The Beautiful Road to La Malbaie

La Malbaie, Charlevoix

August 17, 2014

Our first stop on the road to Charlevoix was to Parc du Mont-Sainte-Anne to visit the falls. The hike was a nice circuit that took us around the falls and gave us views from many angles. It was a perfect

amount of time, about 45 minutes and a nice morning stretch for the kids. During the hike was came across a zip line, which our 9 and 8 year old insisted on doing. A zip line right across a gorge with a 50 foot drop. Why not; most parents would say yes to this! We finished up our walk and headed back to car to continue to La Malbaie. We stayed with friends who owned a house in the area and were nice enough to allow us to crash in their guest house for 2 nights.



La Malbaie is a town in the countryside of Charlevoix. It literally means "bad bay."  The St. Lawrence river is ten miles wide at the point where the town sits; the Laurentian mountains rise up behind it. A road wraps around mountains overlooking the river, on both sides of La Malbaie.

We arrived in the area around lunch time, no surprise, and stopped to eat. Right after we went to the Maritime Museum in Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive. The kids were able to explore schooners and tug boats and learn about the rich maritime history of the area. Right next to the museum there was Saint Lawrence River shoreline and it was low tide so the kids wanted to explore. I didn't realize how soft the sand would be, almost the consistency of mud. So one child lost his shoe, never to be seen again. The other two were laughing, he was crying and my husband was not too pleased. Oh well, he had another pair of shoes, and they got to explore the shoreline of the Saint Lawrence River. Oops.

By this time, it was late in the afternoon and we headed over to our friends home. They own a beautiful old house with a pool and a very rustic guest house. The land has apple and pear trees and as we pulled in, we were so excited that they extended the welcome for two nights. The owners, their three daughters were there with friends and the mother of the woman that owned the home. It was a full house. Our kids jumped out of the car and headed straight for the pool. We brought the luggage to the guest house, dropped it off and enjoyed a tour of the house and property. We opened a bottle of wine and started preparations for dinner. There were fresh veggies and fruits displayed on the table, hand made sauces, beautiful flower arrangements. It was a page out of Martha Stewart.  The table was long and with rustic with beautiful centerpieces, set on an outdoor patio overlooking rolling hills down to the St. Lawrence River. Did I mention that the entire family spoke perfect French, even though they all grew up in the States (with the exception of the father)? It was a beautiful evening as we dined outside listening to the bugs and watching night take over what was left of a great day.

August 18, 2014

The next morning we were up early for a whale watching experience with Croisieres AML. They offer a zodiac boat or a boat cruise. We all wanted to do the zodiac, but there are age restrictions and our youngest was too young so he and my husband took the boat. I went with the other two on the zodiac. The advantage to the zodiac boats is smaller group sizes and faster to getting to the whales. You do have to wear a safety outfit and I strongly recommend glasses. They provide a captain and naturalist. We saw a bunch of humpback and some minke whales and the guide was quick to point out what to look out for and what we were looking at. Kids also loved the speed of the zodiac and the vistas of the shore line were amazing. We took a nice hike along the rocky shores and headed off for lunch. After we drove to check out the Fairmont hotel in La Malbaie. A ridiculously beautiful  Chateau-styled hotel overlooking the Saint Lawrence River. We parked and walked in to check it out. It boasts a golf course, tennis courts, pools and a spa, not to mention amazing restaurants. I wanted to check-in, but we already had a place to stay at a better price! At this point we drove back to our friends house to rest, let the kids play for a bit and help out for another amazing dinner out on the deck. We enjoyed a beautiful meal, drank wonderful wine and watched the night take over the Saint Lawrence River. It was a wonderful way to end our stay in Charlevoix.

-JOSEPH-DE-LA-RIVE