469. Quebec 2016 | Aux Chantignoles at Chateau Montebello

Here was my breakfast at Le Chateau Montebello! I've mentioned this in the past that I LOVE hotel breakfasts (buffet style or even delivered to the room). Not because the food tastes good (I mean it does..) but I love the experience of it. I'm not quite sure how to explain it but you probably know what I mean. The breakfast we had here was delicious. There was a wide selection of food including the usual continental style items like bread, sausages, eggs, potatoes, beans etc as well as crepes, an omelette station, delicious oatmeal..and more.

The hotel's main restaurant is Aux Chantignoles where we had breakfast and dinner. It's pretty big in there, with several dining areas and very beautifully decorated throughout.

I'll start with breakfast:




I loved their oatmeal!

Here's a view of the restaurant. This is the part where you walk in but on the sides there were individual rooms as well. So we came for dinner that night shortly after checking in (which I posted about yesterday). We hadn't really planned to eat there at first but since there were no other options for food that night, we decided to have our dinner there. The restaurant/food really exceeded my expectations. I didn't think much of it at first (since I usually prefer going to actual non-hotel restaurants when travelling) but this one was really good.

There were a lot of unique things on the menu. It was one of those restaurants where you knew that whatever you ordered, it would most likely be good and nicely presented. So I had a really hard time choosing what I wanted since I wanted to try almost everything on there! By the way, here is the menu. A lot of different meats and French-Canadian dishes.


An amuse bouche to start.

I went for the Monk Fish and Shrimp Medallion appetizer (with parsley sponge, lobster sauce, ocean paper, and shellfish oil). This was delicious. I just didn't like the parsley sponge that much..it didn't have a strong taste to it but if you don't eat it first it gets all soggy by the end and tastes like wet bread lol. It makes it look cool though. I really liked the shrimp medallions.

My bf got the Wild Game Parmentier (with four spice sauce and fingerling potato chips). I had a taste of it and it was really good as well. It's a mixture of a lot of different meats, finely chopped up.


Then we had this sorbet. I think the term is Intermezzo..?

For the main course I had the Pappardelle Paste with Milk-Fed Veal (with sage and lemon cream sauce, spinach, asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes). I don't think I ever ordered veal before. This was really good. I loved the sauce and the veal was tender and juicy. It was so filling though.

The Deer Wellington (with Saskatoonberry sauce, Jerusalem artichoke puree, and honey mushroom). I tried a bite of the deer as well. It was my first time eating deer. It tasted kind of like beef. I usually don't like gamey meat but this was really good.

The dessert was buffet-style so we had a bit of everything. I wish they did actual dessert though. The options they had were just cakes, jello, pudding, fruits, etc.

It was overall a really nice and memorable meal/evening. I definitely recommend having dinner at the restaurant, even if you're not staying at the hotel!


Other Posts from this Trip:

Au Chalet en Bois Rond - Cabin Review
Dog Sledding
Snowmobiling & Trails
Le Chateau Montebello - Hotel Review
Quebec City


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468. Quebec 2016 | Fairmont Chateau Montebello

After several nights at Au Chalet en Bois Rond, it was unfortunately time to leave and head back to Toronto. On the drive back we stayed for a night at Fairmont Chateau Montebello. I attended one of their press events a few years ago here in Toronto. Ever since then, I've always wanted to visit...& I'm glad I finally did!

So on our trip we went from our little log cabin to Le Chateau Montebello - considered to be the world's largest log cabin. I love the rustic style and cozy atmosphere in there. Definitely a great place for a winter vacation. When you enter the lobby, you are greeted with a huge stone fireplace in the middle. Lots of people lounge around the sofas relaxing.

Front desk is a small area off to the side. It was quite busy when we arrived, but the check in was a quick and seamless process. The staff were really friendly and helpful. After checking us in, they booked a dinner reservation for us at their restaurant.

The hotel area is surrounded by a lot of nature so they have numerous on-site activities. Unfortunately we didn't have time to try any of them. I wish we had stayed an extra night here. They have dogsledding, cross country skiing, ice fishing, snowmobiling, ice skating, etc. There's also a ton of summer activities as well so it's a great place to stay year-round.

