This text is part of the special Pleasures notebook
From one end of the province, the country and the world to the other, the team of Plaisirs notebook collaborators had the chance to visit a large number of destinations in 2023 in order to take you on a journey through our pages. Seven great travelers among them show you their favorites of the year.
Bath under the chandeliers of the English Regency
There are plenty of good reasons to jump on the first train that arrives at Paddington Station in London to head to Bath and leave the bustling British capital behind, taking the time to take a trip down memory lane in your heart of the rolling Somerset countryside. For my part, I found myself following the members of the noble Featherington family, as part of a visit to the film set of the third season of The Bridgertons Chronicle. Since the Shonda Rhimes-produced series launched in late 2020, Bath and its neatly aligned Georgian mansions have often appeared on screen. By laying the foundation stones of architectural gems such as the Circus and the Royal Crescent, architects John Wood, father and son, transformed the spa founded by the Romans into a vacation spot for high officials of the Crown in the time of the English Regency… and a setting of choice for the serial adaptation of Julia Quinn’s novels. Beyond the worldly gossip and romances in period costumes, we can’t help but be seduced by the aristocratic elegance of the pretty city, listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. Beneath its cobbled streets and grand chandeliers, Bath hides many assets. Starting with the natural hot springs that made its reputation long before the arrival in town of Lady Danbury, Simon Basset and other dukes and duchesses of Netflix.
Malik Cocherel
Happiness for some, autonomy for the hosts
An indigenous people who succeeded in wresting from a government an autonomous status for a territory that turned out to be one of the most enchanting in the country, that spoke to me strangely, last March, when, confined to Panama City, I was looking for a destination not too far away to stay for four days. Numbering 85,000, the Gunas constitute the second largest indigenous people of Panama. They live in several provinces and three comarcas (reserves), including Guna Yala, or the San Blas Islands if we want to use the name that the Spanish colonizer gave to the archipelago. Sovereign territory since the famous revolt of 1925, it has some 365 islands, some inhabited by indigenous people, others exploited by them for tourist purposes. Isla Pelicano notably welcomed Tokyo and Rio, key characters in the series The Paper House, season 3.) The plan? Being picked up from my hotel at dawn by a complete stranger; pay him the balance of my package, a few hundred American dollars, along the way; take three hours to cross… 115 kilometers to the port of embarkation (the “autonomous” road being supremely bad), and why all that? To stay in a tiny cabin without water or electricity, but built on the edge of a Caribbean sea of a blue-green still unknown to Pantone. To listen to my guna host, Tony Irsagi, call the dolphin; watching her cousin embroider molas traditional (breastplates); explore the seabed while apnea; go and scour on the neighboring island; daydreaming in a hammock; eat fish caught there, there; LIVE !
@yalayalatours
Carolyne Parent
Return to Inuit land
The Great North has always grabbed my heart. The first time I had the chance to fly over the Nunavik tundra, I kept my face glued to the window of the twin-engine aircraft, which had taken off a little earlier from Kuujjuaq, throughout the flight. I was going to Kangiqsujuaq, on the shores of Hudson Bay, one of the most beautiful communities in Nunavik, at the gateway to Pingualuit National Park. That year, the Twin Otter that I was supposed to take to fly over the eye of Quebec — and which I ultimately did not take — never landed and was lost in the icy mists above the “crater of New Quebec. After that, I kept a powerful, almost spiritual connection with this northern territory. After several expeditions to Inuit land, I returned there this year by going to the Inuit camp of Nunawild, on the shores of Wolf Lake, after a Twin Otter flight of a little over an hour from Kuujjuaq. In the company of several representatives of ecotourism organizations involved in the Nordic Incubator-Accelerator, I once again set foot on the Arctic flora of the tundra – caribou moss, corbo berries, cloudberry -, in the wake of Allen Gordon, tourism entrepreneur and local development figure. Its camp attracts lovers of the Far North, who come to work or retire there in total connection with nature. There is always a story of caribou or muskox that Allen and his colleagues tell by the fire, a small incandescent dot lost in the immensity of this captivating territory.
