Six Ways to Welcome Spring, Charlevoix-style!
The snow’s barely melted, and we’re getting out the patio chairs, the picnic table, and firing up the barbecue. When the sun comes out on Sunday, we’re among the crowd that takes to the city and village sidewalks in sneakers and tinted sunglasses. Simply put, we’re fans of spring! We’re hooked on those promising signs of warm summer days and, being self-proclaimed “springtime experts,” we’ve put together a “to-do” list for you to welcome spring, Charlevoix-style!
1. Enjoy a local beer
Just listen to Vincent Vallières’ music, and you’ll know that, in Quebec, drinking une frette [a cold one] in the great outdoors is a major sign of spring. And, because we don’t do things by half-measures, we’ve cooked up the ultimate outdoor beer scenario for you:
This spring, pounce on the MicroBrasserie Charlevoix’s Blanche white beer and pair these fabulous, crisp, full-bodied fruit- and citrus-flavoured bottles with the singular flavour of Migneron cheese. Because this greatest of ambassadors for Charlevoix’s terroir is indeed the Microbrasserie’s official recommendation for pairing with the Blanche de Charlevoix beer. To go with such a great snack, you need a great view. We suggest you discover one of the charming wharves in the area! From Petite-Rivière-Saint-François to Port-au-Persil, or the park at Casgrain wharf in La Malbaie, wharves that once welcomed schooners and from which you can enjoy the salt-tinged air of the St. Lawrence, offer breathtaking views.
2. Make a meal of capelin
Know what capelin is? It’s a small local smelt, plentiful on the shorelines and beaches in springtime. A marine food source, a truly miraculous catch of fish that isn’t hard to find. Historically, our grandfathers would head out with their buckets and their nets, never mind the weir fishing found here and there across the region. Eating capelin in the spring is one of those things you just have to do, here in Charlevoix. Simply coat these small fish in flour and pan-fry in butter. They’re a real treat, especially if you’re lucky enough to have a number of females on your plate, their bellies filled with tasty roe.
Pêcheries Charlevoix still operates as a weir fishery, and you can get your hands on gutted and vacuum-packed, ready-to-eat capelin. We like to cook them up the old-fashioned way, with pan-fried potatoes. And we strongly recommend adding spring vegetables to the mix, the first harvest from many of our gardens, like asparagus from the Jardins du Centre, exceptional cherry tomatoes from the Ferme Côte des Bouleaux farm, and fresh basil from the Jardins Écho-Logiques farm. If you’re thirsty, wine from the Domaine Charlevoyou puts the final touch on a table full of memories where you can raise a glass to spring, and to the renowned, intangible, and typically Charlevoix heritage of weir fishing.
3. Planting an organic garden
“Know how to plant cabbage like we do it here?” Springtime is nature’s rebirth, it’s the seed that sprouts… In short, it’s planting season! If you’re a bit of a gardener, you know how important it is to have good seeds, and to plant them at the right time! If you want to grow your vegetables using the best Charlevoix has to offer, go to Les Jardins Boréals located in Saint-Siméon. It sells organic seeds and varieties adapted to Quebec’s climate. The greenhouse at Jardins Boréals has springtime business hours to accommodate people with green thumbs! The Ferme Côte des Bouleaux farm, well-known for its exceptional organic tomatoes, also sells plants for your deck and garden. Why not transplant them into a large pot made by ceramicist Chloé Lucie-Desnouveaux? Get your gardening gloves on, and go grab your watering cans and shovels!
4. Treat yourself to a meal on a patio
The first meal on a patio! That’s it. Nothing more to add. Next. Gotcha! We wouldn’t let you go hungry like that, though the above statement speaks volumes on its own! Drinks in the sun, the scent of the outdoors, the clinking of cutlery mixed with the sound of birdsong at twilight, that end-of-the-day mood, candles or lanterns being lit, the radiant heat of a patio heater… The euphoria, the simple pleasure of seeing the days get longer and the air get warm enough to enjoy an evening out on a crowded patio. Where shall we go? It’s not as if we haven’t got options: the covered patio right in the middle of the action, on the busiest street in Baie-Saint-Paul, at Saint-Pub de la Microbrasserie Charlevoix. Directly opposite the river is Sainti, a hip resto-bistro/wine bar, just across from the beach at Saint-Irénée… Chez Truchon in Pointe-au-Pic, for the flavour, the elegance, and the sensation of dining in the garden, on the comfortable patio of an opulent mansion… Or there’s the Fairmont le Manoir Richelieu, especially for before-dinner drinks, brunch, or a cup of coffee in the shade of the big umbrellas.
5. Read a book in the sun
Our mothers would get out the loungers and sit in the sun when those first warm days came around, to do something about their winter-white legs. These days, while we’d trade the tanning oil for sunscreen, we still crave the sun after a winter spent indoors. Our bodies lack Vitamin Sun, and sitting outside in an Adirondack chair or lying in a hammock and relaxing on a beautiful afternoon under the UV rays is vitally important, at times. Along with this sunbathing, a great book makes a great companion, and we’ve got an affirming, poetic, springtime-green novel up our sleeve, from transgender author and Charlevoix resident, Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay: La Voix de la Nature [Nature’s Voice]. A story that celebrates the natural world around here, relating the dreams and adventures of a trans child who sings to the trees in the forest…
6. Take a walk, and take along a soundtrack
How intoxicating it is, to explore the countryside on foot! A walk really awakens all of the senses: the landscape is full of smells, sounds, and the feeling of being outdoors in the fresh air. In spring, we’re happy to see melting snowbanks give way to sidewalks and bike paths, to throw ourselves fully into the awakening outdoors! Though all the villages, trails and beaches of Charlevoix are good enough reasons to get outside and go for a walk, here’s one of our very special suggestions: go for walk at Saint-Joseph-La-Rive where the small street winds between the maritime museum and its schooners, the small white church, its wooden pavilion-gazebo, the beach with its marsh-grasses, the village houses and the wooded trails adjacent to the Saint-Gilles paper museum and shop, bordering the falls of a small river. For an experience rich in meaning, we enhance the outing by listening to the music of Philémon Cimon on our headphones. This writer/composer/perfomer and proud defender of Quebec’s music hails from this corner of the province and sings of it at length on his album, Pays, a hymn to Charlevoix, to the landscapes, to childhood, and our forebears.