It's located about an hour away from Montreal and two hours away from Mont Tremblant (where we went for a day - more about this in an upcoming post!). If you're ever around the area, I would recommend a stay!


Here is our little welcome gift..delicious chocolate dipped strawberries!

We got one of their Jacuzzi Rooms. They have 6 of these suites in total. There's a living room area along with the bedroom, and a jacuzzi beside the bed. The doors in there were pretty cool. They were like castle style wooden doors.

We were a bit surprised though that all of them were located in the lower level which meant that the windows were small and too high up to look out of, and the view would just be the ground outside. I like having the jacuzzi room but I would've preferred a nicer view for booking a premium suite.

Overall I really loved the suite though. The nature-inspired furnishings made it really cozy and welcoming. The jacuzzi was a fun experience and they had really nice bathrobes (always a huge plus for me!).


Living room.





After dropping off our luggage, we went for a quick walk around the grounds. They have a separate building for the spa/pool/gym (which is conveniently connected to the main building through an underground tunnel though).





Then we went for dinner at their restaurant, Aux Chantignoles. I really enjoyed that meal. I'll devote an entire post to it next time!

Other Posts from this Trip:

Au Chalet en Bois Rond - Cabin Review
Dog Sledding
Snowmobiling & Trails
Aux Chantignoles - Restaurant Review
Quebec City


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467. Interior Design Show - Toronto - 2016

This past weekend was the Interior Design Show here in Toronto. I received tickets to attend, courtesy of National Bank and Faulhaber PR (thank you!). National Bank was the presenting sponsor of the show. They had a "Design Lab" set up where members of the Interior Designers of Canada were teaching about design trends and offering home design consultations. There was an "Inspiration Table" with images of home design concepts, where people were able to put together a mood board of their favourites and share on social media to get entered to win an in-home design consultation by a member of the IDC. They also had a contest where you could enter to win $10,000 to go towards your home renovation project.

It was my first time attending this show. I love art and design so I really enjoyed it. I really liked all the kitchen and bathroom displays..but it was so hard taking photos since the show was so busy! I couldn't take any good shots without tons of people getting in the way.

The show also came at a good time because I'm currently thinking about moving to a new place! Well I'm in the very early stages still but it should happen within the next year or two. So I got some brochures and contact information for the companies I really liked. I can't wait until I can start actually decorating!




















I really love these! So cool.

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466. Quebec 2016 | Snowmobiling & Trails

Here is our beautiful cabin. Photo taken from the backyard. I really miss the snow. When I walked back there through the thick layer of snow, it reminded me of when I was really young. I would go out in our backyard to play in the snow and make snow angels, build snowmen and forts. We haven't had that much snow here in Toronto for years! I usually don't like winter and the cold, but I'm really hoping we get some snow here this year before winter ends.

Here I am with my moon boots. You can see how much snow there is..which isn't THAT much in this photo but some areas were a bit deeper. Almost up to the top of my boots.


This is the view from our backyard. Underneath the snow would be a lake. There's also a small waterfall on the right which I tried to get in this shot but guess you can't really see it. It was all quiet there and all you could here was the waterfall.


Cabin across the lake from us.


Then we took a walk around the village.


Walking through the forest trails. We wanted to go to the Sugar Shack but unfortunately it is currently under renovations and won't be open again until the end of March. I really enjoyed this. It was so beautiful in there, surrounded by snow-covered trees. We also saw what looked like moose tracks.


Lunch - chicken pot pie and apple cider in front of the wood burning stove.



On one of the days, we rented a snowmobile for a couple hours. You can rent it for 2 hours, 4 hours or the full day. We just did 2 hours. It was my first time on one - so much fun! I couldn't really take photos during the ride but the scenery was so beautiful. We went on a trail specifically for snowmobiles (never knew those existed before) through forests and lots of looooong straight roads like this:



Other Posts from this Trip:

Au Chalet en Bois Rond - Cabin Review
Dog Sledding
Fairmont Chateau Montebello
Aux Chantignoles - Restaurant Review
Quebec City

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