Steppin' Through Quebec: A Week of Line Dancing, Friendship, and Scenic Beauty

Thanks to Linda Hochberg for providing the information for this story

We made our sixth trip to Canada to visit our Canadian line dance friends from CVE. We arrived in Sherbrooke, Quebec, on Friday, August 23rd. Sherbrooke, the largest city in Quebec's Eastern Townships, is a region surrounded by mountains, rivers, and lakes, located about 100 miles from Montreal.

Early the next morning, we took a 20-minute drive to Magog. Rejeanne and Raymond Labrecque, leaders of the Country Line Dance group at CVE, had arranged a full day of line dancing at Domaine Parc-Estrie, a campground in Magog. The event included five full-time residents of CVE and about 20 Canadians who winter at CVE. We danced from 9:30 a.m. until noon, followed by a picnic lunch. We resumed dancing from 1:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m., then enjoyed dinner at a restaurant in Magog. The day concluded with more dancing from 7:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. It was an exhausting but wonderful day.

On Sunday, we drove three hours to our motel in Pointe Claire, near Montreal International Airport.

On Monday, we were guests of Rita Tanenbaum, visiting her lovely home in Hampstead and enjoying a delicious lunch in her beautiful garden. Joining us were Daniel and Larraine Rosenthal. That evening, we visited Renato and Maria Priola in Dorval, where Maria prepared a delicious Italian dinner. We always cherish our time together.

Tuesday took us to St. Sauveur, a picturesque ski resort, where we met with Diane Figler and Richard Demers. Richard gave us a wonderful walking tour of Sainte Sauveur, followed by lunch at an outdoor café. He then drove us to Sainte Agathe, another stunning resort town, where we enjoyed a walk along Lake Agathe.

On Wednesday, we reunited with Diane Figler, Richard Demers, Linda DiFabio, Joe Alberti, Pauline LeBlanc, and Pierre for a delightful lunch in Boisbriand, a suburb of Montreal.

Thursday was packed with line dancing. In the morning, we attended a class in Park Pierre Trudeau in Cote St-Luc with over ten of our CVE Canadian Club line dance friends, dancing for 90 minutes. After returning to our hotel, we were joined by Linda DiFabio, Joe Alberti, and Pauline LeBlanc for a meal featuring the famous Montreal Smoked Meat sandwich—a treat we look forward to every year. That evening, we visited Sainte Anne de Bellevue Canal, a national historic site west of Montreal. The canal connects Lake St. Louis and Lake of Two Mountains and is now used mostly by recreational boaters. We took a beautiful walk along the waterfront before joining a line dance class with Linda DiFabio for an hour.