(continued)
More Water
Today’s drive takes me northeast to Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, to the Centre de Sante Auberge des 21 hotel and spa, which overlooks a fjord. The property is owned and managed by Chef Marcel Bouchard and his son, sommelier Dannik Bouchard. Besides offering an innovative menu of regional selections, the hotel has an extensive—and impressive—wine cellar, and Chef Bouchard offers cooking classes in his enormous demo kitchen. The hotel is close to Saguenay National Park, with opportunities to engage in a variety of outdoor activities, including hiking and wildlife viewing.
Late afternoon finds me unwinding in the intimate spa, located below the main floor on the same level as the cooking theater and wine cellar. Perhaps it’s a subconscious reaction to finding out that Chef Bouchard is the owner, or perhaps it’s my natural affinity for sweets, but I’ve selected the two-hour Chocotherapy treatment. It begins with a full-body exfoliation with cocoa serum and progresses to a complete envelopment in a chocolate cream the exact consistency of pudding. After wrapping me, my therapist stands at my head, massaging my scalp. She leads me to a warm shower, then massages my body with a cocoa-based oil. She completes the treatment with an acupressure foot massage, then escorts me to the relaxation lounge. I’m just about to doze off when she returns and places a small tray by my side. There’s water, tea, and—of course—a piece of dark chocolate.
Not that a piece of chocolate is likely to dampen my appetite. I learn that Chef Bouchard changes the menu often, depending on what local cheeses, seafood, meats, and seasonal produce are available. Tonight, there’s succulent roast chicken with goat cheese, a green salad in a maple vinaigrette, and a delicate sorbet. Perfect.
Over the River
The next morning, still enveloped in the delicious scent of cocoa, I head for Saint-Simeon to board the ferry that will cross the St. Lawrence River to Riviere-du-Loup. The crossing, a distance of fifteen nautical miles, takes about ninety minutes, and every moment is enjoyable. Though the water is a fierce shade of gray, the sky is clear and topaz blue, and the river is dotted with tiny islands that slip in and out of view.
I set out for the town of Montmagny, home to Centre des Migrations, an environmental interpretation center devoted to Canada’s beautiful snow geese. It’s well worth the drive, and after meeting several snow geese and spending time with the center’s naturalist viewing the hauntingly beautiful documentary Light of the Snow Geese (by Quebec poet and writer Pierre Morency), I leave for a hands-on bird watching excursion with Ornitours, an outdoor adventure company specializing in bird watching.
Late that evening, I arrive at Manoir du lac William in the foothills of the Canadian Appalachians. This elegant manor house hotel dates to 1906, and was the first summer home to be built on the lake’s shore. Since 1992, it’s been owned and operated by the Lessard family. Slyvie Lessard directs the spa, and she initiates one of the most perfect therapeutic experiences I’ve ever enjoyed. After a relaxing wrap in one of the spa treatment rooms, Sylvie leads me to a massage pagoda set on the very edge of the lake. I enjoy a deep tissue massage, and when it’s over, I’m escorted to a chair on the shore, wrapped in a blanket, and served a platter of fresh fruits, berries, and hot maple tea. Sitting in the brisk air, sipping the sweet maple tea, I enjoyed an undisturbed half hour watching the light change over the surface of the water.
Heading East
The final leg of my journey takes me into Canada’s Eastern Townships, where my great-grandmother Marie LaRose once worked as a milliner making ladies’ hats. I don’t know the region well, but find the small towns beautiful.
I stop briefly at Spa Cheribourg in Orford to sample the new Aroma Tonic Treatment. After a chakra-stimulating massage that targets energy points along my spine, I’m exfoliated with a clay mosaic powder, moisturized with essential oils, and left to soak in a deep tub of perfectly hot water. Following a final application of body cream, I head into a small room that’s been tented and decorated to suggest an Arabian fantasy. My therapist helps me into the Energizing Balancing Chair, positioned beneath glowing stars and moons. For the next twenty minutes, I’m gently rocked up, down, backwards, and forwards—a therapy said to massage organs and stimulate the body to release stored fluids and toxins. While I have no scientific proof that this actually occurred, I feel pleasantly energized when the chair finally comes to a standstill.
The feeling stays with me for the remainder of my drive, which leads to Spa Eastman, about an hour-and-a-half southeast of Montreal. A destination spa specializing in weight loss and stress reduction, Spa Eastman is composed of a group of renovated barns, houses, and cottages that have been transformed into tranquil guest rooms and suites. Each morning, guests choose from an extensive list of fitness classes and seminars posted in the lobby. Meals are gourmet organic and low-calorie, free of wheat, chemicals, and sugar. A selection of wines, including organic choices, are available with dinner, and the recently opened Water Bar offers a wide variety of bottled mineral waters.
Upon arrival, guests enjoy a private consultation with the spa’s on-staff naturopath, who helps design a schedule that includes a complete physical, spa treatments, suggestions for fitness activities, and herbal recommendations to detoxify and strengthen any weaknesses in the body’s systems. The doctor suggests I try the spa’s signature water treatment, the Eastman Massage, which turns out to be unlike anything I’ve done before. With just my head above the surface in the heated massage pool, my therapist directs pressurized streams of water at my legs, back, and arms. Once she’s relaxed my muscles, she performs a Watsu-like water massage in which she completely supports my body with hers. It’s utterly hypnotic.
End of the Road
In the morning before I depart for the airport in Montreal, owner Jocelyna Duboc takes me on a meditation hike. For one long stretch, I’m blindfolded, and Duboc leads me along pathways surrounding the spa. At first, I’m uncomfortable, and completely stressed with sorting out details for the trip home—but once I allow my mind to move into a trusting place, the experience is liberating. Suddenly, I’m aware of the birds singing, the feel of the soft grass beneath my feet, and the heady scent of every flower we pass.
The perfumed air acts unexpectedly as a portal, and the memory of the small boy offering me his bouquet of dandelions overwhelms my senses. Jocelyna removes my blindfold and hugs me, and I realize that’s what this journey was always about: healing, and gentleness, and being at one with the world, if only for a single moment at a time.
Address Book
Spas Relais Sante
www.spasrelaissante.com
Ofuro Spa
(450) 226-2442;
www.spaofuro.com
Spa-sur-le-Lac Club Tremblant
(800) 567-8341;
www.spasurlelac.com
Stonehaven Spa
(819) 324-1200;
www.stonehavenrelaisspa.com
Centre de Sante Auberge des 21
(418) 697-2121;
www.aubergedes21.com
Parfum de Mer
(418) 598-6455;
www.aubergedufaubourg.com
Manoir du lac William
(418) 428-9188;
www.manoirdulac.com
Spa Cheribourg
(819) 868-0101;
www.spacheribourg.com
Spa Eastman
(450) 297-3009;
www.spa-eastman.com
March/April 2006
