In today’s video we’re taking you to Quebec’s Eastern Townships, specifically Sutton!
Neither Sam nor I had been here before, but this destination proved to have it all, from
unique accommodations and adventure activities to beautiful hiking trails and an emerging
foodie scene.
We spent 2 days exploring the area in partnership with Tourisme Québec and Merrell Canada,
and here’s a look at what we got up to!
Good morning guys we are heading out this morning.
We are going to spend the day in nature.
That is the plan but we're going to need some food.
We're going to need some energy so we're just heading to Sutton going to grab some lunch.
And then yes hitting the road.
Hitting the road and doing a whole bunch of different things today.
Our first stop was La Rumeur Affamée, which is a gourmet food shop right in the heart
of Sutton specializing in local products.
We dropped by to pick up a few items for a picnic since we had an action-packed day ahead
of us.
And being the foodies that we are, we couldn’t resist sampling a few cheese and caramel spreads
while we were in there!
So this is a Mercule de Charlevoire it is from le lac charlevoire in de saint paul let
us have a taste of that and see how you like it.
Ah, wonderful.
Let's have a taste and see how we like it?
Okay.
Hahaha.
More cheese to savour.
Alright guys so we just made a little pit stop at La Rumeur Affamee to pick up some
lunch for today.
We are spending the day out in nature and this place has amazing sandwiches and cheeses
and baked goods.
Meats.
Beverages.
Pasta.
Coffees.
Everything.
It was amazing.
We could have spent a lot longer in there.
We got to sample lots of tasty cheeses but yeah let's head out.
It is time to actually get out there feel nature.
With our picnic lunch sorted, we got in the car and drove out to Au Diable Vert.
This place started out as a mountain lodge, but it’s grown to become an outdoor playground
with lots of activities on offer.
Well we made it.
Gathering our gear.
Are you ready for the Velo Valant?
I am.
The flying bicycle through the forest.
Apparently there is only three of these in the world.
Yeah.
One of them is here.
There is another one in Florida and one more in Mexico.
I know.
So this is a pretty exclusive activity.
I can't wait to try it.
After watching a quick instruction video, it was time to hop on the Vélo Volant!
The circuit ran through the forest, over ponds, along ravines, and we also got glimpses of
the Green Mountains of Vermont off in the distance.
The nice thing about this activity is that we could only go as fast as we pedalled, and
we were encouraged to take it slow and stop to enjoy nature and our surroundings.
Alright guys so I am here on the Velo Valant already pedalling through the forest.
It is pretty cool.
I'm just waiting for Sam to catch up with me because he was filming me but he is just
behind.
And yeah I've got to say this is a pretty cool experience.
I'm just in the middle of the forest surrounded by trees.
It feels super peaceful.
Like I don't feel nervous at all.
And you can just hear the birds.
It is so calm and it is a one of a kind experience.
I mean there is only three of these bicycles in the whole world.
Like we mentioned earlier so yeah it is something super unique that you can experience here
in Quebec and I'm really enjoying it so far.
And there you have it.
Sam is also coming along for the adventure.
My oh my.
He doesn't love heights so I'm feeling pretty proud.
So this is what it looks like.
I'm just pedalling through the forest.
The picnic is ready.
It is.
And I've already dug in.
I'm having I said wonderful sandwich here.
I told Audrey can you please wait before you take some bites.
Clearly not.
Nope!
Not.
Nope!
She can't.
It was turkey.
Yeah.
With cranberries and brie cheese.
It almost feels like Thanksgiving in a sandwich so pretty awesome.
I also had a bite of Sam's.
Haha.
It is really good.
Um and yeah we've got some Kombucha.
Yeah.
We have a turmeric.
Turmeric flavored one.
And chai.
Hibiscus chai.
Yep.
We also have some tasty desserts.
This one is called a sweetheart.
Yep.
So I'm curious to try that.
That has caramel.
And we have a maple pie.
This is the star of the show.
Yeah.
This is the one I'm most looking forward to trying.
Yeah, this one was highly recommended.
Yes.
Apparently it is a local specialty.
Yeah.
So it should be good.
The guy at the shop was telling me that sometimes they have tourists come by and clear the whole
store.
Oh yeah he was saying tourists come from the US and they're like how many pies do you have?
We're taking them all.
We're taking all 13.
So yeah that is always a good sign.
I'm going to enjoy this.
Now what he has been longing after.
The moment I've been waiting for.
Dessert.
The first thing I noticed about this is like as I'm moving it back and forth can you see
the syrup kind of sway from side to side.
