Our Wedding Anniversary at Auberge Chez Ignace

May 13-15, 2022

We planned to celebrate our 55th Wedding Anniversary at an auberge in Nominingue Quebec. It is right on the P’tit Train du Nord cycling trail, and on beautiful Lake Nominingue . We brought our bikes and planned to cycle, paddle one of their canoes and also find some trails for birdwatching. The Auberge Chez Ignace fulfilled all of our objectives as well as serving fantastic meals.

We benefited from a great weather forecast with sunny skies and temperatures in the low 30s. We began our adventure by driving close to Nominingue and unloading our bikes. We cycled right past our auberge and carried on to the bridge across the narrows. The heat quickly sapped our energy and we cut short the biking and went for a cold drink in town.



Then we decided to take Hwy 321 up to Lac Saguay parallel to the bike path for future cycling plans.



Then we returned to Auberge Chez Ignace, checked in with our hosts, Cécile and Tony, and toasted our anniversary with champagne and orange juice.



We selected our meals from the menu, then walked down to the lake to look for birds. Our dinners were fabulous as the photos attest.



After dinner, we returned to the lakeshore to watch the sunset.

The next day, we had a fabulous breakfast on the verandah, cooked by Cécile and served by Tony.



We told Tony that we would like to go canoeing this morning before the breezes strengthened.

Tony got the canoe ready for us, but we could see that it was in very poor condition. We mistakenly thought that we could manage, but did not notice the 30-degree angle on the rear seat and the bent aluminum reinforcing frame. It had been a poor-quality canoe when new, but this one had been through the wars.



Bill got in the water, then hoisted himself in while Tony held it firmly at the front. He sat on the seat and promptly slid off backwards – yikes! He got back on, and Barbara embarked. We took off.



In order to stay on the seat, He had to brace himself with his hips, which soon began to scream their displeasure.

We paddled as far as the bridge and landed at a rocky beach. Barbara got out, but Bill could not. His hips were in such pain that he could not raise himself to step out. However, after several tries, he finally managed it somehow.

We climbed up the steep steps to the bike path, and did some birding on both sides of the bridge.



Then it was back down to the canoe. Bill got the idea to change seats with Barbara and paddle the canoe with her sitting in the stern but facing the back. This way, the sloping seat was forward, and thus less of a problem.

It was definitely better, but Bill still was having great discomfort. He knew that he would never be able to get out without a beach, so we landed two properties down from the Auberge. The same agony of exiting the canoe was repeated. We left the canoe there and hiked up to the road (nobody was home, thank goodness) and hailed Tony to admit our defeat. He laughed and said it was no problem. He would retrieve the canoe later.

We decided that it was too hot to do another long bike ride, so we decided to investigate the nearby Parc le Renouveau Rosaire-Sénégal for birding.



There are a number of trails; we chose the Piste d’Hébertisme, a nature fitness and obstacle course in the woods. There were many stations; we show only a couple to give the idea. We did not try any of the obstacles but Samuel and David would love them.




The bird song was everywhere, and we soon found some warblers.



Bill thought he could hear a Scarlet Tanager, but it turned out to be a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, which has a similar song. We saw a chickadee excavating a nest in a rotted stump, something we have seen before.

We returned to town for a cold drink, then toured some surrounding streets to get a feel for the whole area. We ended up back at the boat launch were there were many Yellow Warblers.



After that, we took some side roads around the Grand lac Nominingue. We stopped at a quiet spot to bird, but Bill decided to take a nap in the car. However, Barbara encountered a Ruffed Grouse that became attached to her and followed her around!



We followed the lake around to the outlet, Rivière Nominingue which flowed into Rivière Rouge. After our enjoyable tour, we returned to our Auberge and went down to the lake again.



Then it was back to the porch for another amazing dinner.

On Sunday, we had delicious crepes for breakfast in the dining room. The overnight rain had left the verandah rather damp, so we ate inside.



We said our goodbyes to Cécile and Tony, thanking them for a great time. We loaded our bikes onto the rack and took off for Mont Laurier.



We stopped at a couple of picnic places near Mont Laurier on Route 117 for birding. At the first, we got a Northern Flicker and a Chestnut-sided Warbler and at the second, a White-throated Sparrow.



We continued through Mont Laurier, then took the Route 107 to Aumond where we stopped at the old mill site. We got a brief look at an American Redstart.



Then in Maniwaki, we shopped for flowers and beer for the cottage, then checked out our birding site near Martels BMR. The road had been improved, and it looks like there will be future development in there. We did see a few good birds – Brown Thrasher, American Redstart, House Wren, Veery and Tree Swallow.



Then it was off to the cottage to drop off our beer and flowers, and to retrieve Bill’s glasses, which he had left on the bed. A light rain started, which helped to keep the dust down. But on the way home, the rain turned into a downpour, making for a rather slow trip.

Finally, we made it home. We both agreed that overall it had been a great way to spend our anniversary.