Quebec Trip Part 3: Village Vacances

First off, I have to explain what Village Vacances is.  It's not easy to put into words this amount of awesomeness....

If you speak French, you can check out this website and have a better idea of what I'm talking about:

Viva Vacances


If you don't speak French, you should check out the website anyway because the pictures sum up our trip better than any of the pictures I have.


We spent 5 days at Viva Vacances in Petit Saguenay.  It was considered their "lighter" week because it was their down season.  I can't imagine what a non-light week would be like because there was more than enough excitement and activity for us.  And even a perfect amount of downtime for us to relax and chill as well!

So here's how it went, every morning, the kids would be divided into different aged categories.  Our kids were in separate age groups.  That was good!  They had to meet new kids and speak French and try to understand all the French that was spoken to them.  Each group had Animateurs (think camp counsellors) who were super keen and energetic and clearly loved playing with the kids.  They got to do some super cool activities, too!  Their highlights were jumping off the sand mountain, digging for clams, climbing a waterfall and sliding down a rock waterslide!

I mean, just think about those activities for a second!  They were outside, having some cool adventures, with new friends, in French!  They would never get to do anything like that back home.  I have no pictures of them, though...because they weren't with us...every morning...we had time without our kids....sigh.  See how much we love Viva Vacances?????  :)

Gibli,  Small's Animateur

Small's other Animateur.  I can't remember her name:(

Quatre-Dix.  He was everywhere!

Canille, Big's Animateur

See how fun they look???  I only wish I had half of their energy.  They were awesome!!!

Every morning, the parents had activities to do as well with our own Animateur.

We did things like take a mud bath...

Well, they all did anyway...someone needed to stay clean to take pictures, right?!?!

And we climbed the waterfall that Big did with his group...

That was insanely fun!  And Big did it in his barefeet even!  Props to him!

We also did adult things like wine and cheeses, casino nights, 3 course dinners, etc....all while the Animateurs entertained our children.

In the afternoons, they had family activities.  Things like volleyball tournaments, hikes, pool parties, etc.  The Animateurs were out entertaining our kids and we either played along or chilled out near the pool.  I may or may not have taken a couple naps in the afternoon or read my book outside our chalet....

In the evenings, they had family activities like bonfires or night hikes or more activities where they would take the kids for a movie or games while the parents hung out with their new friends.

All that...and breakfast and dinner was included!  It was amazing!  We would go back in a heartbeat if it wasn't so far away!

Our cabin was right on the beach, too.

 Look how close to the beach we are!!!  We were right on the beach!!

And just check out these views we had as the tide came in and out.  Every picture is a different day, different time, different view!  All from our cabin!!

That's what we woke up to every morning.  I tried taking pics of the stars at night but it just didn't work.  I've never seen that many stars, though.  It was incredible!

By all accounts, we had the best cabin in the resort.  However...there was a price!  We had to walk uphill to le coeur de village 3-5 times per day.  All the food and activities were up at the top of the hill.  We had 150 stairs (yes, we counted them) and then some to climb every time we went up to the village.

But, I didn't mind.  It helped me work off that lifetime supply of french fries I packed on.  And the kids didn't complain either...which, honestly, was amazing :)

One night, we decided to have a bonfire at our cabin.  We invited our new friends to come but they were silly and decided to take the nighttime family hike adventure.  By their account, it was a 3 hour trip from hell!  They told stories of climbing rocks and slippery slopes with steep cliffs at the side of the trail...in the dark...with lots of crying children.  There was also a swarm of bees that sent a family to the hospital.  And sadly, the view at the end wasn't anything worth all the effort.

That's what they did that night.  This is what we did...

We obviously made the right choice :)

We also took a day trip into the town of Petit Saguennay.  There wasn't a whole lot there other than a gas station, a cache-croux, and some really cute houses.  But, we did head out to the viewpoint of the Fjord du Saguennay and it was stunning!  Windy...but stunning!!!

We also came across some interesting animals while we were there.

A  neon green bug?!?!

A Marmott

Just a bee...but a cool picture :)

I also decided to take an afternoon whale watching trip.  The kids and Mike weren't very interested in going but there wasn't a chance I was going to miss out on seeing different kinds of whales.  I saw Minke Whales, Beluga Whales (with babies!) and a few Seals.  We were on a zodiac in crashing waves and at times it was pretty intense.  But, all in all it was a spectacular adventure!!!  I didn't get very many pics because I was too busy hanging on to the zodiac for dear life, but this gives you a general idea of how it went...

And finally, these are some of the friends we made while we were there.  I won't post the kid's friends because I won't post other people's kids but we all had a great time with our new friends.  And we were grateful for their patience with our not so great French :)

Viva Vacances!  Such an amazing time!!!

Next stop, back to Quebec City....