Quebec Archives | Carol Patterson

Six reasons you’ll love Quebec’s ultimate log cabin even if you hate the cold

March 12, 2019 by CarolPatterson Leave a Comment

This may be North America’s coldest winter in recent memory but you’ll wish it were longer if visiting the world’s largest log cabin in Quebec. Why? Fairmont’s Le Chateau Montebello in Quebec’s Outaouais region has elements history and nature aficionados can find nowhere else.

It’s BIG

Inspired by chalets in the Alps, the Chateau is a large wooden building that made headlines when it was built and almost ninety years later, hasn’t lost its appeal. Built in a headline grabbing four months during the Great Depression this three-story chateau has a massive six-sided fireplace in the three-story lobby. Stepping into the lobby you’ll appreciate the craftsmanship that shaped 10,000 logs into the walls and ceilings and give the place a fairy tale aura.

You’ll feel famous

You may feel like you’ve living the lifestyle of the rich and famous and you’d be right. For years the resort was a private club and a favourite destination for celebrities and politicians. Princess Grace and Prince Rainer of Monaco were guests. The G7 has been hosted here, as have NATO meetings and gatherings of presidents and prime ministers. Looking at the famous faces in photos lining the walls is a stroll through history.

Your inner musher will come to life

On the banks of the Ottawa River halfway between Ottawa and Montreal the Château is surrounded by Quebec wilderness. You can learn to drive a dog sled or explore 42 kilometers of cross-country ski trails.

You can learn to hurry hard

Curling – rural Canada’s favorite winter pastime – doesn’t require the fancy duds made famous by the Norwegian Olympic curlers but technique is important. Every guest gets a free curling lesson in the Chateau’s four-sheet curling arena. You’ll be surprised at how much fun it is to throw a rock or hurry hard as you sweep your teammate’s rock to victory!

Your backstroke will be better

All that bending and stretching will put you in the mood for a dip in Canada’s largest indoor hotel pool with its own log cabin (it was built slightly shorter than Olympic length so athletes wouldn’t want to train here) or let you dine guilt-free at Open Table’s 2018 Diners’ Choice – Aux Chantignoles.

Elk will love you

It’s hard to leave the resort but if you like wildlife, you’ll enjoy visiting Parc Omega where you’re encouraged to feed elk and deer and you can score great photos of arctic fox and wolves.

Plan a visit here.

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Quebec’s Îles de la Madeleine flavor trail

April 10, 2018 by CarolPatterson Leave a Comment

I landed on Quebec’s Îles de la Madeleine (sometimes called the Magdalen Islands) with an empty stomach eager to hit the Circuit des saveurs (flavor trail), a consortium of nine agricultural producers working to improve the island’s economy.

Driving along the narrow highway 199 (and short, at only 100 km long) pastel-clapboard homes dotted grassy fields and white sand beaches ringed the coastline in every direction. There were five islands connected by causeways and bridges, and another by ferry, all waiting to explore. Was it possible they were also connected by food?

For decades the islands 12,000 residents made a living from fishing and hunting seals. With the decline in fish and public disapproval of the seal hunt, the focus on tourism has increased. “It (the flavor trail) has been many years we have had the idea. It’s a way to work together, to build something stronger than individual businesses,” explained Tourism Îles de la Madeleine’s Marie-Christine Leblanc.

I warmed up my taste buds with a stop at Fromagerie du Pied-de-Vent – a cheese factory and store. Across the road I watched over thirty cows of various shades of brown grazing. They were Canadian cows – the oldest breed of dairy cow in North America – and the first cows to come to the archipelago.

I stepped into the shop where a man dressed from the top of his head to his feet in white studied a piece of cheese behind a plate-glass window. Being a Quebec économusée® as well they showcase their knowledge and craftsmanship as well as selling food. I took a sample of Brie cheese, its creamy texture oozing across my tongue. I bought a bag of cheese curds for snacks later but discovered a lack of food is not a problem in this community of three traffic lights and few chain restaurants.

My next stop on the trail was the only remaining smokehouse, Fumoir d’Antan. When herring populations were healthy there were 43 smokehouses. Now there is one and its staff worry about dwindling fish population. To diversify they smoke cheese (from the cheese factory), lobster, mussels and beef. “If we don’t have herring next year, we need to have something else,” said general manager Sébastien Cyr of his need to innovate to keep 15 staff employed. I nibble at some smoked herring while gazing at the smokehouse floor where small fires are started when it’s time to smoke.

