The Café de la Grave is in its 27th year of business and has a renown atmosphere. It is located in a former general store that once served the fishing port of Amherst, Iles de la Madeleine. It has become a revered institution in the Province of Québec, with spontaneous live music heard most afternoons and late into the night.

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The café is lively with the sounds of piano & accordion from owner operator, the charming Sonja Painchaud. The menu has been enhanced by her mother Francine, renowned for her cuisine at the family business, ‘Chez Denis à François’. All ages are welcome and no reservations are needed.

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The interior has a relaxed artistic feeling to it. The tables are wooden and many of them have been hand-painted by local artists. The walls are lined with rough old boards, planked horizontally and adorned with curious works of local art. Another wall has shelves containing books for browsing while waiting on a meal.

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The meals are carefully considered for taste and visual quality. A simple homemade smoked mackerel bagel with cream cheese, capers, tomatoes, onion and fresh sprouts, home fries and a side salad keeps visitors coming back for other meals.

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The evenings are relaxing at the cafe. The sandy warm lighting dropped from the ceiling to each individual table, casting an intimate glow. There is always animated conversation coming from every table. The language could easily be a mixture of French and English giving the comfortable atmosphere of being alone in a crowd.

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The activities behind the cafe are plentiful also. During the day, the Café de la Grave could sponsor a bocce ball tournament, during the summer months. This brings a lively crowd of people to the back of the restaurant. The first week of August, the Acadian festival starts with the building of the ‘petite bateau” on the pebbly beach just below the cafe’s large wooden patio. Music Acadian style, filters down the beach while people mill about, inspecting the work of the boat builders. The aquarium is just across the quaint, narrow, cobblestone and pavement road which is lined with small artistic boutiques that are housed in old time bait sheds and fishing camps.

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Cafe de la Grave is a restaurant you’ll enter and not want to leave, a cherished memory you’ll take home with you and perhaps the first place you come back to, when you return to the Magdalen Islands.

It is true that romance is as individualistic as there are people and imaginations on earth. To find the most romantic places to get married are just about as individualistic.

Sky divers may find it romantic to marry 10,000 feet above the earth surface while plummeting, and scuba divers may be enthralled by the idea of getting married 60 feet below the surface, with a respirator. Getting married while on a cruise is romantic or on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The imagination is a wild and wondrous thing to have.

Saint Peter's By-the-Sea, Old Harry

However, even with all the wonderful places of the world, getting married on the Magdalen Islands has got to be one of the most romantic ideas. No matter what your vision of a romantic wedding, the islands can take care of it.

If the vision of a small chapel or church wedding, with a small wedding party appeals to you, the islands do have the warmest and quaintest of all churches. If there is a large wedding party, then it is possible to have a ceremony in the second largest wooden church in North America. Yes, we have the Saint Pierre Church made originally from shipwrecked lumber.

Old Harry Beach

Beach weddings are trendy at this time and with more than 300 km of sandy cream beaches, the islands can handle that too. Imagine getting married on an enchanted evening, under an arch covered with chiffon, lace and flowers, as the sun reaches the horizon and glitters across a softly rippling ocean. Imagine taking a moonlit horseback ride down that same beach, after the fantasy wedding, just the two of you, with all your senses alert, the sounds of water lapping at the edges of the beach, the smells of the salt sea air and the touch of your loved ones hand, as your ride side by side.

Now imagine your honeymoon, sitting at a table for two, on that same beach. The meal, catered, might be a seafood delight, with lobster, scallop, crab and garlic butter on the side. A bottle of champagne, no…? Islands bagosse, a flavourful wine made from locally grown raspberries and strawberries. Music gently playing in the background…. It is all possible!

After a succulent meal a long leisurely walk through spruce and fir walking paths to a secret bathing hole where the water defy the cold of the gulf and becomes a romantic bath for two. The lagoons retain the heat they have stored from the sun, long into the evening.

After spending the night in extravagance, a honeymoon suite, a cabin, a luxury camping adventure, the coffee pot automatically brews your favorite start to the morning and a plate of fruit is waiting in the cooler. Your morning starts with breakfast in bed…, again.

