Treat yourself to massages, body treatments, Nordic baths and other sensory delights.
Published on Aug 18, 2020
Auberge du Changement d’Ère has served as a transit for many passionate travellers for more than 4 years already. It’s not surprising: an enchantingly family-friendly place, a 9-acre environment, and the avant-garde philosophy of its owners and architects, Joël and Chloé, constitute the uppermost inspiration.
By Ariane Arpin-Delorme
Able to normally lodge between 8 and 12 guests, here we find a commonplace yurt (with a commonplace kitchen and a bathroom) to which they’ve connected an ultra-yurt (4 guests). The Artist Yurt (4 guests) is set apart. (The regular room and the trailer caravan are not presently available.) In this fantastic and comfortable world—open all year round— you’re offered an almost all-inclusive formula including: wood, 100% cotton bedding (you can bring your own sleeping bag if you so wish, due to the present circumstances), natural latex mattresses, heated floors, outdoor equipment (snowshoes), games, a BBQ grill, dishware, etc. You must, however, prepare your food inside your yurt (or in the commonplace kitchen, as soon as new sanitary measures will be implemented).
I offered myself a special treat by experiencing a very unique moment lodging in the Artist’s ultra-yurt. Once I crossed the threshold, I immediately felt as if I’d landed inside another civilization. The habitat is made up of a mixture of prehistoric materials, such as clay, but with a lean, futuristic design. To be able to bring out such emotions, these architects artisans had to conceive this yurt as they would a work of art. A gamble that has paid off.
“It’s a microcosm image of the world, that we’re sort of recreating: one that we hope will be for our children and for the Earth itself,” explains Joël, the owner. “A trip to the 8th continent you might say! Living in this unique tiny house, for a short getaway, is like crossing over into a kind of human ideal.” Their plans for the future? An outdoor summer kitchen and to build a small lodging complex in the style of a teepee but on stilts (which they refer to as “elecones”), covered with a roof made with resistant leather. To be followed with interest!
Perfected with the arrival of each new warm season, the multimedia nocturnal experience of Foresta Lumina is now in its 7th season. The staging this year, punctuated by a video mapping type lighting, enhanced with an original soundtrack, is an innovative project born from the imagination of the Parc de la Gorge de Coaticook staff, along with the expertise of the internationally recognized Quebec company, Moment Factory. Blended into the magnificent local nature setting, it’s this same nature that dictated the creation, the choice of technology to be used and its installation. The objective? To pay tribute to nature—after the sun has set—by centre staging it. The result is amazing!
It was high time that I explored this illuminated path; to find myself in the middle of the wish garden, populated with all kinds of fairies. In these particular times, we all need a little magic in our lives! Besides some adjustments made for their entrance procedures, handing back the magical stone and the infrastructure of their three musical stages—following the new sanitary measures—each scene is still an amazing wonderment. As soon as I walked through the incredible portal passage, through the thick mist, I was especially impressed as I viewed the projection showing the character of Margaret, on the other side of the suspended bridge. They say she lived near the Coaticook forest many decades ago, like the everlasting benevolent tree. Margaret was blessed with the prodigious gift of seeing what others can’t see. In fact, when I think about it, we can still feel her mythic presences in the woods and all along the river. Even more so when we enter the grand finalé, where the entire canyon is illuminated with a shower of stars for a public composed of myriads of inukshuks. Quebec’s forest mythology paired with the great beauty of the area’s natural landscape undeniably constitutes the highlight of this magical experience we discover at Foresta Lumina.
Nature, sports and outdoor activities
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