We’ve been lapping up mile after mile in the clear blue light of an October afternoon. There were a few passengers when we left Chicoutimi, but the bus emptied at Tadoussac (…) Walt Whitman visited the ‘savage Saguenay country’ around 1880. Wrote a little piece about it, saying that the Saguenay is different from all other rivers; ‘a more vehement … Continue reading →
Those who follow the North Road, trying to get into the clear, beyond all the fuzz. (The Blue Road – Kenneth White) While Iain and Margaret are flying towards the blue skies of Italy we’re beginning our ‘Blue Road’ towards the North, dreaming of Labrador… From 1st to 3rd October 2010, our travel takes us from Montreal to Grandes Bergeronnes … Continue reading →
That night around midnight – there’s a big round Autumn moon sailing grandly over Montreal (Kenneth White – The Blue Road – Mainstream Publishing Company – Edinburgh – Ltd 1990) It is with great pleasure that I write these few words today about a marvellous journey which Scotiana team (Mairiuna, Jean-Claude and I, Janice) are delighted to embark upon. Flying … Continue reading →
. Pour tous ceux, pour toutes celles que tente le dehors, pour la tribu des voyageurs-voyants, pour le grand fleuve et la côte fracturée, pour le monde multiple retrouvé. (Kenneth White – La route bleue – 1983) For the Great Work Field (Kenneth White – The Blue Road – 1990) Hi everybody, Are you ready to share our new adventure? … Continue reading →
. If you love Scotland, you will certainly also love this part of France, in Berry, where, a long long time ago the Scots came to our rescue to save our country before settling there… many inhabitants can claim Scottish roots in the area and they seem to be very happy about that… After visiting Aubigny-sur Nère, the very picturesque … Continue reading →
We dedicate this post to Iain and Margaret, our Scottish friends who are going to leave France. Both are great admirers of Robert Burns and they’re living in Dumfries & Galloway, not far from the native place of the great Scottish bard. Let’s say them “Ce n’est qu’un au-revoir” in music… AULD LANG SYNE Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never … Continue reading →
In the heart of France, on the borders of romantic Sologne and Berry, the flowered little town of Aubigny-sur-Nère, with its old church and picturesque half-timbered houses, boasts a rich Scottish heritage on the ‘Route Jacques Coeur’. So don’t be surprised if, on entering the town, as mentioned in my first post about Aubigny, you’re welcomed by a big wrought … Continue reading →
To our dear Ralph, I dedicate this post. I’m sure he’s waiting for us somewhere in greener lands… But we miss him here … I have sometimes thought of the final cause of dogs having such short lives, and I am quite satisfied it is in compassion to the human race; for if we suffer so much in losing a … Continue reading →
. A Scottish piper welcomes the visitor at the entry of the town… Pieces of tartan stretched like sails within bamboo frames flap in the wind … hunting and royal Stuart tartans… On a charming little square, a yellow-harled house, which would not look out of place in Culross, proudly stands across the street, while a Stuart tartan sign invites … Continue reading →
Mairiuna! upon watching a You Tube video about United States postage stamps, I discovered that one of the featured stamps, the $1 value of the 1898 Trans-Mississipi Exposition Issue, internationally known as the “Cattle in the Storm” stamp, was designed from a 19th century painting of Scottish painter, John A. MacWhirter. 🙂 Imagine…this stamp was considered for many years the most beautiful … Continue reading →
While travelling all over Scotland we’ve discovered a great number of ruins and visited some of them, from the grandiose remains of castles, abbeys and churches, often set in dramatic landscapes, to the more modest and heartbreaking crofts and villages burnt during the infamous period of the Highlands evictions in the 18th and 19th centuries… We’ve also visited a number … Continue reading →
. Since we are speaking of Robert the Bruce I would like to introduce today Nigel Tranter, a very popular Scottish author who has written, among many other books of historical fiction, a trilogy about the great Scottish king. He died in 2000, at the age of 90. He was a great admirer of Sir Walter Scott and indeed, we … Continue reading →
In 2000, when we first visited Melrose Abbey, we did not know that the heart of Robert the Bruce, the famous Scottish King who defeated the English army at Bannockburn, on 24 June 1314, was buried there. Indeed, we didn’t know much about Scotland and its history for it was our first journey there, only seven days in June which … Continue reading →
Hi Mairiuna! Delighted to read your last post 🙂 As we have not had the chance to visit this architectural gem by night, as suggested by Sir Walter Scott in his marvelous poem ” The Lay of the Last Minstrel”, this little video created with the photos we took while visiting the site will inspire a certain “sense of place”… … Continue reading →