It seems insane to stop for lunch after nibbling all morning but the salt air and a short walk along the white-sand beaches has revived my appetite. I head for Domaine du Vieux Couvent (the Convent Inn); the nuns left when it was converted to a hotel and restaurant so it’s now okay to indulge in earthly sins.

The chef has created a Caesar salad with garlic strong enough to taste, a chunky fish chowder, and local beer is on offer. The tables are crowded with cruise ship passengers chattering about their morning’s adventures. Most people get to the island by air or on a five-hour ferry ride from Prince Edward Island.

I don’t drink beer but want to see the island brew so I head to another flavor trail stop, the Á l’abri de la Tempête brewery. Co-owners Anne-Marie Lachance and Elise Cornellier Bernier are “outsiders” but have been here many years, embracing the island’s cooperative spirit. The smokehouse smokes the barley used in the beer and the brassieres sends leftover barley to the cheese factory for feed for the cows.

At the Fromagerie Les Biquettes À L’Air, 32 toggenburg goats on the payroll ate grass while co-owner Éric Longpré confirmed flavors on the trail blend together, “our cheese is used to top nachos at the brewery and pizza at the pizzeria.” I snap a picture of the goats before scampering to the car for one final stop.

Tucked along a narrow country road, I find the small wooden shop of Le Verger Poméloi. The shopkeeper is speaking excitedly about the bottle of golden liquor in his hands to several customers, a large apple nestled below the narrow neck, sales apparently brisk.

How did the apple get into the bottle? I wander to the orchard nearby. Looking closer I see glass bottles strapped to the trees over tiny apples. Mystery solved! The apples grow larger in the bottle and the apple liquor is added after harvest. It seemed island residents were good at solving problems. I left believing this flavor partnership was indeed picking up the economy.

This article first appeared in the Red Deer Advocate August 25, 2017

TWEETABLES

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My friend, @Reinventure’s, latest adventure to Quebec’s Îles de la Madeleine will leave you wanting to visit & delight your taste buds! Read more in her latest blog post: Click to Tweet.

My latest adventure left my friend, @Reinventure, asking how a large apple was nestled below the narrow neck of a bottle of golden liquor. Discover more: Click to Tweet.

For the love of snowmobiling

January 9, 2018 by CarolPatterson Leave a Comment

My only memory of snowmobiling is being dragged behind one as a child, the wooden toboggan bumping over a frozen Saskatchewan lake as I struggled to hang on. It didn’t spark a love of snowmobiling but when I found myself in Quebec’s Lanaudière region – a popular winter destination for Europeans – I wanted to see what the fuss was all about.

“Without snowmobiling this resort wouldn’t be open,” chuckled Bernard Hamel, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing, pointing at the sprawling 150-room Auberge du Lac Taureau nestled between towering trees, and in summer, surrounded by tea-coloured lakes and white-sand beaches.

This log cabin resort is the only Canadian hotel to join the Relais Du Silence network. The Relais brand stands for quality & service; the silence endorsement means they offer more non-motorized than motorized sports.

But since it’s the snowmobiling everyone is coming for, steps have been made to make the snowmobiles more environmentally friendly, choosing machines with lower pollution and noise outputs.

I signed up for a beginner ride guided by Benoit Pelletier who is fluent in English and outdoor sports. He explains how to start the large Ski Doo, accelerate and stop. Then he kills any idea of racing wild over the frozen lake saying we will ride single file, and he will set a safe – read slow – speed.

Satisfied his group of newbies was ready, Pelletier moved forward. I squeezed the throttle and lurched forward before easing back, only to almost stop. I struggled to set a steady speed as I followed Benoit’s tracks. At times the ruts bounced me off my intended course and I realized this isn’t as easy as driving a car. I leant into a curve and aimed the big machine at the center of the trail.

There are 33,000 kilometers of snowmobile trails in Quebec – enough if laid end to end to circle 80% of the earth – but we covered only a few kilometers. Satisfied his flock of new snowmobilers was in control, Pelletier accelerated down a flat stretch. I poured on the gas and the speed climbed: I felt my adrenaline climbing until lights wiggling in the trees warned of approaching snowmobiles and Pelletier slowed down.

