Nestled in the Laurentian mountains of Quebec lies the city resort of Mont Tremblant, famous for its all year round outdoor activities; skiing in winter and golf, hiking, boating in summer. It is situated about 90 kms north of Montreal and a good 7 hour drive from Toronto. What is special about Mont Tremblant aside from its beauty is you feel that you have gone to a different country with its strictly French signs and rural folks who could barely utter a word of English. Unless you’re singing diva Celine Dion or race car driver Jacque Villenueve, Quebecers don’t give a hoot about Hollywood celebrities. It is for this reason that celebrity couple Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones found their sanctuary in a hidden lakefront property at Lake Tremblant. Designer Tommy H also has a large and opulent villa by the lake. Hollywood celebrities are afforded some degree of anonimity giving them much the needed freedom to enjoy the outdoors. ( click on any picture to enlarge).
Mont Tremblant boasts of a village – a complex of inns, hotels, pubs, restaurants and shops at the foot of the mountain, sort of a tourist hub for easy access to the lifts that takes them to the hiking and skiing areas in big mountain. The village also operates a cable car system that serves to ferry people from the base to the top of the village free of charge.
A shot taken from the veranda of one of the inns. Notice the cable cars passing over the complex. The ride is fairly short; not more than 3 minutes. Works for those with wobbly legs.
View from the clouds, right on top of the big mountain. The body of water below is Lake Tremblant.
Approaching the village on the way down from the top of the mountain.
The village preparing for an afternoon concert. It’s the first week of September and the sun is still shining.
Kids having fun with the Euro bungy trampolin.
Deserted street corner. Taken past 7pm before sundown. Please click to enlarge to appreciate it better.
And.. the village movie house. Not sure how many this place can sit.. but yes, it is a movie house!
Great golf courses..
I took these shots with a Minolta Maxxum SLR STsi camera, ASA 400 Fuji film and developed them at Walmart directly into a CD and loaded them straight into the blog to minimize loss of quality. Nope these are not digital camera shots. Blogger Senor Enrique and I were exchanging ideas about this alternative, if it makes sense. I can only say that the reproduction into the CD is the most critical part. My shots on our trip to New Hampshire was spoiled by a lousy CD quality. This time Walmart did a better job. I’m a digital camera fan but when I saw this MAXXUM on sale for C$90.00 last Xmas, I thought it was a steal! Digital cameras are great but if you have a dandy SLR camera, don’t throw it away.
Filed under: Vacation |
The Warped Zone 
i want to go there! š
Going back in late spring / early summer next year .. you can tag along! š
I love the scenery! I heard it’s a great skiing place too.
Love the views. And the buildings look like the ones from Disney movies. Do you ski?
Count me in! This looks like a great place for a nice vacation.
This town looks like it stepped right out of a giant book of fairy tales!
Sarah – it was a few weeks to fall when we went and the colors have started to show but the sun was still up the whole day. Yes, it’s a great place to ski.
Niceheart – you should come and visit. They’re building the same village concept in Blue Mountain resort in Collingwood, Ontario and they’re already got one in Whistler, B.C. Nope, I don’t ski that well. I tried but I need to get the lessons first. Snowboarding seems very interesting too.
Sidney – other than the village, the area itself is very pretty. There are many other lakefront resorts around the area. Great place to take photos too.
Toe – the village was constructed primarily for the skiing patrons. This is where they could stay and ski without driving to the lifts but it’s a great place in summer too. Unfortunately, there are no Mcdonalds and Burger Kings at the village. The good thing is the village inns and hotels are mostly equipped with kitchens. The township is about 10 kms away. It’s very French though. Very hard to find English magazines and books.
such beautiful pics! and that place is really a beauty! toe’s right, it’s like you’re in a fairy tale land..
Looks like paradise to me. You’re lucky to have visited the place. And you’re going back? We’re all green with envy.
Bing – I’ve got lots more pics to show but space is rather limited. I got more pics taken at the top of the big mountain which takes 20 mins to reach by cable car and up to 2 hours if you decide to hike. It’s a nice place to relax, shut the cell phone and not think about work!
Abaniko – lost like paradise lost ba , he he š We’re going back there next year but we’ll not stay at the village but at a nearby resort close to the golf courses and the lake. I’ll meet up with my sis family who will be driving up to Tremblant. If you can make it to NYC next time around you can drive to this place in 8 hrs. Not terribly far.
Great shots of the place, BW. I thought they were taken using a digicam, turns out it was film pala.
What a lovely place. You have a steady hand…lovely photos.
I love this place. š
Sngl – I paid something like 16 cents per shot for copying to CD plus of course the cost of the film which isn’t really that expensive. Bottom line, digital camera is still unbeatable because you spend zero.The only thing with the film is you take shots when needed and you try your best with every shot because there aint that many!
Ipanema – they were quite creative in their choice colors for the buildings and the rooftops which makes the whole place look colorful. The inns and hotels in the hills actually have underground parking so there are literally thousands of cars hidden beneath the buildings. The parking lot in the front of the village are just for visitors. You’re a world traveller yourself. You should visit the place with your family sometime.
What marvelous sceneries!!! I could almost utter in my mind if there’s actually places that look so exquisite like that because they look like those we could imagine only in fairy tale stories. It so refined and polished, It must have cost so huge to buld this kind of complex.
Hopefully, BW. Children are growing up, we need every cent. š
Major Tom – the village sort of evolved and expanded over the years, with the resort operator building the inns and hotels for hotel and inn chains that want to do business in the area. It is being kept well and they regulate the kind of shops, pubs and restaurants that operate in the village to a certain standard. The inns and hotels are actually like condos with living quarters equipped with full kitchens. It’s a nice place to chill out and relax – clean, fresh air and all, night or day.
Great pictures! And what a village! Looks like one of those Christmas village models replete with train sets.
I ought to visit this place one of these days!
It’s driveable from NYC Senor. In fact, it’s “almost” equidistant from Toronto. I-87 N takes you to Montreal and from there it’s about an hour.
Lovely place, lovely pics! My husband and I should visit Quebec someday.
You were able to buy an SLR camera for just $90??? It’s a bargain, indeed! I bought my Canon SLR camera in Singapore (1999) for USD350, and it was considered a good buy way back then. I’m still an analog camera person, btw.
Digital cameras are great, but it still takes around 25 megapixels to replicate an analog photo. So, even a low-end, point-and-shoot camera can take much better pictures than the high-end digital SLRs. I heard seasoned photojournalists and travel photographers still use analog film for their professional shots.
P.S. I like the new look of your blog.
BTW, if you don’t have a Flickr account yet, better get one soon so you can upload your nice photos there. š
Hi Jayred.. Yes I bought the camera on a Xmas day sale event and it was fitted with a telephoto lens too. I also bought the orig Minolta leather case that goes with it for a measly 5 bucks. I went back the following day to buy another one for mo bro back in Pinas but it was sold out !
It will be nice if you and your hubby can visit Quebec. It’s very European.
Yep, I guess I will have to create a Flickr account. I haven’t blogged for a week now, perhaps even more as I am out of town. I’m in Calgary, oil capital and boom town doing a project.
have a nice weekend š