Montreal Paradise Cottage in St. Sauveur was so relaxing
that I swear in the week I spent there all the world’s conflicts were resolved.
All tension melted away and I was able to sit back in one of the many sunbeams
and read a book. We didn’t cook many meals in the kitchen because the
restaurants were fantastic, but the kitchen is a chef’s delight with a massive,
almost walk-in fridge and every accoutrement.
The town of Saint Sauveur is charming, only about 45 minutes
from Montreal (65 km) and the surrounding area has everything from electric car
charging stations to box stores, from ski hills and outdoor skating rinks to
hundreds of kilometres of hiking trails and several spas.
The directions to the cottage were perfect and with the
twisty roads, it feels like a real adventure getting to Lac des Becs Scie,
which translates as Lake of the Merganser Ducks (they have bills with saw-like
edges or becs scie).
The cottage is almost too much to take in in one day. There
are so many nooks and crannies and places to unwind. My sister loved the
upstairs steam shower while I preferred to soak in the clawfoot tub next to my
bed. When’s the last time you stayed in a place with a clawfoot tub next to the
bed?
When we walked through the garden down to the lake, we were
greeted by a huge pileated woodpecker. We named him Woody. Original, I know.
The full moon over the lake made it seem like dawn all night
long for three nights in a row. I’d wake up in the middle of the night and have
to walk around the house and marvel at the views through the several-storey
panoramic windows.
Highlights outside the chalet
Don’t miss
At night the Paroisse St. Sauveur church changes colour 10
times in 2.5 minutes. Thought I was hallucinating.
Restaurants
Saint Sau Pub, where unbeknownst to us, ladies are half
price on Thursday nights. I had a $42 steak dinner for $21. Live music too. We
definitely weren’t In Kansas anymore.
Maestro, try the salmon and crème brulée.
Spa
Saint Sau Pub gave us a 10% discount coupon for a one-hour
massage at the river-side Bagni Spa in Ste-Adele.
My massage therapist was none other than Quebec’s own
Jacqueline Gareau, only female Canadian winner of the 1980 Boston Marathon, who
had to wait a week for her gold medal because that was the year Rosie Ruiz
cheated and took the subway.
After a brutalizing 90-minute sports massage, I hopped in
the 14-degree river before the more inviting hot tub.
Hiking
We stayed at Trent’s Place in October before ski season so
we spent our days hiking. I had come to run the P’tit Train du Nord Marathon
along the old railbed between Val David and St. Jerome and many of the
trailheads are right along this railbed, that’s now a linear park for bikers.
Next time I go I would like to find a hiking book for the Laurentians as the
map provided at the tourist chalet was so challenging to follow that the lovely
woman who gave it to us couldn’t explain it. Regardless, with a bit of effort,
we found trailheads, although not the ones we set out to find and had lovely
randonnées.
Favourite hikes:
MOC around Lac Paradis and up the escarpment
Le Boucle, Ste Adele
Mont Loup Garou (Mount Werewolf), 4.6 km, under two hours,
shelter at the top with good story boards - if you sleep on top on the
mountain, you may get eaten by a werewolf.
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