All too soon it was time to turn back and swap positions with our passengers. I climbed onto the back seat as another snowmobile apprentice takes the controls. I settled back, admiring the deep carpet of snow I had been too busy to see minutes earlier. Venus rises in the evening sky as we return to our starting point.

A fire crackles in the Auberge’s outdoor fire pit, offering a place to decompress after the afternoon excitement. I stop briefly, enjoying the sight of the lodge’s soft lights against the dark forest while steam from hot tubs drifts into the sky. Driving a snowmobile is more work – and more fun – than I thought. I head for the hot tub with a new appreciation for motorized winter sports.

If you go:

Auberge du Lac Taureau has English-speaking guides and staff if your French is rusty. January to mid-March is peak time for snowmobiling so book in advance. Mid-week packages available. www.lactaureau.com

**Westjet has added more flights to Montreal with 19 flights each week between Montreal and Calgary. It is a 2.5-hour drive from Montreal to Auberge du Lac Taureau.

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Snowmobiling from lodge to lodge

December 11, 2017 by CarolPatterson Leave a Comment

Learn to adore – not endure – winter in my story for Westjet Magazine, Hotels in Quebec That Feel Like You’re in a Winter (Wander)land.

You can travel between Quebec lodges by snowmobile

I love that you can partake in a variety of activities and if you’re feeling adventurous you can take a snowmobile between lodges.

Winter at quebec lodges offer silent as well as motorized sports

Quebec offers a network of snowmobile trails between towns that is like a road for snowmobiles. The trails are groomed and well signed so there are no excuses for getting outside.

Whales by land and by sea

October 10, 2017 by CarolPatterson Leave a Comment

I associate whale watching with choppy waves, ocean spray on my camera, and seasick compatriots. But on the north shore of Canada’s Saint Lawrence River near Tadoussac, Quebec, there is a deep channel near land where you can see even the biggest of whales without donning a lifejacket.

“It is the best place in the world to see whales from shore,” extols Patrice Corbeil, GREMM Executive Director (Group for Research and Education for Marine Mammals), adding with a smile that there are secret places where people bring a bottle of wine to sip while watching whales swim by.

Intrigued by this this relaxed approach to adventure I decide to try whale watching from shore.

I head north to Parks Canada Cap-de-Bon-Désir Interpretation and Observation Centre. A small building holds a room-size model of the different size whales found in the area. Two beluga whales look like salt-and-pepper shakers next to a torpedo-sized blue whale. “I saw a blue whale from shore, just north of here!” exclaims Valerie Busque, Visitor Services Team Leader proving great whale experiences can be had without a boat.

The reason so many whales come close to Tadoussac – one of the first settlements on Québec’s north shore – is the deep Laurentien channel near land and a steep rock wall that whales use to corral krill. Baleen whales like humpbacks, minkes, and blues love krill and will launch themselves through the krill they’ve gathered, mouths open to swallow as many as possible, and delighting people lucky enough to see lunges that break the surface.

Hoping to see whales feeding I wander the short wooded path to the St. Lawrence, the smell of fir and salty air tickling my nostrils. There’s a cold breeze lifting off the water as I scramble onto rock slabs overlooking the St. Lawrence. I can’t tell by looking at the inky-blue surface but this water can provide the 40 million krill a blue whale can eat in a single day!

The sun pops out, warming the rocks. I don’t see anyone sipping wine but Brant geese nibble eelgrass at the water’s edge. “There’s a whale!” yells another watcher and I swivel to see nothing but water where a whale once was.

Within moments there’s a staccato burst of air as a whale breaks the surface with its blow; the glossy back of a minke twinkling in the sun before it slips back to the watery buffet. I watch as the whale reappears several times on a northward track.

Starting to get the rhythm of whale spotting from shore I head to a second spot favored by whale lovers, the Pointe de L’Islet trail near Tadoussac’s marina. I stroll through a warbler-filled forest to a viewpoint near the mouth of Saguenay Fjord where a friend told me she had seen a whole group of belugas. Today I see only geese.

Realizing I’ve skipped the wine in my terra firma whale watching adventure I head to a small restaurant – La Galouine – near the village center. Owners Paryse Deschenes and Martin Brisson offer local cuisine and white wine from Quebec’s eastern townships.

I sip my drink and realize this community has pierced my belief one must suffer to see whales. Adventure has never been so civilized.

This article first appeared in the Red Deer Advocate June 9, 2017

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