How time passes. It seems like just yesterday we arrived back from our extended Tasmania to Tokyo trip, and not the (checks notes) two-and-a-half months that have actually transpired.
But, you know what? We needed every single second to get caught up from being away that long. Because it wasn’t just Tasmania to Tokyo. We also had our Surf to Sand trip from Moorea, French Polynesia to the Atacama Desert in Chile, and our Antarctica to Zimbabwe trip in early 2025. (Not to mention trips to Charlevoix, Montreal, Quebec City, Rocking Horse Ranch, Legoland, Bromont, and Great Wolf Lodge in the meantime.)
All in all, we have spent roughly 32 weeks of the past year-and-a-half on the road. And it’s been wonderful – but the mountain of household responsibilities and general life duties that have built up in that period is truly astonishing.
Two months of dedicated effort have brought that mountain down to a manageable level, but it’s left very little time for writing. Overall reviews of our Melbourne to Tokyo cruise and the freshly-edited Angkor Wat sunrise photo are still forthcoming, but later than expected.
Much means this, of course, is the perfect time to take another vacation.
And this time it’s actually going to be a vacation.
Despite our 8 months of travel since January 2025, we still haven’t been on many vacations – because we don’t take vacations, we go on adventures.
This might seem like a distinction without a difference until you are moving between your sixth and seventh location of the trip and you have a 5 am wake-up the next morning, and all you crave is to sit on a beach with your feet in the sand drinking a drink that smells like tropical nailpolish remover and with more umbrellas than a London law office.
On the subject of umbrellas, today we are on our way to a ski resort, which means that it is raining – and is expected to rain for the entire week we are there.
In case I sound as though I am exaggerating
Have we mentioned that you should never go on a ski trip with us? Because you shouldn’t. It has rained in Charlevoix, Sir Sam’s, Bromont, Tremblant, Blue Mountain, Hokkaido and for the third time – Le Massif.
But this is a vacation, so we will accept our forecast gladly – because worst case it means that we spend more time lounging around Club Med Charlevoix, sipping drinks, reading books, and admiring the St Lawrence. I can think of worse fates.
And is there anything we did differently after last year’s trip? Well, the big issue we ran into last June is that we were just a little bit too early in the season. They hadn’t brought on sufficient childcare staff to fully run Teens’ Club, nor had mountain biking opened yet. So we booked exactly 1 week later the following year.
The other change is to lengthen our stay – last time we were only here for 5 nights before departing for Quebec City and Montreal. It felt rushed, so we have booked for a total of 7 nights with no add-ons afterwards.
The other change – our new ride:
Yes, the time had come to move on from our ten-year-old Honda HRV – which admittedly was in fantastic shape, but would not hold all of our luggage nor allow the kids to bring friends anywhere. So we opted for the Mazda CX-90 PHEV – a seven-seater with 42 km of all-electric range and a regular gas engine for longer trips.
We are firm believers in the wonders of electric vehicles, but they are a pain for road trips – I found myself continually monitoring the range, planning out chargers along the way, and figuring out back-up plans in case the first (or second) charger proves non-functional.
The load mastering was much easier this time around:
I can even see out the rear window!
The drive down was uneventful – we stopped at Subway for lunch and there was an unsurprisingly vast amount of rain:
Though as we approached Charlevoix it became ethereal and moody, rather than dank and dreary:
The perfect setting for the Scandinavian murder mystery we hope won’t unfold during our vacation
We made excellent time, too, owing largely to our early departure and our lack of charging stops – arriving by 3:30 pm whereas previously the journey might have taken us til 4 or even 5 pm.
Unfortunately, our early arrival meant that our room was not yet ready – nor were there any upgrades available. (Previously we had managed to pay a modest fee to upgrade to the Distinctive Collection, but alas there were no such rooms to book on arrival.)
With that settled, I left to park our Mazda in the outdoor lot – at which point the rain turned from drizzle to downpour, just in time for my walk back. But it was a short enough walk – and I’d been sitting all day – so it does not dampen my enthusiasm for what lies ahead.
