In the Îles de la Madeleine, when the wind calms down and the sand starts to warm up underfoot, everyone knows that summer is on the horizon! There’s no need to consult a calendar when you can feel it in the air and see it in the changing light and in people’s habits: windows are flung open, and the beach chairs come out. On the Islands, we’re back to our summer traditions, the ones we enjoy sharing with visitors.

Here, summer is more than just a season: it’s a state of mind, a golden time where every day can turn into an adventure. We invite you to immerse yourself in the rhythm of the Islands, to savour our very own way of experiencing the summer season, with sand everywhere, salt in your hair and local flavours on your tongue.

Throughout this blog post, you’ll come across terms and expressions typical of the Islands that will immerse you even further in our culture. These words (in italics in the text) are listed in the lexicon at the end of this post.

Welcome to the Islands!

In the summer, we’re proud to welcome visitors with open arms, and we too fall under the spell of our Islands through the eyes of those who are discovering them for the first time…

Each village is worth taking the time to explore. We’re happy to accompany our visitors to discover classic attractions such as the Fromagerie du Pied-de-Vent cheese factory, the La Grave heritage site or sunsets at Belle Anse. Book a paddleboarding excursion with CindyHook or go for a drive to see what you can see with the windows down and the music on full blast. Throughout the summer, the Islands host lots of festivals and events, and all the restaurants are open, each offering the best of the archipelago. Two to try are Gourmande de Nature and Domaine du Vieux Couvent, where local ingredients inspire every dish.

At home, on the beach or at a campground, meals are simpler and often improvised. We like to eat out in the summer: ordering lunch from a seasonal snack bar, savouring a guédille (roll) made with lobster that was harvested earlier in the spring or going on a picnic made with whatever fresh fixings are available that day.

Picking wild berries and harvesting shellfish

Summer is also a prime foraging season. Equipped with buckets, we pick wild berries that have ripened in the fields and meadows: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and other hidden treasures. But don’t ask us to share our best picking spots! With fingers stained with berry juice and minds relaxed, we head home with our bounty, already dreaming of the jams, pies and other desserts we’ll be making in the coming fall…

The surrounding sea offers other foraging opportunities. With both feet in the warm shallow waters of the tidal flats, we keep an eye out for little holes in the sand that we’ll quickly stick our hands into to harvest softshell clams. After we’ve gathered a bucketful, we’ll cook them in saltwater and savour them that same evening. If we go out on a boat excursion, we’ll likely come home with a few mackerel or, if we’ve brought a mask and snorkel, a few Atlantic surf clams. (We like to use a paint roller handle to pry them out of the sand!)

Before foraging on the Islands…

Whether you’re harvesting shellfish or picking wild berries along a trail, foraging is a typical nature experience on the Islands. But before you set off with your bucket, here are a few important things to consider:

• Some coastal areas may be temporarily closed to shellfish harvesting for food safety reasons (presence of toxins, pollution, etc.) or to protect marine resources. Always check the notices on the Fisheries and Oceans Canada website before you set out: Shellfish harvesting openings and closures
• Picking berries and other edible plants in the wild is a longstanding local tradition, but please respect the natural environment when you forage: pick sparingly, don’t pull whole plants up, respect marked trails and private property, and make sure the plants you’re picking are actually edible (some have toxic lookalikes!).

Summer flies by…

On the Islands, summer flies by way too fast! When the last of our visitors leave, we’re left with sand to sweep up and that sweet feeling of having shared something special. So, welcome to the Islands, yes, but also, see you again soon!