I've been keeping copious journal entries on the trip and trying to find a way into describing it to make clear how beautiful it was. Result: absolute writer's block. The basics are that my horse, a tall bay gelding, was a pure pleasure to ride; that my muscles and tendons took a serious beating but seem to have made it through without permanent injury; and that Gaspésie in summer is more beautiful than anywhere I have ever been. At one point we came flying up a ridge in a light rain, passing the slowly spinning windmills of the aeolian power project, and saw the gray sea opening out behind fields of wheat and flowering alfalfa. I had to wipe my eyes; that line from Tolkien about the shining curtain of rain rolling back to show a swift sunrise over a far green country was the only thing that seemed close.
The fact that all the food seemed to involve heavy cream, fresh produce, and/or maple syrup was just, as it were, icing on this particular cake.
5 comments:
I'll try to be patient. I suspect this particular update may well require us to break bread together rather than test my limits on patience for both the overall recap, and the food-porn. -ie
Darlin we await a fuller account, but the misty ascent is a nice glimpse. Need more info about the Bay.
One dessert option at the Auberge en Gaspesie was a slice of thick homemade white bread sprinkled with maple sugar, doused in heavy cream, and topped with fresh crushed strawberries. ZOMG. I bought a pound of the sugar specifically for replication purposes, but the sucre weevils may not let it last so long.
More info and just a monster photo dump TK. I didn't realize until later how lucky we were to miss Saturday's rain; parts of the peninsula lost roads and bridges, and several people drowned at crossings. I sat inside absorbing crepes and coffee until it was time to catch the bus.
Very beautiful!! I love the bay's muscling - he must have been a treat to ride. And "Deus sive Natura" (as Spinoza would say) lavished this area of our blue planet with generous beauty. I've never been there but dream of going. Those tides!!
Smouti was ideal: calm, fast-paced, responsive, and sound. His one foible was his hatred of getting his feet muddy. Pierre thinks he's a QH/Standardbred cross, and if allowed he would break into a pacing trot that was not entirely comfortable.
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