Hotel Paulin makes Caraquet a great place to visit

Some photos from our recent trip to Caraquet, a lovely town on the Acadian Peninsula in the northeast corner of New Brunswick. We stayed at the Hotel Paulin, hosted by Gerard Paulin and Karen Mersereau, to celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary and, to put it bluntly, enjoyed the best meal we've had in those ten years.

Hotel Paulin

The Hotel itself is a gorgeous, 18th Century building that has been in the Paulin family for more than 100 years. Carefully restored and updated, it offers magnificent suites, many with amazing views of the Baie de Chaleur. Add to that the culinary expertise of chef Karen Mersereau and you've got a fabulous facility that, all by itself, is worth a visit.

The town of Caraquet is nice enough, with lovely views of the Baie and miles of rocky beaches to enjoy. Unfortunately, Highway 11 runs right through the heart of the town, bringing with it a constant, noisy parade of transport trucks, motorcycles and other types of vehicles that make it hard to enjoy the town.

The Baie de Chaleur from our window

Karen and Gerard

Deck chairs outside the Paulin

We also found that, while Caraquet offers a number of really nice eating establishments, they are scattered along the main drag, getting lost in the shuffle of gas stations, fast food joints and sometimes tumble down houses.

Still, the culinary delights provided by Karen and Gerard at the Paulin are amply complemented by the food at places like Mitchan Sushi, Deja Bu, Restaurant Le Crapet, and Grains de Folie, making Caraquet a worthwhile place to visit.

Shimmering Baie de Chaleur

And the Hotel Paulin's suites are first class, large and quiet, beautifully furnished in a wonderful mixture of traditional elegance and modern convenience.

Exquisite Floral Touch

December's favourite photo is...

Our Final Winner, which caught the taste of the season

Dancing Tree Lights!

Although other photos also received votes, most people felt this one captured December best. I have to admit, the tree lights shot would likely have been my last choice of the five but I must bow to the will of the voters!

Thanks to everyone who voted throughout the year. If I can get my act together and produce a calendar using the monthly winners, I'll try to make sure everyone who participated gets one!

Photo favourites for December

#1: Street Lamp and Decapitated Statue (336)

#2: Starry-Eyed Moon (352)

#3: Bridge at Night (354)

#4: Dancing Tree Lights (358

Raise a glass. With this blog entry, we will have completed our review of last year's 365+ daily photos and chosen our twelve favourites by month.

It turns out December of 2011 was an impressively rich time for me, from a photographic standpoint. I had a hard time narrowing down the selection to five and am happy with the final product. It was an extremely productive month!

#5: Skater (362)

As usual, please look these images over and cast your vote, using the Comments feature or via email or in person. Which is your favourite photo from December? Once I have all the votes in and a winner declared, I'll start thinking about producing a calendar for 2013, using the twelve winners and a select few of the runners up. Want one?

Confirming my Hopewell hopes

A while back I posted this black-and-white photograph of a particular flower-pot rock at Hopewell, taken from the book This is New Brunswick, by Jessie I. Lawson and Jean MacCallum Sweet (Ryerson Press, 1951).

I promised to try to take the same photo, showing the same rock from the same angle, the next time I went to the Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park.

I had found a shot in my collection from 2012 that showed what I thought was the same rock (I was right, by the way) but wanted to make sure with a more carefully planned picture.

The new shot is still not a perfect recreation (I was a bit rushed as the tide was coming in) but it's not too bad.

Amazing how much has changed, isn't it? And yet how much has stayed the same. The "face rock" to the right (which is actually standing behind the rock that is central to the photo) hasn't changed much but a full one-third of the main rock is now gone. Neat, huh?

November's photo favourite is...

November's Favourite Photograph: "Impermanence"

"Impermanence". Surprise surprise.

I honestly believe that "Beer Taps" is the best, most interesting photograph of the bunch and yet not one person voted for it nor even mentioned it as being among their favourites.

"Jumpy Lights" is also an interesting photographic experiment but received little support while "Magic Pods", with its interesting shapes and textures, was also mentioned by only one person.

