Early nights and late mornings – this is what dreams are made of.
Up sometime after 8 am and off to breakfast. The usual – eggs, sausage, home fries, rounded off with some crepes with nutella. Did I mention that they have a gigantic nutella dispenser?
They do, and it’s spectacular.
No teens club today, as it’s the G.O’s day off. This was the price of reinstating teens club for our son, and we accept it gladly.
Instead we head off to circus class. It starts a bit slowly – they’re still setting up at 9:30 am – but both kids thoroughly enjoy the trampoline and vault, as well as the aerial circus lessons.
Photo credit: Club Med Charlevoix
Our daughter had initially thought that she had aged out of circus class, but she really enjoyed this round. Both kids went right up until the class ended at 10:30 am.
Meanwhile, my wife has been tackling her least-favourite vacation task – laundry. While the Exclusive Collection (aka Suites) have their own laundry machine, our dryer is malfunctioning. She’d hoped that – after three attempts – they might have gotten it sorted, but no such luck. (It might help if each laundry room had more than a single washer and dryer – but I digress.)
So much room, so few laundry machines
Instead I went to the non-Exclusive laundry room in Building B and was able to get a washer right away. This, however, had a knock-on effect on our pool time. My wife was late getting down to the pool as she had to switch up the wash, but I agreed to pick everything up at the end. So we figured out, though it would have been better still if the washer and dryer had simply worked to begin with.
Anyway. Laundry remains our bête noir, and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon. If only resorts realized how much more likely we would be to book with them if they made laundry easy for us…
The kids elected not to join us for this trip to the pool. They wanted to hang out in the room to read and draw. So we went off on our own instead instead – the usual cycle of steam room, swim, rest, repeat. Then off to deal with laundry.
And – it worked. It even dried properly this time, which was a distinctive improvement from last time.
Off to lunch – tacos today:
They were really good, though the beef ones were somewhat fatty. The pork, oddly enough, seemed to be leaner.
Back to the room again for a bit of chill time, and to let a nasty bit of weather pass overhead. Then we were off on our final hike of the trip – descending from the top of Le Massif via des Cretes, a 7.5 km hike that was expected to take somewhere between two and three hours.
We started up at the top near the Chalet – which is open and has bathrooms but the cafeteria is currently closed.
We crossed underneath the gondola:
And past some of the nearby condos / vacation rentals:
This is a lovely part of the mountain…
… that offers commanding views of the St. Lawrence below:
And some unique perspectives on an off-season ski resort:
Plus some beautiful hillside views:
But it was steep. And this – combined with the recent rain – made for a tricky descent.
Which was made even trickier when my wife and son came across a bear sunning itself on the path.
It was only a young one – perhaps 1.5 – 2.5 years old – but they didn’t want to take any chances. So they backtracked up the hill to wait for my daughter and I. Not being able to resist a good picture, I carefully crept along the path – but it was already gone. (So no photos, sadly.)
There were some mixed emotions at this news – my wife and I were relieved that we could continue our descent, while our daughter was decidedly disappointed that she did not get to see the bear. As was I, to be honest, but old enough to realize that discretion is the better part of valour when it comes to sighting bears in the wild.
There was nothing left to do but continue our descent, being loud enough this time to alert any wayward bears of our presence.
The descent grew steeper still, to the point where I was having a hard time keeping my balance.
I would go a few steps down at a time and help my daughter along as needed, though to be fair she rarely needed my help. I had a few close calls but only one proper fall – though that was more than enough. No broken bones or broken cameras, thankfully.
And we did spot a few more critters enroute:
Eventually we linked up with the Promenade trail that led out of Club Med. We skipped the viewpoint – we’d had enough hiking, and plenty of beautiful views – and instead plowed along the groomed, even trail.
We came across a section of forest that was roped off with plastic tubing. It took me longer than I care to admit to realize that this was to collect maple sap for making syrup.
On we went, through wood and across river.
But eventually the Club Med once more came into view.
And with it – a deer.
It’s no bear, to be certain, but it was a fine consolation prize for our daughter. And it was a welcome break from toads and moths, as far as wildlife photography is concerned.
My wife kindly met our daughter outside with a blue raspberry slushy. I ordered a blanche de chambly, which I promptly took into the shower. It was that kind of a hike.
But the kids did great – very proud of both of them for enduring 7.5 km on tough terrain, dropping close to 750 metres in elevation. Rain is expected tomorrow, and we’ve all earned a well-deserved break.
We went off to the Lounge to write for a bit, and then down to the Chalet in search of poutine. Sadly that no longer seems to be on the evening menu. We’ll have to talk to the concierge to see if it’s served midday.
Off to dinner, where my wife had the duck:
And some salmon tartare:
And we both tried the sweet-and-sour chicken:
For dessert, a brioche with whipped cream and berries:
I found the base to be a bit too breadlike, so I went back for a blueberry crumble:
That really hit the spot.
Activity-wise, Just Dance and Music Factory are on the agenda tonight – I don’t think either kid could dance if their lives depended on it so they’ve elected for more downtime while we once more return to the Lounge to read and relax before another early bedtime.
We asked the kids earlier whether this holiday was too long, too short, or about right – and were surprised to hear that both of them wished we were spending longer at Club Med. High praise, particularly given all the time we’ve spent hiking.
And the adults? We’re currently withholding judgement until the holiday is closer to an end – but it is tempting to come back here.
But when? We have the South Pacific in October, Australia to Japan in early 2026, Svalbard and Iceland that summer, the Carribbean and Anguilla in December 2026, and Borneo and Indonesia in the summer of 2027.
Counterpoint – Club Med Charlevoix is relatively close, comparatively cheap, and fairly easy. That’s a potent combination.
Decisions, decisions.