Nathalie Shneider
From France to Lizard Island, via Bas-Saint-Laurent
Choose just one favorite? Impossible. If my most recent is undoubtedly the Maison Gainsbourg, in Paris, where we enter the artist’s untouched home accompanied by the voice of his daughter, Charlotte — I have not yet completely recovered from it — , I also fell under the spell of Lizard Island, on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia; the akara nipaluna / Walking Hobart tour from Blak Led Tours in Tasmania, developed by a young Palawa and Warlpiri Aboriginal woman; from Hydra, the island where Leonard Cohen lived part of his life; and the Exarcheia district, in Athens, for his free and committed spirit. I, who hated cruises not so long ago, have also found a formula that better corresponds to my values and my interests: Expedition du Ponant cruises, for respect for the environment, erudition of the naturalist guides, the quality of the service, the comfort and the choice of stops, often unknown. In Quebec, the Musique du bout du monde festival, in Gaspésie, and the Vieux Loup de mer, in Bas-Saint-Laurent, where we have been recovering heritage houses for 20 years to rebuild them on site, reminded me how rich, diverse and innovative Quebec is. I add France, all of France, which I will never tire of exploring, just like British Columbia.
Marie-Julie Gagnon
Bordeaux getaway along the water
Among the most beautiful corners of France, Bordeaux and its legendary vineyard will remain forever engraved in my memory. For the history of the place, classified as a UNESCO world heritage site, its iconic wines, the revitalization of its old neighborhoods as well as the addition of avant-garde museums, such as the Cité du vin (the most impressive of its kind ), the capital of New Aquitaine deserves its title of “European Best Destination” awarded by the New York Timess and the Lonely Planet. The experience is, however, enriched when you choose to explore its splendors on a river cruise, aboard the elegant MS boat. Cyrano de Bergerac of the CroisiEurope fleet. A journey that begins on board, since we already have a taste of French hospitality, which is part of the DNA of the naval company with its local gastronomy and cultural traditions. This river adventure allows us to go back in time, as we gently navigate the Gironde estuary to discover one of the oldest and most prestigious vineyards in France. Throughout this cruise, we are bombarded with explanations given by experienced guides who tell the story. Expect iconic visits and stops at the biggest wine houses, in Saint-Émilion and Médoc, to taste the wines and marvel at the heritage. Little advice: take advantage of your visit to Bordeaux to take a short trip to the town of Cognac, located just an hour and a half by car or coach from the capital of Aquitaine. You will deepen your knowledge of wine brandy, while discovering the secrets of the oldest Cognac houses as well as the link that unites the two cities and their development throughout history.
Marie-Claude Di Lillo
From the Faroe Islands to the “pearl of the Alps”
With their grandiose fjords, their dantesque basalt walls, their glabrous summits and their dizzying falls, the Faroe Islands seem born from the improbable loves between Iceland, Norway and the Hebrides Islands. A quintessential archipelago of 18 islands and islets, this autonomous territory of Denmark has more sheep than inhabitants and gives rise to sublime hikes accessible on always panoramic paths, between a Viking hamlet with lawn roofs, a village with doll’s houses and the lovely microcapital, Torshavn. Everything is relentlessly magnified by an insane boreal light, which gives the impression of having joined a sort of scenic valhalla… but feeling more alive than ever, on Earth.
Another favorite for a place little known to foreigners, but well known to Swiss skiers. Saas-Fee lives a little in the shadow of Zermatt, the ski megastar which sits in the neighboring valley. However, “the pearl of the Alps” really deserves several turns in its direction: its admirable high-altitude ski area (3500 m) enjoys exceptional natural snow cover, sunshine for 80% of the year and a surrounded by 18 peaks of 4000 m. It is also nestled in the heart of glaciers and seracs that we encounter on each descent, after having taken the highest Alpine metro in the world. Before a night at the splendid Walliserhof hotel, strolling through the pedestrian village with its old-world charm is a constant delight, between picturesque facades, lively taverns and old wooden mazots, these former grain warehouses raised on stilts — like s They wanted to live up to Saas-Fee, a ski village that really is.
Gary Lawrence
See Miami again, differently
My favorite destination for 2023 could have been Western Canada, Dubai, Tokyo or Okinawa, because this last year was one of time differences and long flights. That said, the destination that occupies the most beautiful place in my travel diary over the last twelve months is Miami. A destination that I have visited several times, but which amazed me more than all the others this time. This whirlwind trip just before school started was the first trip as a family, parents and children, five travelers and three small first flights, an alligator hunt and freshly squeezed juices, a kite and the Everglades. Traveling with children makes you see things differently, adds color and magic, even to a destination that you feel like you know by heart.
Charles-Édouard Carrier
Your pictures
And you, what was your favorite destination or travel experience in 2023? Send us a photo and tell us his story at [email protected]
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