Saturday 13 June 2026--Another damp gray day. I'm relocating to Cap-aux-Meules today, staging for tomorrow's departure. It's not really necessary, I suppose, as it's only a twenty-minute drive to the ferry, but it's as well to have time this morning to pack up after a few days' residency here. I'm out by 11:00, and have four hours to kill before I can check in at Château Madelinot. I start by driving through La Grave to Havre-Aubert's commercial pier, just to complete a full transit of route 199. At the other end of the village, I drive up to the summit of the higher of the two hills known as Les Demoiselles, and take my last look at La Grave.

North, then, along Plage de la Martinique to Cap-aux-Meules, where I stop at Boulangerie Madelon for coffee and a sandwich. There are all sorts of marvelous baked goods here. If I ever return for a week's stay, I'll come here early on to pick up a loaf of bread.

Cross the bridge to Havre-aux-Maisons and poke around some side roads. Back in Cap-aux-Meules, I check into my room, then go down to have a look at the Château's beach. The lawn leading down is nice--there's a tent set up for outdoor functions--but the beach itself is unattractive, gray and pebbly.

Drive down to Site de la Côte, a little retail village at the harbor of L'Étang-du-Nord, south of Belle-Anse. I've had my eye out for a t-shirt all week, but haven't seen much--truth to tell, I haven't looked very hard. I find a bored clerk in L'Équipage, who is happy to sell me a couple of overpriced tees. Then I go for a pint at À l'Abri de la Tempête. Nobody is out on the deck on a damp afternoon. I chat with Joanne, a teacher from Terrebonne who is spending the summer traveling solo, camping in her van. I admire her adventurousness.

Dinner this evening is at Les Pas Perdus. I have my last Madelinot pints at the bar, chatting with Georges, whose work takes him to various ports around eastern Canada. I imagine some of them are a bit grim, while others--this one, I'm sure--are places he looks forward to spending a few nights. I was lucky in my own working years to have a lot more of the latter than the former.