Tobermory

Tobermory

We roll in late in the afternoon. On the advice of the Guide du Routard (the French backpacker's bible), we head straight for Cyprus Lake Campground. Our first paid night in two weeks awaits. Instead of a "comfortable" campground, we find a packed place where each camper gets about 100 square feet. Lucky for us, the campground is full.
Second campground: full too!
OK... Things are getting tricky, especially since the little town is really touristy and campers aren't exactly welcome.

Two months ago, at the start of the trip, you would have felt the tension rising in KIFONS. But we've learned a thing or two, so we decide to park in town and go for a stroll. It's 7 p.m. We have nowhere to sleep. And we're totally chill. Feels weird!

We spot a little Italian restaurant, the MOLINARI, at the far end of the harbor. And honestly, we miss the boat. We just love being in harbors!
Once again, it's Mag who asks if we can spend the night in the parking lot (basically with our feet in the water): Bingo again!
Bob, the owner, is there. He welcomes us with that Italian warmth we love so much. Tonight it's lasagna and pasta for everyone. All of it washed down, of course, with a bottle of Montepulciano, the Italian wine we enjoy with our buddies at the famous Bottega back home in Lille!

For 2 days, on Bob's advice, we hike around Bruce Peninsula National Park. It's the only corner of southern Ontario that has kept its nature untouched! Simply gorgeous.

Monday comes. Time for us to leave. The ferry is due to take us and KIFONS on board at 3 p.m.
The MOLINARI is closed, and I'm set up at a table on the patio to use the restaurant's Wi-Fi. Like any self-respecting owner (whatever the skeptics may think), Bob comes in to work on his day off.
We take the opportunity to set the world to rights, and his wife Mary comes over with their kids to say hi. I've heard a lot about her since we arrived, but she works like crazy on her end running the luxury B&B they built up on the hill above town.

It's 11 a.m., the perfect time to uncork a bottle of Château Talbot as an aperitif.
At 11:45, Bob uncorks a superb bottle of Italian wine of his own.
At 12:30, Mag goes off to get a second bottle of Bordeaux.
I have a feeling the ferry is going to leave without us...
And that's just fine.
All the little ones run off to play around the harbor with no grown-ups (how cool is that!)
So we throw together a lunch in the sun: Italian sandwiches, fresh veggies and fruit.

Bob offers to spend his one day off a week with us so we can all hang out together for the afternoon. It turns out to be a lovely afternoon. Swimming in coves the tourists don't know about. Snorkeling to explore the sea floor. ATV rides for the kids.
In the evening, we're invited to dinner at their B&B. An Italian meal cooked by the girls in the bright red Italian kitchen that Mary dreamed up and Bob built!
Aperitif with French white wine, dinner with a Château Carbonnieux. Such a warm place. La vita è bella!

Tobermory: we ended up staying 4 nights. 4 nights in a parking lot that plenty of people would find pretty dull. As for us, we had the best view in town and we were simply happy, welcomed by an amazing couple!

If you're ever in Tobermory, go have dinner at Bob and Mary's (the MOLINARI restaurant) and/or spend a night at their B&B, and tell them we sent you!

August 1 / 9 a.m.: Shower in Lake Superior

The start of our drive across the Prairies.
2,200 miles. Holy cow, is it long!
Actually, we start out along Lake Superior, and that part is stunning. Taking a shower in Lake Superior at 9 in the morning was one of the goals of this trip (I know, it's really dumb...)
Once we reach Thunder Bay, we knock out some 1,550 miles of never-ending road: Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary. 4 days crossing Canada's "breadbasket". The Prairie region grows half of the grain eaten in Canada.
Judging by the length of the trains and the kind of containers they haul, you can also tell that the Chinese now come here for part of their food supply. We're witnessing live the start of World War III, the one where people will fight to feed themselves...

The guidebooks say: "From Ontario to the Rockies stretches a vast plain (you can say that again) that your imagination, however fertile, even as fertile as the said plain, could never conceive."
The region, more than 800 miles wide, has just under 6 million people. Needless to say, the population density here is a change from Paris!
One town every 90 miles. One gas station every other town.

Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta: three provinces and as many time zones crossed in 4 days.
The iPod is working overtime with Jean-Louis Aubert's acoustic album, Polnareff (French rock and pop classics) and Louis Armstrong. Thank goodness David Guetta is sometimes there to keep us awake!