My Canadian


JOURNEY


All aboard Le Massif... Q


Colin Nicholson stepped aboard Le Train du Massif de Charlevoix for a 140km ride of stunning beauty between Québec City and La Malbaie


uébec City was in the full throes of Carnival – the world’s largest winter


COLIN NICHOLSON Travel Writer


carnival – when we arrived in February for our big skiing adventure. We were a little bleary-eyed when we left the historic walled city early in the morning, navigating our way around beautiful ice and snow sculptures to catch a taxi to the frozen Montmorency waterfalls, just outside the city walls. Here domed viewing carriages waited to


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Tailor Made Travel offers the Charlevoix Getaway by Rail four-night package including hotels in Québec and La Malbaie; La Massif train with a stop at Baie St Paul, breakfast and dinner onboard, and a whale-watching cruise. Runs June-October priced £579pp. www.tailor-made.co.uk T.0800 988 5887


take us on what must be the most luxurious ski resort transfer ever – on the newly reopened Victorian railway that runs east along the banks of the St Lawrence river towards the Atlantic. We took our assigned seats; iPads at each table displayed a small map showing the train's progress and information on what we would see during the 105-minute journey. It's a trip that takes you under cliffs and alongside beaches, where we would watch the sun rise across the shimmering waters. Soon after the vintage diesel locomotives pulled away, we entered the region of Charlevoix, the culinary heart of Québec. You get a taste of the produce of the region onboard – from the maple syrup on your pancakes to the cheese melting in your omelette the food is locally sourced. On the return journey I took a couple of days later, our four-course dinner included


18 WINTER 2012/13 • SELLING CANADA


lobster sauce and other specialities of Charlevoix. The train's staff are happy to cater for food intolerances – but do not rely on a debit or credit card to pay for drinks as the train only accepts cash.


PURE CIRCUS You don’t need to be a skier to enjoy the train. Those in search of summer heat or the fiery colours of a Québec autumn can do the three-hour trip to Baie St Paul or the coastal town of La Malbaie from May to October. But we were thre for the snow and left the warmth of the train near the tiny fishing village of Petite-Rivière-Saint- François which, remarkably, is also the base of Le Massif, the ski resort with the greatest vertical drop in Canada east of the Rockies. Once we had hired skis at the top of the


gondola, at 2,650ft above sea level, Le Massif's convex pistes appeared like springboards ready to throw us into the mighty gulf below.


If it all sounds a bit fantastical that's because Le Massif is pure circus. When Cirque du Soleil's co-founder Daniel Gauthier sold his share of the company to his erstwhile fellow street performer Guy Laliberté he used part of the money to buy Le Massif and develop the resort, adding new lifts, new runs and new challenges. The easiest way down the mountain is


marked for beginners and nervous intermediates, as is common in North America. It follows gentle green runs that criss-cross the more demanding pistes, so even a mixed ability group like ours could ski together. We enjoyed run after run down wonderfully curling forest trails which were so full of intrigue that at times they immersed us deep in the woods while at other times they unexpectedly opened to reveal spectacular views of the estuary.


FAIRY LIGHTS We spent three days at Le Massif, staying at Baie St Paul, a charming town which for generations has attracted painters inspired by the quality of the light and the unique landscape. At night, fairy lights guided us along the wooden balconies in front of the many art galleries and fantastic restaurants. You can do a day-trip to Le Massif by


train, but staying longer gave me time to tackle the resort’s glades – thinned out coppices of birch and beech. As I picked my way through the trees, I felt as if I were truly in the great Canadian wilderness. But the bright, shimmering light glinting off the sea guided me back to the station. The ultimate reward was watching the sun


set over the St Lawrence. It is a vision that will stay with me forever – thanks to the small oil painting I brought back with me.


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