See the country | High perched in Kamouraska

(Saint-Germain-de-Kamouraska) Accommodation in the mountains in the form of small suspended houses, embedded in the rock walls and offering magnificent views of the sun setting over the St. Lawrence River. This is the unique experience offered by Les Perchoirs du Cirque, in Kamouraska.

Iris Gagnon Paradise
The Press

A real bath in nature. A bubble sheltered from the tumult, to be shared in complete privacy with a loved one. A cocoon where you can transport yourself elsewhere for the space of a night.

There is no shortage of metaphors to express the magical experience that my son and I had during a night spent in a perch in the heart of a large mountainous forest, in Saint-Germain-de-Kamouraska.

The original idea is that of Elyme Gilbert, who founded the Cirque de la Pointe-Sèche in 2019, whose outdoor site is adjacent to that of the Perchoirs du Cirque, on a large plot of land of 320 acres which he acquired about ten years ago.

As the pandemic forced him to cancel his seasons in 2020 and 2021, he was able to devote time to carrying out this other project. “We’ve been dreaming about this for a while now, accommodation in the mountains. It comes mainly from a desire to share land ownership. With the pandemic, as there were people everywhere, it became even worse: we started to see signs appearing Private land, we could no longer go camping anywhere, ”he laments.

So he set to work, surveying his large mountainous terrain characterized by the presence of rocky ridges called cabourons. He thus found five places in height, for as many small houses, which would be suspended and hung on the rock walls, a nod to the acrobatics and contortions of the circus artists.

He then commissioned the landscape artist and cabinetmaker Alexandre Maheux, of Inter Ligna, to create the houses, who took inspiration from the places to create the perches. “Everyone is unique. These are crazy little buildings! “, he adds, specifying that all the houses were built from wood from the land.

Once ready, each maisonette was delivered… by helicopter! “We did this with about thirty people, in one day. It was a whole dose of adrenaline! »

Luxury minimalist living

Named Ikar, Râ, Krak, Yuka or Ipon, the five houses stand like charming apparitions along paths crisscrossing the forest and the mountains. There’s Krak, whose rock face literally serves as a wall, with its 30-foot-high illuminated crack; Yuka, for height enthusiasts, is suspended from the rock face; Ipon, the highest perched, offers a splendid view.

Ikar, the one where we stayed, is the most accessible. It is placed on a steel pole, floating 3 m in the air. We admired a superb sunset there, through the foliage of the trees, before going at nightfall to watch the Cirque de la Pointe-Sèche show, Charcoal (presented until September 4).

Each maisonette is equipped for a minimalist luxury overnight stay. The doors open with a fun pulley system. Solar energy provides lighting; there is a small fan to keep you cool, and a heater for cooler nights. Each site is equipped with an outhouse.

The beds, super comfortable, are lined with blankets and cushions. A small table welcomes visitors with several delicacies: bottle of wine imported by La QV, beer from the local brewery La Tête d’match, sausage and, for the next morning, French press coffee maker (bodum), fruit, rosehip juice room and muffins.

Want to take advantage of it? The night costs $235, for two people. During our visit, there were a few places left, during the week, by the end of the season, in mid-October, and reservations are already open for 2023.