I find this amazing. And yet, I can't disagree with the support that both "Dog Days" and "Impermanence" received. I love both pictures, for their simplicity and their beauty. Maybe I can learn something from this: complexity and technical brilliance does not necessarily make a good photo.

And poor, poor "Waiting for the Wind". I don't think people even noticed it, despite the fact that it was the first shot on the list. I hope New Brunswick isn't insulted by that. And... I think it's a pretty good photo!

Photographic favourites from November

#1: Waiting for the Wind (308)

 So here we are. Trying to choose our favourite photograph from the month of November. I'm sorry to say it but November was not a stellar month and it wasn't easy coming up with shots for this selection.

That being said, I know very clearly which is my favourite. I'm just interested to see if you like the same one I do.

So please use the "Comments" button below, email me or find some other way to contact me to cast your vote for the best shot from November. And please don't hold it against me that I can't seem to get the hang of the new Blogger photograph placement rules.

#2: Dog Days (330)

#3: Magic Pods (312)

#4: Beer Taps in the Sky (332)

#5:Jumpy Lights (334)

#6: Impermanence (317)

Favourite Photo for October is...

Red Sky at Morning.

Although a number of photos received some support, this subtle but beautiful image of the morning sky was loved by many and at least mentioned by most. Thanks for voting and watch this space for the next chance to contribute, when I post the selection for November's favourite photo.

A Hopewell Rock: Then and Now

During a recent visit to the Owl's Nest Book Shop here in Fredericton, I was looking for books on New Brunswick history to help with a writing project upon which I am working. I was pleased to find a hardcover book called This is New Brunswick, written by Jessie I. Lawson and Jean MacCallum Sweet and published by The Ryerson Press in Toronto in 1951.

In this book, these two women write about their travels to the four corners of the province of New Brunswick in 1950, providing a first-hand account of the province's many towns and villages, its rivers and valleys, and its people. They also provide a great deal of New Brunswick history, all written in an approachable and enjoyable style and accompanied by a collection of black and white photographs that were taken during their journey.

I was pleased and excited to find the top photo taken at the Hopewell Cape, which shows quite clearly some of the magnificent rock formations created by the ebb and flow of the world's highest tide as such rocks appeared in 1950.

So I went to my iPhoto archives to look at my own shots of Hopewell, taken on several trips to the Provincial Park over the past several years. I wanted to see if I could find a photo of the same rock, but as it appears today, 60 years after Ms. Lawson and Ms. MacCallum took their picture.

And I think I've done it. My photo is from a slightly different angle but I am convinced it's the same rock, even though it has changed a great deal over the years.

Now don't laugh. They are the same rock, I'm certain. First, recognise that the modern shot is taken with the photographer standing in a slightly different position - I am to the right of where the photographer for the first shot must have been, such that the rock in behind the main one is more in the shot.

Second, you have to accept that, in the 60 years between the photos, a full one-third (the left third) of the main rock has completely disappeared. The vertical lines on the face of the rock cut it into three parts in the 1950 photo while only two of those three parts remain in the newer shot.

Just look at the horizontal lines on the face of the rock in the modern photo and compare them to the horizontal lines on the face of the righthand two-thirds of the rock in the older shot. They match perfectly. And, in the old shot, you can see the bumps on the side of the rock in behind the main rock that look so much like a face in the modern shot.

I think it's the same rock. And I think it's amazing to think that, in a mere 60 years, the tide has wiped away a full one-third of this massive form. That's why it's so important to visit Hopewell every couple of years, since things are constantly changing.

In fact, we're going back to Hopewell this August and, when we do, I'll bring this interesting book and try to reproduce the original photo exactly.

Or, as exactly as time and erosion will allow.

The Best Photographs of October

If September presented too many great photos from which to choose, October appears to have been a bit of a dry spell, photographically. I have chosen the following six from that month but I'd be very hard pressed to find a seventh worthy of this list.

Take a look, think about it and then cast your vote for Favourite Photograph from October. You can use the "Comment" button at the end of this post, send me an email or speak to me in person. And thanks for your help!

#1: Urban Farm (281)

 #2: Spectacular Orange (283)

 #3: Framed Front Entrance (291)

 #4: Red Sky at Morning (297)

 #5: Catching Fire (298)

#6: Reflections In Sharp Focus (304)

August's favourite photo is...

