As I drove along New Brunswick's Acadian Peninsula, my route was shrouded by a thick curtain of icy, billowing flakes. I barely spotted the turnoff for Chemin des Huitres (Oyster Road). After parking, I roamed about, stretching my legs, when I came upon a fantastical vision: a large white geodesic dome glowing in the twilight.
I wandered over to a contemporary rectilinear building, the Hub, where I found Patrick (Pat) Gauvin, one of the owners of Cielo Glamping Maritime. Pat escorted me to my accommodation, showing off the resort's numerous sustainable and locally sourced features and amenities. But I was fixated on one thing — that I would be staying in an accommodation that resembled my obsession: snow globes, which I have collected since I was a kid.
New Brunswick, the largest of Canada's three Maritime Provinces (along with Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island), is also one of its least visited regions. When U.S. tourists do travel to this province with its extensive coastline, it's typically for the sun-kissed sands and warm waters that beckon beachgoers in the summer, or to gape at breaching whales and awe-inspiring scenery at the Bay of Fundy, renowned for its mega tides.
Instead, I ventured to Acadia — where much of the population traces its roots to 17th-century French settlers — in winter, for a stay at Cielo in the bayfront town of Haut-Shippagan, considered New Brunswick's commercial fishing hub.
Once ensconced in my comfy dome, I strolled through the rooms, including a stylish wood-paneled bathroom with a countertop fashioned from upcycled barn wood and a surreal pen-and-ink drawing on the wall. But the main room acted as a magnet to me. I snuggled under a blanket near a toasty wood-pellet stove and gazed through the panoramic window at the snowscape blanketing the frozen Bay of Saint-Simon, with a brilliant tapestry of stars and constellations above.
The next evening, as I sat at my dining table, the window framed yet another breathtaking aspect: The sun settled over the horizon, painting the sky in a profusion of pink, orange and crimson shades. In my fantasies, maybe this was what it was like being inside a snow globe of sorts, looking out.
Pat and co-owner Emilie LeBlanc are local residents who may not share my snow-globe obsession, but they are passionate about New Brunswick and its myriad treasures. They came to this glamping project with eclectic backgrounds: He was a documentary filmmaker and she's a nutritionist. Together they're committed to boosting awareness of what's wonderful about this province, highlighting sustainability and local sourcing of just about everything their guests experience.
Eco-friendly design
With its spectacular views of sky and water, it's no wonder that Pat and Emilie chose the word "cielo" to name their resort. "Ciel" means sky in French and the "o" sounds like "eau," the French word for water. They refer to their five domes not as snow globes but "pearls," referencing the precious jewels created by oysters. The one-bedroom Saint-Simon Pearl is named for the small, buttery oysters harvested from this bay by family-owned Mallet Oysters and served at Cielo. And my two-bedroom dome, Moon Snail Pearl (La Perle de Lunatie), is named for a local snail.
