It was a day to reconnect with Isabelle’s cousin Stéphane and his wonderful wife Nathalie. We chose Parc-de-la-Mauricie and a picnic at les Chutes Waber as the perfect setting for our day trip. The morning began auspiciously, with sunshine, a leisurely stop at Tim Horton along highway 40, and catching up on what is new with each other during the drive to Shawinigan.

     All along the lake, the maple trees were bright splashes of red and yellow among the evergreen conifers. An even better view was from the trail, looking back along the stretch of lake we had just kayaked… steely sky seemed to lend even more fire to the changing leaves stretching out far below our vantage point. Lucky for us we had an accomplished arborialist along on our expedition. Along the trail, Nathalie was able to point out the elusive Érable de la Mauricie, so-called, in her words, “Parce que ca mord ici,” her finger pointing out small bite-marks where a chlorophyll-addicted bug had taken some bites of the leaves. 

     Isabelle had asked Stéph and Nat to take care of the food for the picnic, and were we ever happy they did! For the first time in our lives, the lunch spread in the woods included a lovely wine, soft ripened cheeses and patés. Too bad for Isabelle, who at this stage knew she was in early pregnancy, but was not ready to announce to anybody, so she could have none of the unpasteurized or alcoholic fare, or even patés, and proceeded to pretend that there were other possible very good reasons why she wouldn’t want to chow down on such an amazing spread. When Isabelle tried to salvage some of the luxury experience for herself by asking innocently if one of the cheeses was pasteurized, Nat immediately quipped, “Why... are you pregnant?” Ba-dum-bum. Not sure if they knew then, although it’s a moot point now. However, I have to say I took one for the team, when Isabelle surreptitiously switched her nearly full wine glass for my nearly empty one while Stéph and Nat went off to take a picture—the walk back up beside the falls my legs felt considerably heavier than usual. In any case, the falls made for a thundering backdrop for lunch, with sunlight streaming down and warming our flat space on the rocks, with the river flowing around us on both sides. This one was definitely up there for us, in the pantheon of lunch spots on hiking excursions, for the setting as well as the company.