Dining and Dogsledding in Duchesnay

I have to say that although I hate to play favorites, the absolute highlight of my recent trip to Quebec was our day in Duchesnay. About 30 minutes from the city, the Station touristique Duchesnay(www.sepaq.com/duchesnay) is the location of the annual Ice Hotel, a lovely Auberge, and the home of Aventure Inukshuk, who offer dogsledding excursions from a couple of hours to several days in length.

We conveniently arrived at the Auberge at lunchtime and were escorted to the lower level dining area which had a lovely stone fireplace and panoramic views of the snowy valley. A big snowstorm was blowing in, and it began snowing heavily before our entrées arrived. I ordered the stew which I thought would be perfect for the blustery, snow-laden day and I wasn’t disappointed.

The bowl was brimming with generous chunks of beef and pork, as well as traditional stew vegetables, with a pretty piped rim of mashed potatoes…comfort food with a capital “C”. Add some crusty bread and it was as near perfect a lunch as I’ve ever had.

After lunch, we headed to the Ice Hotel (www.hoteldeglace.qc.ca) which I’ll tell you more about tomorrow, and then on to Aventure Inukshuk (www.aventureinukshuk.qc.ca) both of which are located on the Station touristique Duchesnay grounds.

I’m a serious Fido-phile so I had been looking forward to the dogsledding excursion, and it was everything I could have hoped for…it was amazing to glide through the snowy woods pulled by eight eager canines who barked and the pawed the ground in agitation every time we had to make a stop. All I needed was an iPod with Springsteen’s “Born to Run” as a soundtrack!