A Journey to the Heart of… Nature!

Family on the Run
Christine, Mathieu, and their three children 

We’re once again sharing the stories of a family from Sherbrooke—two adults and three children—who came to spend a week in the Laval area during their summer vacation. Here is the fascinating account of the “Famille en Cavale” family’s stay! 

Today, we decided to visit a true classic: the Centre de la nature, which is sort of Laval’s Central Park. There’s plenty there to keep the kids busy for a whole day, and that’s exactly what we did! I have a confession to make: I’d actually been to the Centre de la Nature back in 2004 for a provincial cross-country competition, and I remembered it as a pleasant park with a small lake. So it wasn’t exactly a new discovery for me, but I’d forgotten just how big it was! (I guess that’s because I was running too fast.) Until we started planning our vacation, I also had no idea how much there was to do there! Since we arrived via Concorde Boulevard, after stocking up on picnic supplies for the day at the grocery store, our first discovery was the Artists’ Village, made up of charming little houses in all sorts of colors.

The doors were locked, which left the kids just as disappointed as I was when I went to Disney World at age 4 and we couldn’t go inside the houses either. Then, as the rain picked up, we took the opportunity to visit the greenhouse, where we had a great time watching the parrots and the HUGE goldfish!

We also really enjoyed the little farm, where we got to see the animals—including chickens, pigs, rabbits, horses, alpacas, and goats in the pasture.

But the Nature Center is, above all, a park teeming with lush gardens. We didn’t know where to look first, and we wanted to explore every path!

We left the park in the middle of the afternoon to grab some ice cream at Crémerie Pineault, which is reputed to serve the best ice cream on the island. Well, that reputation is well-deserved! We had such a hard time choosing between all the flavors that we promised ourselves we’d come back—and more than once!

But even though the weather was nice when we were enjoying our ice cream, I had a hunch just before we set off on foot for the park. We took shelter in a bus shelter, and we didn’t regret it, because a few moments later, a downpour was pouring down on the city.

We were able to leave our temporary shelter after about thirty minutes and head back to the Nature Center, where the children found a beautiful snail.

In short, despite more rain than expected, we had a great time! If you’re planning to spend the day at the Nature Center, be sure to pack a picnic! And don’t forget to stop by Crémerie Pineault for dessert!

#LavalNow