"Summertime and the Livin' is Easy!"

“Summertime, and the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high
Oh, your daddy's rich and your ma is good-lookin'
So hush, little baby, don't you cry”*

Summer is indeed the time of year when most of us will let go of the pressures of day to day living, working, raising families or running businesses.  While our long and cold Quebec winters cater to avid skiers and hockey players, our summers cater to tourists, campers, and triathletes.

In Montreal in particular, our summers are the envy of world travellers.  Some 130 festivals of all kinds abound throughout the city and surrounding towns with themes that are so Canadian, while some uniquely and authentically Québecois.  From the Jazz Fest and the Just for Laughs Fest to the International Balloon Festival and the Fireworks Festival, and everything in between, there is something for everyone to seduce all of the senses. Visit here for a complete list of the best 2019 Montreal summer festivals. 

As short as a one-hour drive north from Downtown Montreal, you will discover the best mountain ranges for hiking, magnificent lakes and rivers for fishing and canoeing, or a campground filled with like-minded summer revellers around a campfire, or a cottage tucked away in the woods.  

Feel like experiencing a little bit of country living in the Laurentians at a lake-front cottage relaxing on a private sandy beach?  Or swimming, fishing, and boating on a majestic lake?  Or star gazing at night next to a campfire and singing tunes with your friends and family?  Or how about waking up to the chirping morning songs while the air breezes through your bedroom window breathing in clean mountain air without a hint of exhaust fumes?  Or what about receiving an outdoor massage on a screened deck overlooking a sparkling lake? 

You can experience all that and more at Chez Mina’s Cottages - Healing and Retreat Center a beautiful private lake front property deep in the woods of Vendee in the Laurentians, on Lac de la Sucrerie, a 45 minute drive from Mont-Tremblant.  Learn more.

Spend your summer holidays at Chez Mina's Cottages - Healing & Retreat Center on Lac de la Sucrerie.  Learn more.

Whether you decide to spend your summer holidays in the city shopping, eating, and festival hopping or in the country hiking in the mountains or swimming in the lake, you should end with some rest and relaxation.  Booking some well-deserved holistic treatments such as massage, foot reflexology or energetic modalities can restore your mind, body, and spirit.  The benefits of using some of your summer vacation time to restore balance and serenity to your usual hectic life-style will have long-lasting effects.  What is better than a massage?  Book now!

Enjoy a lakefront Couple's Massage this summer (a view from Chez Mina's Cottages deck). 

*Credits:  Ella Fitzgerald sang this Heyward/Gershwin tune best.  With her captivating voice as smooth as honey and her extraordinary ability to scat, Ella is second to none.  This tune was written in 1934 for the musical sensation of Porgy and Bess, and evokes images of summer living in the Southern States during that period.