Julie

We rent 2 rooms for 2 nights, at Maison Cadorette in Saint-Jean-des-Piles. We can sleep in peace, and it’ll do us the greatest good to spend a little more than 48 hours together. The setting is just perfect, close to the Saint-Maurice river and La Mauricie National Park. You can even cook your own meal in their shared kitchen.

At the end of the afternoon, we put down our luggages and I take everyone for a walk. Direction, the beach near the river… As we’re happy to see each other again, we talk nonstop, until we get to the beach and there…. SILENCE! The beauty of the landscape takes our breath away, as always. How beautiful! We take a selfie with the “MAJESTIC” and its landscape in the background! We’ll easily spend 1 hour there, just relaxing from our busy lives!

Then, we head to Le P’tit Canot to have an aperitif. The terrace is well laid out, the beer is good for two of us, and the other two are tempted by a pitcher of white Sangria. We order nachos, and we have one of these nice happy hours with the regular pub customers. They think we’re ”really fun” because of our laughter!

We then return to our room to get ready. We’re expected for dinner at one of the best restaurants in Shawi… L’Auberge Aux Goglus! In addition to a quite exceptional menu, I’m not even exaggerating by the way ;), we can bring our own wine! Stay with friends, necessarily says good food and we treat ourselves with our first dinner!

After an excellent night sleep, we spend the day in La Mauricie National Park. We start our day by going to rivière à la Pêche for a hike in the morning. The hike is just a perfect mix between physical effort to burn off the dinner’s calories :), and beauty for the eyes and the soul! There are several stops along our way to take selfies and great pictures of this impressive natural environment. One of us is a photographer and she feasts her eyes and the lens… I predict that we’ll have a beautiful photo album in memory of our superb getaway!

As the day before I had gone to the Marché public de Shawinigan to get some food, I introduce my friends to tasty products. I must say that I could just as well have stocked up at the La Mie de Grand-Mère bakery or at the IGA Gauthier, where you can find everything!

After lunch, we head to the Wapizagonke Lake. The Park’s scenic drive is just fabulous. We take the time to open the sunroof to have a 360-degree view of this natural gem. We spend the afternoon at the beach, resting under the soft and warm sun.

We’re expected at 8 p.m. at the Saint-Antoine restaurant. A must! And for my part, my meal is already chosen. I spoil myself with their super AAA filet mignon pan-fried in cognac and flamed directly at the table with their famous pepper sauce. A real delight! The others will have plenty of choices as they serve everything. If red meat is not your treat, the Mussels are also excellent! Again, it’s a bring your own wine, and we like that a lot! We have 3 SAQ in Shawinigan, so you’re never far from any of the stores! 😉

After our  meal we must take a walk, so I invite my friends to take the trip to the parc de la Rivière Grand-Mère, which is 10 minutes away from the restaurant. The park is beautiful and very well laid out. There’s nothing better to end an evening… We walk at OUR pace, that’s to say at the pace of our words, our thoughts, our laughters, our hugs, our “selfies”. I’m privileged to have my friends and an exceptional living environment that I rediscover almost every season.