Last Sunday, EC Montreal organized a wonderful fall excursion – a full day in the Laurentian mountains! The trip was sold out – not one empty seat available on the bus! We had an 8:00 a.m. departure. We surprised the students with donuts from Tim Hortons and head out to our first stop – an apple orchard in St-Joseph du Lac. When we arrived at the apple orchard we hopped onto the tractor and received a tour of the vast orchard fields. The tractor then let us off and we were given 5 pound bags to fill! We had such a great time going from tree to tree trying to find the nicest apples to pluck! Once we filled our bags, we made our way back to the bus.
The next stop was less than 1000 feet away from the orchard. We visited a vineyard and winery! We toured the vineyard and everyone was so surprised to learn that Quebec is such a big producer of wine! The very enthusiastic guide, Linda, explained to us that as the vineyard is situated in a valley, the humidity level is just right to give the vines the moisture and heat needed to grow. She went over the different varieties of grapes they grow and the types of wine they produce. We then made our way inside the winery for our tastings. We sampled a total of 8 wines; whites, reds, rosées, ice wines, ports and dessert wines. The students were surprised to discover that Quebec wine is not so bad! Many purchased bottles of wine to take back home as souvenirs!
We got back on the bus and made our way to Saint-Sauveur village. This town is a ski resort. The town is surrounded by ski hills and country shops! This village is also famous for its outlet shops and designer brands. We gave our students a couple of hours to grab lunch and to check out the shops.
The final destination was our visit to Mont-Tremblant! We had 3 full hours to visit the Mont-Tremblant village. We recommended that our students make their way up the mountain, which is the highest mountain in all of Quebec, 875 metres above sea level. Some brave students chose to hike while others took the gondola ride to the summit. Everyone enjoyed discovering the village and going in and out of the many shops and boutiques. The village had sun chairs set up in the square so people could take advantage of our Indian summer.
We left the Mont-Tremblant at 6:00 p.m. to make our way back to the school. We had the perfect day! We enjoyed blue skies and sunny 24 degree weather! The students took so many pictures of the gorgeous fall colours and said it was a Canadian experience they would never forget!