The Magdalen Islands has a whole range of options to choose from when someone wants to look for them. Consider the most romantic places to get married and then return to the romance only found in Canada’s Best Kept Secret – the Magdalen Islands.

The lucky winner of a one-week, all-inclusive trip for two to the Îles de la Madeleine is Mrs. Sylvie Contant from Laval, QC.

There is a new Vacation Contest that started today.  Come to the Islands on us!

The Magdalen Islands Tourist Association is inviting everyone to enter their contest “Lobster in my Luggage”. The prize is valued at $1,900 and is one of a kind.  There are beaches, exoticism, culture, seafood, adventure, a complete change of scenery to enjoy and all this for your next vacation.

Grosse Ile Harbour April 30, 2010

Until July fourth, the registration will be open for the “Lobster in my Luggage” contest and most people will be eligible to win a trip for two to the Magdalen Islands. This trip includes

- Return transportation between Souris, on Prince Edward Island and the Magdalen Islands aboard the Groupe CTMA ferry, the M.V. Madeleine.

- Six nights at the Auberge La Salicorne, (Club Vacances), Grand Entry, breakfasts and suppers provided.

- A gift certificate good for 100 pounds of seafood products at Cap sur Mer/ to pack in the luggage for the trip home.

- An ESSO Gift Card for gasoline worth $100.

- A guided visit at the Musée de la Mer.

The stay may be taken between June 1^st and July 20^th during the 2010 and 2011 tourist seasons.

Who Knows, You Might Be The Lucky Person They Will Be Pampering!

There will be a mandatory question (easy for everyone) but there is no purchase required to enter. The participant must be eighteen years and older by July 4, 2010, and a Canadian resident.  Employees of Tourisme Iles de la Madeleine and the partners associated with this contest, members of their immediate families and any persons living in their home are not eligible to compete in this contest.

To enter the contest, it will be necessary to fill out the form at the Tourist website at:

http://www.tourismeilesdelamadeleine.com/magdalen-islands/demandeDAbonnementConcours_ang.cfm

On the electronic entry for, fill in your name, age, address, telephone number and the contest question, “How many lobster fishing licenses are issued for the Îles de la Madeleine region ?” (answer = 326 lobster fishing permits). Also check (√) the box that gives Tourisme Iles de la Madeleine permission to publish a photo of the winners. Only one entry per person for the family residing at the same e-mail address will be accepted.

All internet entries must be received no later that 11:59pm (Atlantic Daylight Time) on July 4^th, 2010.

For More information on the Contest Rules, see

http://www.tourismeilesdelamadeleine.com/pdf/ReglementsConcours-Homards_ang.pdf

Note:

Tourisme Îles de la Madeleine offers five (5) more chances to the people who are fans of Tourisme

Îles de la Madeleine on Facebook. In case the winner would come from an additional chance given by

the inscription on Facebook, Tourisme Îles de la Madeleine will ensure that it is indeed a fan of

Tourisme Îles de la Madeleine on Facebook.

Update Notes:

On May 29, 2010 the prices were about $3.00CDN or USD. That is quite a bit less than the price of MapleLeaf Balonie!!!

On June 4, 2010, the lobster prises are on the rise. Price per pound is around $3.50CDN and rising. It is time to get your lobster because with Saint Jean le Baptiste Day (Quebec’s holiday) and Canada Day, the prices are expected to rise even more.

Gulf of Saint Lawrence

The pristine, cool Gulf waters are home to a large varied of fish and vegetation species, many of which the lobster feed on. Because of the cleanliness of the Gulf, lobster has the best food available, which makes for the tastiest meat. Magdalen Islands lobster is known for being the world’s tastiest lobster.

A Magdalen Islands Gastronomy Adventure

Most of the restaurants in the area serve lobster and seafood dishes which are so delicious. A lobster roll, for example, is a bun filled with the most scrumptious lobster salad, anyone has ever tasted. A seafood platter is a combination of a variety of different shellfish or even ground fish with a choice of potatoes or rice and a beverage of choice. Crepes aux homards, seafood pizza, seafood chowder are a few of the exotic recipes the islands chefs are known to create.

