Walk, stretch and smile! A week-end celebration!
15. Sep, 2008 
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You would like to exercise a bit more? You don’t want it to hurt? You’re exactly like me. And I found what I like last week-end with the Walking program “A Step Towards Compostelle”. It is a hymn to walking, and a celebration of the beauty of Quebec’s forests.
I was there with my friend Lyne. Last spring, one of her friend did a six-week pilgrimage to Compostelle, also known as The Camino francés, covering 800 km (some 480 miles) from south-western France to western Spain. Lyne needed to make a pause but had only a few days. I had suggested her this week-end dedicated to walk, promising that she would be surprised of the benefits of such a short package. For me, always looking for motivation to train a bit more seriously, it was an occasion to try to fall in love with walking again.
It officially started at dinner, on Friday night. Luc Desbiens, our guide for this special self-discovery week-end, welcomed us and introduced us to the other participants. For the first time since he offers this program (it was the 5th edition), we were only women this time. Besides Luc, there was Linda, from New-Jersey; Christine, who participated to this Compostelle week-end last May; Eugénie, also offering week-end workshops at Eastman; Dominique, who decided to prolong her stay to participate to this week-end; Lyne, who was at Spa Eastman for the first time; and I. Linda told me that when she was reading this blog, before making her reservation for her week at Spa Eastman, she was thinking to her self : “well, if this Lucie really exists, she must really love Spa Eastman”. Meeting her there was pretty funny. (And now Linda, you know that I really am a real Spa Eastman lover!)
For the first evening workshop, Luc -who walked it twice- introduced us to the spirits and values of The Camino Francés, also giving informations on how to prepare for such a voyage.
On Saturday morning, we were out there warming up at 8:30. We started walking through the paths, then around Lake d’Argent (silver lake) and stopped in a park in the village for a little snack. Then we went around the lake to start our way up to the Spa through some of its numerous and beautiful hiking trails. We arrived at 1:15 PM, 10 km (6 miles) later. We were all a bit tired but also real proud of our performance and, more than anything, still smiling.
That afternoon was dedicated to relaxation and spa treatments included in our packages: massage, jet massage in the Watsu pool and pressotherapy, the perfect treatment for our legs after our morning effort. We then had a great dinner, sharing laughs and confidences over a glass of organic wine. Then… we all slept like logs!
Suprisingly, on Sunday morning, we were all bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready for another adventure. But instead of going for a long walk again, Luc offered us to visit ”his friends, the trees from Quebec’s forest”. The engineer in forestry (that’s what he does for living) had suddenly reappeared.
So we got to share a fabulous moment of total relaxation, if not contemplation, meeting with maple tree, birch, beech, hemlock, walnut and a few others. We were surrounded by their force, their energy, their wisdom and their amazing beauty while Luc was telling us about their story, the uses of their wood and the properties of their essential oils.
We came back to the Spa around 11:30, just on time to enjoy a hammam-and-swim-in-the-pond before lunch. We all meet for a last time at lunch. Some were staying for another day or more, some were leaving. Linda was to be the only one left of us on her birthday, on Wednesday. We all would have wanted it to last a little longer.
How long? At least another 10 km!
Christine, Dominique, Eugénie, Linda, Lyne: take care. And Luc, thank you for sharing your passions with us.
Lucie
p.s.: If you’re interested in giving it a try, there is only one week-end “A step to Compostelle” left this fall. It’s on September 26 to 28, 2008. 2 to 5 days packages are available. Click here for more information.
p.p.s.: I went out and walked for 45 minutes this morning, all by my-self! And I was able to give a name to many trees I had never even noticed in my neighbourhood. Thanks Luc!
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Bonjour,
I want to thank you all for your participation to that week-end “A step to Compostelle”. Your presence and participation allowed all of us to share a great week-end. I sure had a great time with you all.
Thanks to your suggestion, Spa Eastman will be offering a first snowshoeing week-end from February 6th to 8th, 2009. The details of this week-end will be published on Spa Eastman’s website soon.
If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact me; use Lucie’s blog!
I wish you all a fantastic fall with lots of great walking pauses!
Hope to see you again.
Luc
PS Lynda, thank you for your presence, in every step, in every breath… We all enjoyed walking with you. Have a wonderful Autumn. See you soon!
Hi Luc and all my walking friends from the “Compostelle” week-end,
The pleasure was mine to share my time walking with all of you. I thought we had an incredible group of people, full of love, wonder and a true respect for nature, especially the lovely, mightly trees. Luc, you possess a wealth of knowledge; thank you for sharing it with us.
Since I have been back in New Jersey, I have told so many people about my fantastic experience at Spa Eastman. I savored every minute of it. I started walking again on a regular basis and I am preparing a lot of the same foods (the presentation is not quite as beautiful as it is at Spa Eastman but I try) as I was eating while at the Spa. The food was fabulous. The naturopathic consultation was amazing and I am sticking with the recommended program at home. I feel better than I have in several years.
It is hard to say if there was one thing I liked the most at Spa Eastman as every aspect of my stay exceeded my expectations. If had to name one thing, it would be all the wonderful people I met. The other guests, the staff, the owner of the spa, the driver who picked me up at the airport were all amazing people. I celebrated my birthday during my stay and everyone made it so special. I even received a present (that I just love) from my new friend Lucie.
I want to return to Spa-Eastman again and again. It was one of the best vacations I have ever taken. I came home so renewed and relaxed and with a new outlook on my life. Thank you so much for creating such a wonderful, nurturing and beautiful place in the midst of such a crazy world. Peace and Love, Lynda Lee
PS Hi Lucie, Thank you so much for the birthday present and for the birthday greeting. I was so immersed in the spa that I did not know what day my birthday fell on. It was Tuesday the 16th but I kept telling everyone it was Wednesday! After you and Lyne left, I met a really nice woman from Colorado named Ruth. We became buddies and even went into Eastman together one morning. (She had a car) I wanted to also thank you for taking the time to translate for me during the Compostelle week-end. You always seemed aware of my presence and really made an effort to include me. You are a very special person and it is such a pleasure to have met you and to have spent time with you. I hope to see you soon but I don’t have any immediate plans to come back to Quebec, but one never knows what is around the bend. I will come back, though! Do you ever come to New York City? I am really close to it and if you were there, we could definitely meet. Let’s stay in touch. Love, Lynda
Hi Lynda!
Is it true that you all had champagne on your Birthday? Well… I knew I should have stayed!!!
Good to hear from you. That week-end also did good on me: I’m walking at least 4 times a week, for one hour (more or less), after work. I used to have a little drink while preparing dinner, and a glass of wine (or two!) with my meal. Of course, I was always ready to go to bed around 8:30 pm. For the past two weeks, instead of watching the news on tv after work, I go out (with my husband – that’s the surprising part of the story!) and walk. Once we come back home, we’re thirsty so we drink water or vegetable juices while preparing dinner. We enjoy one glass of wine (8 oz.; measured) with our meal and it’s just fine. And then… I’m still fully awake and I can enjoy the evening reading, playing music, watching a movie… This new walking habit before dinner just gave me 2 more hours per day! That’s cool!
I went to New York once, two years ago, on our sailboat. Spent 4 days walking the city, while the boat was anchored close to 79th St. It was quite a contrast! Next time I go (by car if you don’t mind!), I’ll let you know!
Take care. Let’s keep in touch.
Lucie