Verger Champêtre

A big draw of moving to Montreal was how active the community was and that there would always be something to do. I'm not sure where I learned this about Montreal, as that's a generic draw to most cities. That they have a vibrant life and there's something for everyone but I always felt like Montreal had more of that. I'd wanted to move here for a long time, when I told friends it was actually happening a lot responded with finally. I'm not sure if it's been a self fulfilling prophecy, that I want to be active and spend a lot of time exploring here therefore I am. Or if it really is just easier to stay busy adventuring here. Either way, I've had plans for new hikes and experiences every weekend this summer, and they go pretty much up until Thanksgiving.

This weekend was of course no different, although Shane did most of the planning not me. He found a place, only an hour outside the city, that would combine two of my favourite things; animals and picnics.

Verger Champêtre is a small farm that has year round activities. There's an orchard for apple picking, a pumpkin patch, tree farm, and of course animals to interact with. I know a lot of people are hesitant of zoos and farms because of animal treatment but I like small local ones that are sustainably run. All the animals here had large enclosures, and some were locked to give the mamas and their babies a quiet space.

Since we wanted to get to the farm right at opening, we decided to do a brunch style picnic and skipped breakfast at home. I've always been a big fan of finger foods, and foods that can be shared so charcuterie boards have become my newest hobby. I love them because you can literally put anything on them, there will be something for everyone, and it's guaranteed to look like you put more effort than you did. We put a lot of fruit on this one since it was for breakfast, a lot less cheese and pastries than we've done on previous ones. There was also only the two of us eating it so we didn't need as much of the larger items.

The biggest draw to this little farm is their alpacas! Did you know that alpacas live about 20 years? Apparently, this is in line with their cousins, the llamas, and they can cross breed with them too. This cute alpaca is actually cross bred with a llama! We learned this because we asked the lady if we could have the tallest alpaca for our walk and llamas are taller so this one was the one she suggested. Thankfully alpacas don't spit like their cousins do, at least not at humans. Apparently they will spit at each other if they get into a fight but we didn't encounter any of that.

Even though it was only 11 by the time we finished our little alpaca walk it was already so hot and humid out. I don't find the heat bothers me as much as the cold does but I was really feeling it. We decided we would walk around the farm and see if any of the animal enclosures had some shade. Thankfully there was one that had lots of tree cover so we spent some time in there with the animals. Most of the goats and sheep were hiding in the mini barn, which was too stinky to spend much time in. The alpacas were altogether under the trees though so we hung out with them.

There was also a deer enclosure, closed to give the mamas and babies their space. A swan enclosure with a big pond, peacocks, pheasants, and a donkey. Even in the shade we found it quite hot though so we decided it was time to move on. We stopped to check out their boutique, they had alpaca fleece hats, scarves, socks and mitts which were super soft but out of my budget. They also had a some fresh produce from their farm but I didn't need any veggies at this point.

There was a mini farm as well which was a barn with more animals. There were lots of goats in here, including one baby who kept slipping out of his pen to follow us around. There were some bunnies, including a flemish giant, lots of chickens and mini horses. While admiring the baby mini horse one of the employees came by and told us the baby was actually only two days old!

It's a day trip from Montreal that I would recommend to anyone, whether they have kids or not. The farm was large enough that you could have your own space and the animals were friendly and social. It was probably because of the heat and humidity but it really didn't feel crowded and we had a lot of the animals to ourselves.