Québec Road Trip Part I: Sustainable Distilleries, Gourmet Hikes & Eco-Resorts

Take a road trip in Québec between Montreal and Québec City along the historic Chemin du Roy or King’s Road. The King's Road stretches over 170 miles along the St. Lawrence River and passes historic cities, quaint villages, national parks and farms. Grab a drink with entrepreneur Florence Mailhot at Distillerie Grand Dérangement, a sustainable family-run distillery sharing local history of the Acadians and organic products in Saint-Jacques.

Forage for wild mushrooms on a gourmet hike with Marie-Renee Buczkowski at Marcheur des Bois in Saint-Côme. Learn about unique places to stay, from cozy chalets at Les Boisés de la Rivière Noire to Le Baluchon Eco Resort, where you can explore breathtaking nature and make furry friends. Le Baluchon is like a summer camp for adults and families. Patricia Brouard introduces Darley Newman to archery, hikes to waterfalls and tasty poutine.

Whether you’re a foodie, history buff, or road trip enthusiast, this thrilling road trip adventure will give you ideas for your next vacation! Dive into the first episode of this three-part series, exploring Canadian sustainability, history, and hidden gems. 

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
If you want to travel to Europe without leaving North America, head to Quebec.

(00:05):
I've had the pleasure of traveling to Quebec a few times now, and from staying in a monastery
turned hotel to tasting delicious French Canadian cuisine, each adventure has left me wanting
to discover more.
That's why this time I decided to try something new, opting for an eco-friendly getaway,
exploring sustainability and history in the wondrous region,

(00:27):
and I'm doing it on a road trip.
We're traveling from Montreal to Quebec City along a historic route, Chemin du Roy or
the King's Road,
and to truly get in-depth with the locals, we're breaking up this road trip into three
exciting podcast episodes, showing you ways to get off the beaten path.
In this episode, we're exploring a sustainable distillery sharing local history.

(00:49):
Cheers!
Foraging for mushrooms on a gourmet hike.
There are 3000 different mushrooms, so there's a lot to learn.
And finding unique places to stay from chalets to an eco-resort that's like summer camp
for adults.
It's the Travels with Darley podcast, where we bring you expert travel tips across the
USA and around the world.

(01:15):
We're driving along the King's Road, the first road built for wheeled transportation that
ran between Montreal and Quebec City back in the 18th century.
The King's Road stretches over 170 miles alongside the St. Lawrence River, and along this route
there are farms, villages, cities, and national parks.

(01:36):
We're starting our adventures in Quebec in Saint-Jacques at a family-run distillery, which
shares sustainability and a story through their organic products.
Florence Mailhot, along with her sister and dad Marcel, run the business together.
What's special about us is that we grow our own cereals at the farms and we ship it here,
and we transform them from the grains to the alcohol directly here in Lanaudiere.

(02:02):
And it's all organic?
All organic from start to finish. And that's also one of our values.
We encourage people to shop locally, but for real,
like real products from Quebec grown here and transformed here.
And you moved to the city but you came back home to work in the family business.
Yeah, exactly. I grew up here, but I went to Montreal for my studies,

(02:23):
but you know, family is stronger. Farm life called and I wanted to come back near my family
and also help out at the family business. So that's why I'm here now
and that's all I need. Farms, family and alcohol.
I like it.
So we're gonna try this whiskey.
Absolutely.
It's the very first whiskey we ever put out.
It's a bourbon style and it's made from cereals that we grow here in Saint-Jacques or

(02:49):
the near towns.
My sister is actually in charge of the farms that our father owns, and I'm in charge of making
the alcohol.
So she has dirt on her hands and I have the alcohol in my hand, and I’m very proud.
And this area is burgeoning with female entrepreneurs.
Exactly. And it’s very popular and it brings so much motivation from the young girls and

(03:13):
female entrepreneurs in town.
You and your family are also motivated to be sustainable.
We don't produce any trash.
Everything that is supposed to be thrown away, we actually reuse.
So the grains, we give them to the nearby farms.
So we try to be very, very conscious of what we produce and what we give back.

(03:34):
The family also works to share local history through information inside the distillery,
where striking black and white portraits and detailed posters line the walls, telling
the story of the region's ancestors.
Their distillery's name refers to The Great Upheaval, when people of French descent who settled
in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries, were displaced from

(03:57):
their lands.
Many left Canada for other places like Louisiana and many did end up coming back to Quebec
with large numbers settling in Florence's town.
These people were known as the Acadians.
These Acadians came back to this region that we call Lanaudiere. So Acadian culture in
Quebec, in the U.S and in what we're going to drink.

(04:19):
Exactly.
Cheers.
It's smooth.
It is strong.
It's strong, but that's how we like it.
Just beside the distillery is a restaurant known for its local pizza.
Further down the King's Road, we're heading into the woods with Marie-Renee Buczkowski and

(04:41):
her local business Marcheur des Bois.
Marie-Renee brings me to a long table lined with rows of carefully labeled glass jars, each
filled with foraged plants and mushrooms.
Renee, these are all things that we could find when we go out into the woods.
Mm-hmm. Yes.
As she picks up a blue basket and leads the way to the trail, I'm curious to see what we might

(05:03):
uncover on our expedition.
We bring people into forests and show them how they can gather and pick up different
plants and mushrooms.
The key to foraging for food, knowing what to gather.
We spot a mushroom with a white round bulb and pluck it from the ground, revealing its
long stem.