From the mainland, lobster connoisseurs can order their lobster fresh and alive from the fish factories which dot the islands landscape. One of the more popular lobster pounds is Cape Dauphin Fishermen’s Co-operative, on the north side of the islands, in Grosse Ile. All of the lobster that enters the pound is held for a reasonable amount of time to clean the intestinal tract, before they are sold live to buyers who come with large 18-wheelers trucks generally.

Grosse Ile Fishermen's COOP - 418-985-2321

They keep the lobster is plastic crates in salt-water pools, usually 100 pounds each. The lobster are kept sprayed and fresh. Workers, generally the women, gently cull or look the lobster over, to find weakened lobster, which are returned to the sea or they are sold to a local home buyer for quick processing. In the evening the large trucks pull up and workers, generally the men, load the prepared crates into the refrigerated truck boxes, stacking them carefully so that they transport well to their destination.

It is also possible for individuals to buy live lobster from local companies who purchase lobster, containers, the necessary packing supplies and ship them by plane to the door of the waiting customer. Depending on the supplier, the shell cracking tools and meat hooks could be available as well as amounts of precooked seafood chowder, fresh picked clams, mussels, or quahogs. It is even possible to have the stock pot, sea salt and/or filtered Gulf sea water shipped too.

Other factories about the islands cook the lobster before marketing it. Factory workers shell and prepare the meat for processing. They freeze the lobster whole in what they call popsicles, or they can it and freeze the cans before shipping large quantities out on the trucks. Either way, the lobster from the Iles de la Madeleine is the absolute best there is.

Lobster…, yummmmmmm! The tastiest treat to come from the sea is available from the best waters for raising the crustaceans, the Magdalen Island shoals, in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Canada.

For anyone interested in knowing more about how to purchase Magdalen Island live or cooked lobster, during the fishing season, email at ilesdelamadeleine@canada.com or go to our Squidoo Page, Mail Order Lobster at http://www.squidoo.com/islandslobster

Quote:

“Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant?? I’m halfway through my fish burger and I realize, Oh my God….I could be eating a slow learner.” Lynda Montgomery

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go for a romantic ride on a warm summers evening, under a full moon on a beach of soft white sand, with the sound of the surf to one side and sea birds to other?

The Magdalen Islands are known to have more than 300 running kilometers of cream sandy beaches. Ride some of the beaches and trails of the islands, canter through water and follow trails that were made for riding on, while taking in breath-taking panoramic scenery.  Old Harry beach is world famous for its 30 some odd miles of endless sand, sand hills and surf and the East Point Wildlife Reserve trails are on its borders.

Explore stunted forests, salt-water marshes, cranberry, crowberry and blueberry moors. Get a look at the islands wildlife up close. Study orchids and learn of herbs that the original settlers used to eat and heal themselves with.

Watch the maritime birds in their natural setting and a multitude of the other 250 or more bird species that frequent the islands.  Learn of the early settlers and the shipwreck society they became.  Bask in the beautiful, sunsets known to man. Swim in warm, quiet lagoon waters, salt water lakes or surf waves on the open beach.

Camp on land so close to the beach that the sound of the surf lulls you to sleep.  Rise to the most wonderful sunrise over the Gulf waters. Experience ghost stories from shipwrecks around a warm campfire and take long leisurely walks over varied flatlands. Pick berries during their season and go fishing mackerel with a rod and reel off the wharves and capes. Search for shells, pebbles and small sea creatures that washed ashore.

There are a million and one things to do either on horseback, foot, kayak or canoe on the Magdalen Islands.

So, if you feel like stepping out of the rat race and dream of cantering along a deserted sandy beach with the taste of sea-spray rousing your senses, or wonder what it would be like to slow it all down, to get in touch with yourself again, to allow your instincts to guide you and to recall how to laugh, and sing, and celebrate life remember that, even in today’s fast moving world, there is still a place where all this is possible…, Iles-de-la-Madeleine and her horses await you….

To meet and get to know the horses of Old Harry beach see All Things Horse blog.

“A horse is the projection of peoples’ dreams about themselves – strong, powerful, beautiful – and it has the capability of giving us escape from our mundane existence.” ~ Pam Brown