By the time I reach the lobby bar, the kids have already found a dessert bar and are watching the World Cup on a 20 foot screen.
My wife tried to register the kids for Teens’ Club (aka Passworld), but they did not have enough teens to run it today. But they will run it tomorrow. That’s fine with us, as we’ve all had an early start and are not particularly in the mood for a late evening tonight – which it most certainly would be if the kids were to immediately join Passworld.
We take a moment to collect ourselves, and then it’s time for the next stop – the mountain biking desk for registration tomorrow.
Unfortunately, there’s something of a discrepency between the desk’s actual hours and the hours listed on the Club Med app – so we wait around an extra 15 minutes while they set up. And it’s only as I approach the front that I realize we’re supposed to read their FAQ and sign waivers – but we manage that in record time.
The actual registration proves very simple. We provide ages, heights, weights, and answer some questions about our past mountain biking experience. (Our son and I previously did some biking in the Atacama.) We’re soon sorted into our respective groups, and asked to present oureselves at 9:15 am tomorrow.
Here’s the FAQ for those interested – some noteworthy points here, including that they run rain and shine and that they do not run lessons for family groups. All participants are organized by age and ability instead.
My wife heads off to the boutique, where she buys a fantastic dress with roughly CAD$90 of our CAD$160 in Club Med credit – and where she learns that our room is now ready.
And what a room it is:
We’ve booked ourselves into a Riverview Family Room.
Unlike the basic Family Rooms, these have two full bathrooms – essential in our view.
Kids’ bathroom
And adults’ bathroom
Though I think the kids ended up with the nicer shower!
It also has a stunning view of the St Lawrence River and the nearby town of Baie St Paul:
Though the view of the resort itself is quite pleasant too:
The room is well equipped with a fridge, coffee maker, snacks, and soft drinks. There’s no kettle, but we can use the coffee maker for that purpose – especially if I get my coffee from the cappuccino machines.
There’s even a thoughtful gift from Club Med – a wireless charger:
Handy for when I manage to get water in my phone’s charging port – which happens more often than you might imagine
The main benefits of the Distinctive Collection over the regular rooms are that you have a larger patio, a separate sitting area, and access to a special loung area. But it’s hard to make the value proposition when the River View Family Room is this pleasant and well-equipped.
There’s a barbeque on at 4 pm, so we wander down to see what’s on offer – and end up with some barbequed sausages:
Then back to the room to unpack and get settled in. I also need to pick up an extra lift pass as one of ours went walkabout. We’ll need lift passes both for hiking and for mountain biking.
The receptionist suggest we taken photos of the passes, as then they know which pass to reproduce if one goes missing. I promptly do so.
Meanwhile, my wife goes off for a guided meditation session. There were mats set out for 11 people although only 9 attended. The instructor checks with those present if they’re okay with her using an essential oil diffuser before class begins. It’s a standard meditation session with light stretching and a focus on box breathing. She really enjoyed it – there seem to be more wellness sessions on offer this time around, and she’s planning to check out a variety of them.
Dinner time soon rolls around. We find our favourite table – a sheltered section with lots of privacy:
I start with some trout and calamari:
Then soon move on to the steak, potatoes, and green beans – served with Charlevoix cheese:
It’s absolutely fantastic. The food at Club Med Kiroro was good, but this is next-level.
We eventually move on to desserts – note the plural. There is a huge spread laid on tonight:
The cupcakes are a bit dry, but the cake pops are fabulous.
We then head off to La Chalet:
Where we enjoy an after-dinner drink:
My wife has the Petite-Rivière – gin, blue curacao, lemon, tonic – while I have the Le Délice de Charlevoix – cachaca, maple syrup, ginger, lime. It’s feels like a novel take on a dark-and-stormy.
We’ve previously complained about the removal of poutine and other snacks from Le Chalet, but they are back with a vengeance:
Shame that we can’t eat another bite!
But eventually our long travel day catches up with us, and it’s time to call it a night.
We can only hope the storm clouds will hold off long enough for us to complete our first round of mountain biking.