(05:23):
Is this a good one?
Yes, it is.
It's the large stem
Armillaria.
Oh, wow.
They're at their best when they're like this because the cap is closed.
So this is excellent quality.
Grade A.
Really palatable.
Well, you just know that this is edible like I,
Yes.
I coming out here looking for mushrooms,

(05:44):
don't know what they are.
Not a good idea to eat them, right?
Not really.
Not a good idea. Yeah.
Yeah,
you have to come with a guide.
There are 3000 different mushrooms, so there's a lot to learn.
Just looking
if we can see some more mushrooms.
Marie-Renee finds a bright yellow mushroom and cuts it into pieces, showing me how it

(06:05):
may be later used for a gourmet meal.
This one is interesting because it doesn't lose its color when it's cooked, and it's
good looking on a plate.
So what would you make with this?
Oh, you can put it in a salad or roast them and put it on a steak.
So we'll be eating some savory, colorful mushrooms.
I hope so.

(06:26):
So, I can see why people want to come out with an expert.
Oh, yes.
Get a good mushroom. Get a good mushroom.
Have a great dinner.
Get a bad mushroom,
you don't want that bad mushroom.
Yeah, that's exactly.
But it’s fun
to search.
Yes, it is.
We’re heading back to the kitchen, where Chef Josée Miller is cooking up mushrooms that we've just
gathered with other dried products they've found in the forest.

(06:49):
It's a French onion soup with homemade broth and Matsutake mushroom inside.
Mm. Really good.
Mmm.
You like it?
It's delicious.
I love the mushrooms in this soup.
And the cheese really adds so much to it too.
The broth is so savory.
Yeah.
As soon as we come back with the mushrooms we gathered,
we clean them, cut them, and then put them to, to dry.

(07:15):
People are, they want to be closer to nature now.
Find something new.
Learn things about nature.
All those wild edibles.
The fruits of nature.
The fruits of nature.
Yeah.
There are a lot of cool places to stay if you're in this part of Quebec
and a lot of them are eco-friendly.
This particular location has these chalets.

(07:37):
There are pod style accommodations.
You can even stay in a yurt to have your own nature escape.
I opt for a chalet and can tell you morning coffee overlooking your own private pond is pretty
neat.
My next stop is Le Baluchon Eco Resort, where they preserve land and nature and invite

(07:57):
travelers to experience and learn.
Patricia Brouard takes me on an adventure through the property, where we start by meeting
the horses.
We got some treats.
Yeah.
Sweetness.
We are hungry.
Aw. You're so pretty.
Surrounded by breathtaking nature to explore, it feels like you're stepping into a national
park or perhaps going back to summer camp with activities like birdwatching, mountain

(08:22):
biking, hiking and horseback riding.
I decide to test my archery skills.
All right,
I haven't done this since I was at summer camp when I was a kid.
One, two, three.
And I hit a lucky shot.
Ahhh. Wow.
We are very good.
Wow.
We both
did it.
The land where the resort now rests has been preserved and used as agricultural land since

(08:46):
the French made Quebec a colonial outpost in the 16 and 1700s.
So a lot of history on the land here in this part of Quebec.
Yeah.
And for us in our mission of Le Baluchon, to keep the story,
it’s very important.
Patricia takes me on a walk to a stunning scenic overlook.

(09:06):
I would like to show you one of my favorite spots on the site.
It's our waterfall.
It’s called La Chute aux trembles.
I watch as this waterfall's cascading stream powerfully rushes over the textured gray
and brown rocks.
I highly recommend visiting here in the fall, when this magnificent natural wonder is surrounded
by lush trees marked with the vibrant colors of the changing leaves.

(09:31):
We have three waterfalls on this site.
This one is our second biggest one.
Wow.
It's pretty amazing that you have three waterfalls on this property.
In the main lodge, we see sustainability in action.
So here we are in what we call our Bird Museum.
Patricia and I walk down a long hallway, passing by birdhouses, interactive displays, and

(09:56):
paintings of bluebirds.
It was a collection donated by France and Andre Dion.
Birds lover.
They reintroduced the bluebird here in La Mauricie and we are so grateful.
The resort and their partners set out birdhouses throughout the land to attract bluebirds
back to the area and it worked.

(10:18):
I eat poutine in the main dining room where organic local products are melded into
award-winning dishes.
On a horse-drawn carriage ride, Patricia explains how the property's offerings are set up in
a sort of incubator co-op for small businesses and entrepreneurs,
with many of them run by outside providers, a unique concept that's worked well for the resort.

(10:41):
We look for young entrepreneurs. So you have different entrepreneurs who are able to
come and they set up and, and they run almost like a pop-up shop here.
Yeah, I like your word. Yeah.
Each specialist contributes their passion to the property.
And for us, it's special because we have partners for outdoor activities and partner for

(11:01):
agrotourism.
Smart way to do things because then everybody has their specialty and they bring their
their special knowledge.
Their passion.
Amid beautiful nature.
Thank you for joining us for the first part of our road trip along the King’s Road, where
we discovered history, sustainability, and gorgeous nature escapes with the help of
expert locals who have welcomed us to Quebec.

(11:24):
If you like this podcast, please subscribe, and stay tuned for our next two podcast episodes,
featuring more exciting stops along the King’s Road.
Catch up our previous podcasts on Quebec, Montreal, and the Eastern Townships, and other
great road trips across the USA.
See you on the road!
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