Over the Easter long weekend Natasha and I joined some friends headed up to a maple-syrup-producing “Cabane a Sucre” on the other side of Gatineau, called Le Domaine De L’Ange Gardien. It takes about 40 minutes to get out there, driving highway 50 completely skirting around downtown Gatineau and then following pretty clearly-marked signs through the little town of L’Ange Gardien.

$17 for an adult buys you brunch and a stick covered in snow-hardened Maple Taffy. Breakfast was pretty good, all-you-can-eat pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausages, ham, bacon (crispy french style), beans, pea soup, juice and coffee. It wasn’t exactly five-star eggs florentine, but drenching everything in syrup was encouraged, it tasted good and we came away so full we didn’t need to eat again until 8pm.

The sugar-shack was a bit of a disappointment – the taffy was delicious (and generously portioned), but we were kindof herded into the boiling shed and weren’t able to see any of the sap collection, which I’d been hoping we could do. I understand why syrup is so expensive – it takes an incredible amount of energy to boil gallons and gallons of sap down into a teaspoon of syrup. They had a full bathtub-worth of sap boiling away, and I watched them make wood runs in their little 4wheeler constantly.

It was a fun weekend activity. I don’t think I’d make a yearly habit out of it, but I’d definitely take special visitors up there in the spring because it’s a pretty unique experience.