"Afternoon Moon".

Although four out of the five photos in the contest received votes, "Afternoon Moon" got the most first-place votes and was mentioned in a surprising number of peoples' comments as being their second favourite.

And, just to keep things up to date, it would seem that I am about the only person who prefers the original, greenish presentation of "At the Owl's Nest" over my sister's colour-corrected version of the same photo. The votes were overwhelmingly in favour of the less-green image.

Thanks to everyone who voted and keep a look out for the competition for September's favourite photo, coming soon.

Freddie's Queen named "Canada's Great Street"

Queen Street in downtown Fredericton has been declared Canada's Great Street in the Great Places in Canada contest. The contest, run by the Canadian Institute of Planners, found our own little Queen Street to be Canada's Great Street. So I thought I'd share some of my nicer photos of Queen Street from the past year or so. Pretty nice place, isn't it? Amazing to think, however, that in an entire year of trying to find new photos to take of Fredericton, it never occurred to me to take a night photo nor a winter photo of Queen.

This top photo shows the Queen Street sign amidst the banners and posters that adorn the street in summer time.

The second shot is more of a street scene, looking east from York Street.

Shot number three shows the shadow of a barren tree adorning the wall of the historic barracks building.

The fourth photo gives an example of some of the lovely architectural details on the buildings up and down the street. There's a lot to see on Queen Street, both big and small.

This fifth picture shows the ceremonial historic guard in front of City Hall on a hot summer day, with the strange fountain in the foreground.

And finally, Queen Street hosts a number of buskers and street musicians through the warmer months, their tunes mixing with the singing birds and the chatter of the pedestrians to bring the street to life.

July's favourite photo is...

At the Owl's Nest.

This was a real surprise to me. I like the photograph too but I really thought one of Cousin Ineke's choices, the two gorgeous sky photos (#4 and 6), would win. But people seemed to really like the form and composition of this photograph of the shelves and books at the best used book store in Fredericton, the Owl's Nest.

My sister Lynn had sent me a colour-corrected version of this photo (making it less green) but I managed to delete it accidentally while cleaning up my email account before I could include it here. I'm not sure I like the corrected version better but I was hoping to let you decide for yourselves!

Oh well. If Lynn can send me the adjusted pic again, maybe I'll add it. Thanks again to everyone who voted and don't forget to cast your vote for your photo favourite from August, from the choices posted last week.

Photographic favourites for August

August was a bit of an off-month, photographically, for me. If it weren't for a trip to the island of Grand Manan, I wouldn't have much to offer in the competition to figure out which is the best photo from August.

Check these five photographs out and cast your vote for your fave, either using the Comments feature at the bottom of this page, or any other way you can convey your choice to me.

#1: Evening Sky at North Head (220)

#2: The Bay at Night from Swallow Tail (220)

#3: Wind-Blown Tree (221)

#4: Towards Dolan's Pub (223)

Afternoon Moon (218)

June's Photo Favourite is...

"Flowers that Dazzle!"

But what an interesting contest it was. I had fully expected "Spectacular Rhodos" to win since it has been by far the most viewed photograph of the entire year but almost no one chose it. On the other hand, I quickly received a number of votes for "Splashes and Sky" when voting opened (see two of the three comments) but its support waned as well.

My personal favourite, "Fountain Drops", received almost no support whatsoever while "Lighthouse Postcard" ended up a surprising second in the voting. I think it's the best photograph on the theme of the original blog ("Fredericton 365") and it seemed to play well with a lot of people.

Still, "Flowers that Dazzle" received the most votes and is a deserving winner of this very tough battle. Don't forget to vote on July's photos, represented in the post just before this one!

Photo favourites for July

Another choice to make. This time, please vote for your favourite photograph from July of 2012. I've narrowed it down to these six finalists so please use the "Comments" function or submit your votes via email or in person. Thanks.

#1: Winsome lass at low tide (184)

#2: At the Owl's Nest (190)

#3: Roast tomatoes and bobbles (199)

#4: Now that's a sky! (201)

#5: Golden hay in golden sun (202)

#6: Mactaquac reflections (207)