Oh my gosh that is going to be so good.
I have a feeling it is going to be so sweet.
So maple syrup pie.
Oh!
Here we go Mister Yea Nice.
Oh!
Oh my gosh that maple flavour.
That is like the most Canadian tasting thing I've ever had.
If you like maple syrup like you've absolutely got to try this.
Yeah.
So next up we are going to go visit some hairy coos.
They have a field full of these cows and anytime we've been in Scotland it has always been
a struggle to get close to the hairy coos they are so elusive um but yeah here it looks
like you can get up close.
Relatively up close and personal so that is what we're going to do.
Word or warning do not cross this field unless you can do it in 9 seconds because the bull
can do it in 10.
Moo!
So the owner here told us to walk up to the rooster because that is where you get the
best views.
Here is the rooster just behind me.
He wasn't kidding because I mean the rooster is pretty awesome but then you've got the
highland cows.
The hairy coos in the background.
The coos.
Yes and then you've got the mountain views which you can't really see as well until you
get to this point so it is definitely impressive.
Time for a walk through the woods Bill Bryson style.
It sure is.
This property is massive, we've been walking for a little while it just keeps sprawling
out and it has been wonderful.
It is so quiet, so quaint and so green out here.
Just love it.
Breathing in the oxygen.
The fresh air oh my goodness fresh air.
Fresh country air.
You've gotta love it.
Once we reached the rooster, we chose one of the many trails on the property, because
we had some new Merrell gear to test out.
We wore the Moab FST 2 Waterproof hiking shoes, which have Vibram® MegaGrip® for traction
on wet or dry surfaces, and are waterproof yet let moisture escape, but aside from that,
we were amazed by how comfortable they were straight out of the box!
Mine were in the colour Granite/Shark and Sam had Olive/Adobe.
Making friends Audrey?
Always.
Who is this?
Always.
His name is Leo.
Leo.
You are a sweet boy.
And he's like here is my ball.
Ready for our next activity.
Some kayaking.
Oh man we love kayaking.
We love kayaking.
This is our favourite water sport.
Yes.
We're not super ambitious in the water.
That is because we don't do like white water kayaking or anything like that.
We like it calm.
Calm.
Chill.
This is as calm as it gets.
So yeah we're just going to hop right in, float down stream.
We can't float too far.
Apparently five kilometres that way and we are at the US border.
We're not going there today.
Not today.
The guy warned us if we crossed the bridge we are in US territory illegally.
So let's get in.
In I go.
Woah!
The waters here were dark but very shallow and calm with hardly a current, so if you’ve
been wanting to try kayaking, this is a great place to do so for the first time.
We also noticed that they had Stand Up Paddleboarding, but it was early autumn, and we weren’t
sure we wanted to go for a swim if we lost our balance!
We did a daytime unguided kayaking tour, but they also offer guided moonlight tours if
that’s more your thing.
Sam's approach to land my goodness.
Well we've done a lot of activities today how are those new shoes holding up?
We sure have.
These are holding up really well.
Also it is my first full day wearing them.
I'm surprised by how comfortable they are.
Like I haven't had to break them in so today we took them biking through that flying bicycle
in the forest, we went hiking, we went kayaking so so far so good but right now it is time
to head back to town.
We're going to Sutton.
We still need to give you guys a tour of our little cottage plus we are hitting up a brewery
later on so that is going to be fun.
From there, we drove back to our chalet at Huttopia, which was our home away from home.
Well hello.
It is time to give you a tour of our chalet.
We've been staying at a place called Huttopia and they have all sorts of accommodations
here.
We chose a chalet so we're going to give you a tour.
Let's begin here.
This is kind of like the entrance slash balcony area.
This is my favourite area.
We've got a nice little picnic table if you want to eat el freco and enjoy your breakfast
in the morning.
Check out the views guys.
This is incredible.
And at night I mean you can hear the sounds of nature right now but at night it is like
an orchestra.
It is even louder.
Yeah.
That is a beautiful way to describe it.
Haha.
Orchestra.
Haha.
So let's come on in.
Mother nature's orchestra.
Okay.
So this is kind of like our kitchen, dining and living area.
It is a little bit messy right now because we're charging all of the electronics.
Yep.
But yeah it is a beautiful place to hang out.
And we have these massive windows so you can just enjoy nature.
It lets in lots of natural light.
Let's show the kitchen.
And yeah we haven't actually done any cooking.
We have a wood burning stove which I think gets a lot of use in the winter.
Yeah.
I wonder if we have lights here.
We probably do.
