing with lots of cloud.  The light was peaking thru the big white clouds at times but it wasn’t lasting very long before it became overcast again.  I’ve stopped the car to one of my most favorite spot on that road and waited for that newly grown green weed be lighten up.

This was our last day in Cuba and it was a hot one, about 32 degrees with just a little bit of clouds.  We were pretty happy to have the full day at the beach, we needed to leave the resort by 8pm so that gave us plenty of time to enjoy  the sun.  Around 4pm the sun starts to get lower and it’s starts getting better for photography so I took my camera and left for a walk to capture the waves and rocks about 10min away on the West side of the beach.  I’ve tried to go as close as I could to capture the crashing waves without damaging my camera with salt water.

Waves crashing on rocks, Varadero

In some areas the rocks were all eroded, crabs hiding everywhere they’d think no one could see them.  What’s amaze me when I walk on the shore is to see all the little objects, species, rock and wood that the see pushes back to shore.  Some of those will just gets washed away back to sea, I spotted an old branch that must’ve at some point in time hooked to the bottom of the sea by some sort of white rock or coral.

My very last shot was taken while talking with Carlo who was from Santiago de Cuba, he spends months walking the beach trying to sell starfish and shells for a living while his family lives kilometers away, unfortunately we can’t bring those in Canada.  He had two bambino and to my surprise I’ve found that Cuban never/rarely ask for money but instead they ask for clothing… not new clothing, old.  If you ever go down in Cuba, bring clothes, sneakers, flip-flops etc… it’s expensive to buy a good pair of sneakers where around here we can pay 5-10$ a pair.  In some area they earn about 10 pesos per month, in Varadero it’s 20 pesos.  For them to buy a T-Shirt it can cost 12pesos, now imagine having to buy clothes for all your family with your only income of 10 pesos per month.

Rocky beach in Varadero

This has to be the highlight of my trip, Havana!

It was a great time but one day is too short, next time will probably be a 3 day in Havana and 4 in a resort.  How we managed to get to Havana was quite something, first we had paid Nolitour 270 pesos for both of us which in my opinion was ridiculously expensive but we wanted to go so…  I had made sure to check if a full refund was possible while I was checking for a cheaper way.  I went to the lobby of the hotel to find that it would cost me 300 pesos for a round trip in a taxi, we were about to pay that price and at least be on our own, go where we wanted and spend the time needed.   Before giving confirmation I went outside and spoke with a taxi driver, after a little chat he tells me 180 pesos for a round trip to Havana for 4 people so I booked it right away and canceled with Nolitour.

Locals on our way to Havana, Cuba

Sure, a few things happened on the way to Havana, got arrested by the police for no apparent reason but 5 pesos was enough to get away.  Our driver knew the roads quite well, driving somewhat fast in the little compact car and he seemed to knew everyone.  He had a hard time speaking/understanding english but he did point out a  few things on our way like army base, Sugar Cane factory and the name of each city we drove thru.

Initially I had made my research on Havana and I had a few places I wanted to visit, took out my little list and showed it to our driver he did brought us to each destination.  He either stayed in the car while waiting for us or was making arrangements for tours since none of us know how to speak Spanish.  How first stop in the capital was the Necropolis Cristóbal Colón (Havana’s Cemetery) but we did not stay long enough since we had other places we wanted to spend more time at.

Necropolis Cristóbal Colón entrance from inside, Havana/Cuba

Before heading to our next stop which was the Partagas Cigar factory we walked around the area, we were pretty amazed by all the old buildings, old cars and local people.  There’s old cars everywhere, some you can clearly see it can only be used for parts.  At the cigar factory it’s too bad we couldn’t bring our camera because there was lots of potential shots to be taken in that building.  They’re 600 people working at the factory making 20 000 cigars per day.

Las Partagas cigar factory, Havana/Cuba

Just across the street is the capitolio where you’ll be bombarded by locals begging for money or trying to sell random things, you might also be able to see young little kid playing baseball around the Capitolio or even riding their home made wooden skateboard.  What struck me once I got in the Capitolio was the ceiling with all its symmetry and colors.

Ceiling in the Capitolio, Havana/Cuba

One of the main reasons of our stay in Varadero was an agreement between my wife and I.  Varadero was the best location to meet our expectations, we could leave the resort without having to worry about violence, Cuba is safe.   Sure, like in every country you have to be carefull, pickpockets can be anywhere.  When we woke up on our third day in Cuba we decided to hop on the Varadero Beach Tour Bus, a two story bus that gives you an amazing view of the surroundings.  The bus goes up and down the peninsula from 9am till 9pm, you can hop in, hop out whenever you want during the day for 5pesos per person.

Beetle in Varadero, Varadero

Once in we got to Varadero the Flew Market was one of our first stop for souvenir and see local craftsmen, it’s fairly big and a lot more stuff than in Havana.  The big difference between both, the one in Havana has more tourist, more paintings and prices are a little bit higher but some artifact were in better quality.  Varadero seems to have more variety from small scale to bigger items and it’s a bit more friendly.

We then walked on the main street while taking our time to head toward small alley to see a bit more of the real Cuba, local playing baseball in their yard, a grandma bouncing a basketball and chicken in trees.

Chicken in Trees, Varadero

A few alley lead us to the beach, the following shot is one of my favorite from Varadero, the timing was perfect.  I saw the bike and crouched down, took a shot and the bike was gone.  Most shot I like has at least 3 elements that draw attention, in this case the red bike, the clear blue water and the couple sitting on the beach.

Bike near the beach in Varadero, Cuba

There’s old cars everywhere in Cuba, some are in good shape other would need a paint job although you can tell they don’t have winter has cars would be in worst shape than they are, it’s fascinating, you almost feel like living in the 60’s.  The following shot was taken while my wife was trying to let me know that I was not on the road anymore but in a some sort of private driveway, after all, it’s not like I was doing anything bad.

Old car, Varadero Cuba

After eating our pizza, well…  I hate it but not my wife, she went to the restroom before eating and it wasn’t clean at all so her imagination gave rise to how the kitchen might be like.  The pizza was OK, but I’ve had better pizza before.  We needed to find a place where restrooms could be clean so we walked down the road, got to the Varadero Mall.  While I was waiting I took this abstract shot of the exterior taken from the inside of the mall.