Quebec Trip - Part Two
- Kaylin M
- Oct 3, 2017
- 6 min read
So last week we left off in Magog, so let's dive right back in. The B&B that we stayed at was A Tout Venant (To All Comers) B&B run by Robert whom I can only assume was the owner. He was a very friendly man that made us feel very welcome. He encouraged us to download an app that was associated with all of the B&B's in the area. Apparently if you stay in Magog at their B&B's you can get deals on the attractions and restaurants in the area. The B&B was a 3-storey home painted bright orange! The top level had a kitchen that the guests were free to use and a pool table. Blake and I spent part of the evening relaxing by playing pool and drinking tea. Blake also spent some time (too much time) trying to figure out how they were even able to get a pool table up to this room because the stairs were steep and, again, it was the third storey. After we played some pool, we spent a few minutes in the hot tub that was situated in a tiny shed at the back of the house. It was so cute and secluded, it was very romantic. We stayed in the Bleuet room which, according to Google Translate, means cornflower. The room was huge! It included a queen sized bed and a double sized futon. A bathroom WITH a shower, a dresser, a closet ... really all that you would need. Except an iron, which Blake was missing. That evening we went out for dinner at a microbrewery called Microbrasserie La Memphre. We both had salads (because of the huge charcuterie board from earlier) and beers. I only ordered half a caesar salad and it ended up being way too much for me to eat,so I only ate half of that ... so 1/4 caesar salad I guess. I'm not sure what beer Blake had, but I ordered a Black Velvet Cider. The drink was very dark and Blake and I concluded that it was probably half cider and half stout. It was delicious.
The next morning, we went downstairs to have breakfast with the other guests. All of the other guests were french speaking so we couldn't really follow most of their conversations, but we managed to pick up a few words. We were surprised how much we could actually understand. Blake made a conscious effort the whole trip to attempt to speak as much french as he could manage as he feels it's important to immerse yourself in the local culture. That breakfast was also very tasty. We started with a yogurt parfait and Blake loved it! Next was an open croissant with ham, egg, and cheese. It was a hardy breakfast to say the least; although it was almost too much for us as our stomachs don't handle eggs and cheese very well, but it was still yummy!
Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to explore Magog because we had planned on visiting Abbaye Saint-Benoit-Du-Lac just 20 minutes south of Magog. I was so excited to visit this monastery and witness their work and lives. Blake and I aren't religious people, but for some reason I was looking forward to this part of the trip most. *Remember at the end of the last post when I said that our trip took a turn into becoming partially disappointing ... well it started with the Abbey.* Most of the Abbey was closed off to the public to maintain solitude and silence for the resident monks. I understand the reasons, but I was so disappointed that we barely got to see the Abbey. The hallway leading to the church and the church were both open to the public; as well as the orchard, but their work areas and most of the grounds were closed off. The place was huge and we were finished in 20 minutes with most of it remaining unseen. The few good things about this visit were the pictures we were able to take and the souvenirs from the gift shop. When I say souvenirs, I mean food. The monks make cheeses and cider, and have fresh apples. The apples were very crisp and a great snack for the middle of our day. All of the food that we bought there has been delicious ... we bought a LOT of cheese and are still eating it. We weren't a fan of the goat cheese, but the blue cheese and fontina cheeses are both good. I also bought chocolates from the gift shop and they were a great price for the amount I got. Sadly, I hadn't planned much else for our day as we thought the Abbey would take up most of our time, so we headed to Montreal for our last night.
I had rented an AirBnb for 50$ thinking that it was closer to the heart of Montreal, but I couldn't have been more wrong. After a treacherous drive through Montreal - they are currently reconstructing what appears to be the entire highway!! - we ended up in a very "sketchy" neighborhood. We arrived 3 hours early and I couldn't get in touch with the host to ask if we could check in early. We ended up buying dinner at a Metro and shopping in Winners just to waste some time. The place was nothing special and I actually considered just coming home instead of staying there, but it had already been paid for and I didn't want to waste the money so we stayed. We didn't want to tackle the drive to Downtown Montreal with the horrible condition of the highway, so we stayed in our small room for the night and played a new phone game that Blake had discovered during our trip. It was a not-so-romantic way to end our trip, but nice to still spend quality time together. We drank the cider we had bought from the Abbey ... which got better the more we drank ... and had a mini charcuterie board for dinner which included a side of chicken wings. The bed and pillows were horrendously lumpy and the children in the apartment above us ran around and yelled into the late hours of the evening. As well, they were our wake up call at 7 a.m. the next morning too. Sigh, it wasn't a good experience.
The next morning, the moment I woke up, I started packing our things to get us the hell out of there! I let Blake sleep in as much as I could while I tidied everything and packed our bags. He was grumpy from not sleeping well that night and was stressed about having to drive through Montreal for a third time during rush hour, but I assured him that the moment we hit Ontario I would take over driving ... and I did. I might have only driven 2-3 hours, but it felt good to finally give Blake a break. Although, we did discover that he is an awful passenger with a tiny bladder when he's not driving, so it wasn't long before we switched and I was the passenger again.
We originally had plans to visit Kingston, but our plans didn't work out, so we just headed straight home. Well not straight home, we stopped at the Big Apple in Colborne Ontario to pick up some tasty apple bread, more cider, and an apple pie. THEN we headed straight home. Once we got home Blake and I were a well-oiled machine getting everything unpacked and either put away or into the laundry. After that, we invited Mollie over so that I could catch up on what I missed with work and to catch her up on our adventures.
Although the trip ended on a disappointing note, I was still happy that I got to experience the adventure and spend some quality time with Blake. Now that he works in Toronto, we don't get a lot of quiet quality time together so it was nice to reconnect. I do recommend that people visit the Eastern Townships including North Hatley and Magog, but maybe skip the Abbey and Montreal.
Maybe next time we'll go to Mont Tremblant ... I've always wanted to go there. Fingers crossed that we get to go on a new adventure soon!
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