That shows how much we've been in the kitchen guys.
Haha.
Where are the lights again?
Where are the lights.
Um yeah so we've got lots of different cups, glasses, cutlery, there is some plates in
storage.
We have a fridge.
Yep.
A dishwasher.
That is pretty fancy.
We have a table I'm charging the drone batteries.
And over here I'm going to guess this is like a little barbecue.
Yeah.
We have a super messy room which we don't need to show you.
That is the spare room.
Luggage room.
Where we are keeping all of our stuff.
And then we just go up these steps to the second floor.
Okay so here we have another little lounge area with a couch that I think turns into
a spare bed because there is a whole bunch of bedding here.
Oh that is neat.
But we claimed this room.
Yeah.
This is the biggest room.
Voila.
Nice big bed.
It is a big bed.
It is so nice.
I love this room.
I love A-Frames.
Yeah, I know.
I'll show you guys the ceiling.
Look at that.
Yeah, it is just really cozy here.
More views outside.
We are surrounded by nature.
Yeah.
And last night when we went to bed we just kept the window open.
Like there is a mesh and you could just hear nature.
There was like so much chirping and then you could hear yeah wind hollowing.
To be honest I find it was so peaceful.
I find I get my best sleep when I have that when that is the soundtrack of my sleep.
Yeah.
And that was also the soundtrack when we woke up.
Yes.
Just the sounds of nature.
Natural alarm clock instead of beep, beep, beep.
And another thing to mention about this place Huttopia is that they have no wifi in any
of the cabins or anything.
Which has been wonderful.
You have to go to reception.
Yes but that is the whole idea.
They want you to like disconnect and just be surrounded by the woods.
The forrest.
And to be honest if you're coming out to the Eastern Townships (cantons de l'est) yeah
that is kind of like what you want to do.
Right?
It is a time to relax.
You are probably leaving a big city behind and you are coming here to relax and to reconnect
with nature.
Yeah.
But there you have it.
That is our little chalet tour.
And next up I believe we are going to be drinking some beer.
That afternoon we drove into Sutton.
This is a charming little town in the Eastern Townships (cantons de l'est) and it’s very
walkable, so we parked the car and ventured out on foot.
The main street here is lined with cafes, boutiques, art galleries and historic buildings,
so we enjoyed a leisurely stroll before making our way to a microbrewery for dinner.
It is dinnertime and today we are eating at called A L’Ábordage.
Yes.
And they are a microbrewery here in Sutton so we are pretty pumped.
Yes.
We ordered a whole bunch of beers to sample.
We're going to have 8 in total.
We also went for two typical dishes.
We are having duck poutine and a maple burger and the beers are here.
The beers are here.
Oh yeah.
Hahaha.
Let's begin.
Number one is a golden ale.
Cheers my friends.
Guys.
I think I just chose the best meal on the menu.
I am having a poutine with duck.
Duck is something that is super popular in this region.
So yeah we've got french fries, cheese curds, duck meat.
I just drizzled some gravy all over this meal.
Drizzled.
You poured it.
I poured it.
Yeah, that wasn't a drizzle.
That was heavy.
That was all of it.
And oh my gosh I'm just going to grab a bit of everything into one beautiful decadent
mouthwatering bite.
Here we go.
And?
Mmmm.
So good.
Hahaha.
Salty.
Greasy.
Greasy yeah.
Rich and savoury.
What does the duck add to it?
Because we've never tried that before with the duck.
Surprisingly it looks a bit like pulled pork.
Yeah.
The way it has been prepared.
Like the meat has been shredded.
Right.
And it is kind of salty.
Yep.
And it is just wonderful with the gravy.
Wow.
This is amazing.
I can't wait to try it.
Amazing.
I can't wait to try it.
Ready to tell us about your main?
Check out my burger guys.
Wow.
It is jacked.
I''ve gotta lift up the hood here.
Look at what we've got.
We've got bacon, we've got mushrooms, we've got brie cheese.
Caramelized onions.
Wow.
Oh la lah.
Woah.
Look at that stringy cheese in there.
Oh my gosh.
That cheese and bacon really makes it and then you get some juiciness from the mushrooms.
The patty is cooked nice.
This is a beautiful bun with sesame seeds.
This is a great burger.
Yeah.
I love it.
This is a great place.
This is a great meal.
Look at all of this beer.
I know.
All the beer to wash it down.
This is just awesome.
And that’s a wrap for our adventures in and around Sutton.
We hope you guys enjoyed this video, and we’ll see you in the next one where we continue
our trip through Quebec’s Eastern Townships!