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| - Here's another one where I'm caught like a deer in the headlights: I'm not sure how to score the experience, although it was interesting enough to want to score it high - maybe a 4 star, but I was unprepared for the cost of it which would have scored it low! But I absolutely have to say something here because it was so worth the visit once, anyway!
We were invited by friends to go visit a sugar shack, but only after agreeing did we find out that it was to be in Rigaud which is over 1 hour's drive for us, just over the Quebec border (our friends live in Ottawa too; it was clear once they mentioned it that we would be meeting some of their family who would also be driving in... from Montreal! How fun is that? So, the company was good, to start with).
The Sucrerie de la Montagne is really promoting their farm as a business which is open to the public, and with the sap running through the maples at this time of year, they are really doing it in big style! It seems they are well prepared for it, making the visit well worthwhile. They offer sleigh rides up and down the long driveway, pulled by a pair of friendly brown horses. It seems to me that Quebeckers really know how to embrace winter, and it is no different here! They have created a little village on this farm, with small cabins on each side of the long driveway. Some of these are for rent overnight (quite reasonably so, as I understand it), while one was set up as a boulangerie, and another distributed a "tire sur neige" (a maple syrup lollypop!), and yet another represented a store. The gentleman who owns the property is quite a character, himself! He has a full beard, and he dresses in traditional clothing, including the traditional Quebec woven sash. A painting of him was posted in the great hall, so there was no mistaking him as he was walking around greeting people! Everyone we met was warm and friendly.
First of all and on the upside, you get into the dining hall, and you are greeted by beautifully set tables with china and glassware. This is unexpected for a sugar shack! Then their breakfast does not only include pancakes and syrup, but ALSO: delicious home-made pickles (I was sorry I had to share the jar!) and beats, bacon, sausage, tourtière, meatballs, sliced ham, bread, good coffee... did I get everything? I'm not even sure! The breakfast is all you can eat, and is served by a very busy wait staff. Unfortunately, they were barely able to keep pace with demand. There is live music on one side of the great hall, and the absolutely most humungous fireplace on the opposite wall - I've seen bedrooms that were smaller! There was a fire blazing in the back of the fireplace, literally 6 feet away which threw a staggering heat at us. The band was very lively and loud. The noise in the place was raucous!
On the downside: they charge nearly $40 per person! It was hard to get second helpings, and they didn't bring enough plates or enough food for our large party (they ran out of pancakes so we asked for a 2nd plate, which was a while in coming...) YIKES! And although the tasty maple syrup they served at breakfast was also offered for sale in the store, it cost about $30 per litre. Also a downer was that in the dining hall (the "great hall"), the tables were really wooden picnic benches stacked end to end, two at a time, around the outside of the room. It gets very crowded in here. When you were seated, and the tables beside you also were seated, it was virtually impossible to get up and get out of your seat. Worse than that, you are back to back with the people behind you. It was so close that at one point. I reached back to pull down my sweater, but I grabbed the person behind me in error! I did apologize, and she was graceful about it, but I was very embarrassed. I'm no pickpocket but it would have been very easy in this situation!
And this is no place for a vegetarian! Not enough choices for those of us who don't eat meat.
I will try to post pictures, if I can.
Will I be back? Not likely any time soon, but I would recommend it once for anyone looking for such a fun experience.
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