Farsighted Fly Girl

The beauty of Quebec's maritime region, the Gaspe' Peninsula, which wraps around the shore of the St. Lawrence River, is quite famous. You hear people rave about it every time the region is mentioned but I still wasn't prepared. Canada is a beautiful, sprawling country in general so I figured the experience would be similar to the other Canadian provinces that I visited. It's not. Gaspe' which means "lands end" in the Mic Mac language, is literally another land, a whole world apart from the other. I was constantly catching my breath at the sheer wonder of the landscape, to the point that I think I stopped breathing many times. Traveling around Gaspe's five provinces was like meeting individual members of a stunning family. Each one more gorgeous than the other. But it wasn't just the beauty, the purity and tranquility of the land seeps through the sea breezes. The people of Gaspe' have lived in the area for generations and the res...

I'm so sorry that's it's been so long since my last post but I was hunkered down writing my book, which was due yesterday. Now that it's at the publisher's, I can get back to my routine, which includes traveling and writing about it. I'll write a post about my book closer to the publication date but I really wanted to look back at all the wonderful places I visited in 2013 before I start my 2014 travels. My travel schedule was really busy last year but these are the places that I loved. Oaxaca, Mexico was one of them, that's Santa Cruz Bay pictured above. The nine bays of Huatulco, Mexico are breathtaking, it was a dicey experience for me to see all of them, since I was in a boat for hours and suffered from seasickness but it was totally worth it. This is the last bay, St. Augustine. I sampled fresh guacamole (they literally went to pick the avocados) in a beach cafe and climbed the top of the hill that overlooks the bay, to the local church. I promi...

Quebec's Gaspe' Peninsula exudes quintessential Quebecois spirit with lots of French-flavored traditions. I spotted this clown on a sunny afternoon at the harbor of the tiny village of Perce'.  Equipped with accordion, stylish hat and shades, she doesn't look like any clown you'd see in the U.S. She crooned French children's songs as kids scurried around, blowing bubbles and playing with balloons.   With the sun playing off the bright blue waves of the sea and a crisp breeze floating over the shore, it felt like a typical cheery day in this charming maritime province.