To the west of Montérégie (south of the province of Quebec), an hour from Montreal, is the Circuit du Paysan. A place with beautiful landscapes and delicious food, ideal for a weekend getaway.

It is a rural tourist route: farmers, winegrowers, cider producers and ranchers have their farms and farms in the area and offer their products directly to consumers.

It is a remarkable experience because local producers came together almost 25 years ago to offer a whole range of products and services that, taking advantage of the scenic beauties of the area, have created a unique and irresistible offer that is constantly growing.

As we are one hour from Montreal, we went to visit it one weekend and in this article we are going to share with you some relevant points of the region.

The history of Paysan is the history of the settlements of Irish, Scottish and American settlers. These nationalities settled in the Montérégie region, leaving their traces throughout the area, in addition to forming the ethnic origin of a good part of the current inhabitants.

Representative of these multiple origins, Rockburn Village houses a museum honoring those roots.

The multiple settlements used to have their little church. Today, those small churches with their stone walls and fences are used to delimit farms and farms.

As a testament to that jealously preserved history, we can visit a large number of antique shops in the town of Ormstown.

There is a plethora of farms that offer their delicious and fresh products.

Many of them allow you to harvest your own products directly from the plant itself.

You can delight in harvesting your strawberries, apples, blueberries, and pumpkins. You buy a box, selecting its capacity, and you collect your fruits yourself.

You cannot miss the cider producers, such as the Philion, du Minot and C.E. Petch and watch how this delicious apple-based alcoholic drink is made.

Canada is a large producer of apples. And Canadian cider is world renowned.

We visit a lavender farm, Le Lavandou. The washing fields are spectacular. The owners are very friendly. They show you a little museum of lavender and everything or what can be done with it.

Among the cheese farms or fromageries are Fritz Kaiser and Le Métayer. There you can taste fresh cheeses from various origins and goat cheeses are renowned.

We visited the Charcuterie Stefan Frick. Delicious products for those who love cold cuts and meats (ahem!). It is a family business and its owner, Stefan, came to Canada in 1985 and claims to know all the secrets of German cuisine.

There is a chocolate bar, Aux Trois Chocolats, a dream place for lovers of good chocolate. They present a great variety and presentations of chocolates.

At Petites Fruits Saint-Louis their specialty is products made from blueberries or blueberries. Especially the haskap variety.

You can collect your own blueberries. We recommend calling first to find out if it’s blueberry harvest season. But all year round they offer their products: jams, cakes.

The haskap variety is a delicious fruit rich in antioxidants, which tastes like a mixture of blueberries, black currants and raspberries. The owners are warm and welcoming.

In the Domaines Des Salamandres vineyard we tasted wine until we couldn’t.

Family-run since 2006, this vineyard is known not only for its wines but for the production of frozen pear wines.

You will be able to taste white wine, sweet white wine and late harvest wine, and take a tour of the fields, while learning how to make wine.

The railroad has been a major force in the development of Canada and the Exporail Museum is the largest and most varied museum dedicated to Canada’s railroad.

This museum is really immense and there it pays tribute to this means of transport. You will be able to discover the history and evolution of trains and trams. You will admire royal wagons and locomotives from the golden age of railways.

There is also a model room. Only this room would be worth a visit by itself.

Admission to the museum is free on the first Sunday of each month. If you go any other time, it costs 20 Canadian dollars.

If you follow this blog, you will know that we love visiting local markets.

Well, in Paysan there is an open-air market, with many local and fresh products: maple syrup (the real one, not the one they usually sell in the US), fruits, vegetables, ornamental plants. It serves as a collection and sale center for local producers and the offer is very varied. It is a bit expensive, but it is worth it. On the weekends it is packed with people who even come from Montreal to buy the products.

Conclusions