Before arriving at the town, we stop and stroll along an attractive lakeside path. This is part of a “rails to trails” project. Once “Le P’tit Train du Nord” ran 200 kms from Montreal to Saint-Laurent right through all the resorts in the Laurentian Mountains. Now it’s a marvelous trail for biking and hiking. The idea that you can now cycle 120 miles through beautiful scenery downhill all the way on a smooth trail is indeed remarkable. We see some of the most colourful fall foliage of our whole trip along this lovely trail.  http://www.canadatrails.ca/tct/qc/ptittrain.html

After driving through “old” Mt. Tremblant, we arrive at the new resort area. This is a spanking new development. The whole mountain village is built in typical Québécois style as an integral complex of lovely condominiums and hotels, shops and restaurants on pedestrian precincts, all overshadowed by the ski slopes. It’s a summer and winter destination, very attractive and photogenic. http://tremblant.com.

After some refreshments and a walk around the town, we decide to ascend by cable car to the 875 mt. (2,871 ft) summit of Mont Tremblant. It’s a glorious day, sunny and clear. We could not ask for better weather. As we ride in the gondola, we see lots of people climbing the paths to the top. It looks like awfully hard work, and perhaps once upon a time we would have enjoyed doing this. The views for the top are spectacular over the 22,000 sq. km of national park cloaked in dazzling autumn foliage, and the bustling town down below.

Returning to Montreal, we decide to enter a local supermarket to buy some lunch supplies. What a surprise. It seems like we have flown from North America to France as soon as we walk through the door. Virtually everything is in French, and the products on display are exactly what you would expect to find in a Parisian supermarket. Miryam was able to purchase her favourite black olives from barrels, something unheard of in the U.S. Although I looked for my “Marmite”, I was only able to find “Vegemite”, the Australian equivalent. http://www.britishdelights.com/marmite.htm

By 8:00 pm we are back in Montreal and enjoying the wonderful French-Canadian cuisine.

Martin Crossland
Miami Springs  FL  USA
www.miami-beach-travelguide.com

Flightscore.com is an intuitive website offering additional services that go further than just reviewing current flights in close to real time. After registering and submitting a review, flightscore will easily track your air miles flown and display them in a wonderful graphic image for you view at a glance. Not limited to just air miles flown, flightscore will track cleanliness, seat comfort, food quality and including guest experience.-
Adds Rob from Flightscore.com” All reviews are getting calculated to produce Top List for the different Flight Classes. we also track the flights from users to provide them Flight Statistics for their most flown Airlines, the miles they have flown, etc.... all is displayed on a nice Flash Map”.

From submitted Flight Reviews we build Airline Quality Top Lists for you to compare Airlines with prior to your next Flight. FlightScore.com automatically keeps track of where you have flown to and then easily makes maps showing your flight routes. www.flightscore.com

We are pleased to offer this affiliation with flightscore.com says Dean Floreani. Simply put, the fact that at a glance, you can have instant  access to a “real persons opinion” about their experience with a modern day airline... makes this resource a valuable travel tool for many going forward.

Visit their website and get tracking your statistics today! Just look for the flightscore.com banner near the bottom of the www.timesharingstyle.com home page.

Note: Even though many reviews are in languages other than English, do not be discouraged. The website provides accumulated rating profiles and precise top ten lists of airlines and flights then, displayed in the English language to get the overall impression and rating of your fellow world travelers.

Dean Floreani
timesharingstyle.com

http://www.phototravelpages.com/ 

Montreal sights and shopping
The most famous aspect of shopping in Montreal is the Underground City. Constantly growing, the "city" – which links many major buildings and multi-level shopping mall in the area – is a shopper's paradise in any season.

Montreal's Notre-Dame Basilica has nothing in common with Paris's except the name. It's a neogothic building dating from 1829, constructed on the site of a much older and smaller church which had been outgrown by its parishioners. Notre Dame is noted for its lavish and beautiful interior – stained glass windows, paintings, statues, gold-tipped polychrome carvings, rich altarpiece.

Creativity, dazzling & daring all describe Cirque Du Soleil. This stunning performance is playing in Montreal this summer. Check itineraries for this world class performance and other festivals including entertainment, music, dance & theatre for summer 2009. 

Getting around Montreal
This year Montreal launched it’s much anticipated and award winning BIXI bike program. The Bixi concept allows patrons and visitors to use a bicycle for as long as you need, get around the city, then deposit it when you are finished, at another Bixi station located all throughout Montreal. This highly affordable method of transport allows visitors to really explore and view the sights of “Old Montreal” for example while picnicking in parks at a relaxed and leisurely pace.

Toronto, Canada
Did you know that Toronto rates as the fourth best city to visit to experience culture, and currently is placed just behind London, Paris and New York, a new study on globalization has found… source Canadian press- global cities index.

Toronto Festivals & Events
Toronto celebrates art, culture and diversity like no other city. Embrace the color, spirit and traditions of the festivals and events that light up Toronto with vibrant entertainment all year round. From the short film festival, the beaches international jazz festival and many more- make up a summer of unforgettable memories.

Some additional must see attractions include the Ontario Science Centre, Royal Botanical Gardens and the Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory.

Arts, Theatre & Culture
There is a unique and vibrant spirit that lives in cosmopolitan Toronto. Outrageous events, structures, spaces – over 7,000 restaurants throughout neighborhoods, including the art and culture celebrate the history and heritage of this great city. All against a backdrop of stunning architecture and proudly inspired by Toronto’s eclectic culture.

Enjoy Canada and this summer “Experience your vacation in 2009”!

ST.-SAUVEUR, QUE.–It's hard to know if it's the biting cold or the surrounding scene that has stopped me in my snow boots.

The landscape before me is so consummately Quebecois – the iconic church perched on a snow-covered hilltop, the clapboard homes converted to shops and restaurants, the busy boulangerie, the Laurentian mountains on the horizon – that it seems I've stepped out of my car and into a postcard.

But it's the sounds, more than the sights, that send a smile across my face as a horse-drawn wagon, packed with giddy school kids, manoeuvres its way onto the main street.

And, incredibly, the best is yet to come.

In just a few hours the sun will dip behind the mountains and a delightful collection of villages spread at the foot of this horseshoe-shaped ridge of Laurentians will do their small part to turn this into The Valley of the Stars.

The soft orange glow of the house and street lights will blanket this valley 60 kilometres north of Montreal, and lines of white lights will wend their way up some 140 downhill ski runs, powering this area's reputation as the biggest night skiing operation in the world.

But that's not the only way that enterprising Quebecois have found to turn the tables on whatever Mother Nature has to throw at them each winter.

This charming corner of Quebec also boasts an eclectic collection of Nordic spas – where frigid rivers double as cool-down pools – more than 150 kilometres of cross-country trails, year-round log cabins and, in St.-Sauveur alone (pop. 9,000), phenomenal outlet shopping and almost 100 restaurants, some with their own, quaint little wine cellars.

"We have many stars, but no Starbucks," says long-time local and Chamber of Commerce general manager Pierre Urquhart, who points out that maintaining the authenticity of this historic village was a personal mission for its long-time mayor, Georges Filion, who died last year.

"He never wanted to have neon. And McDonalds wasn't allowed in the centre of the village. That's why it's all authentic. It's all real. Nothing here is artificial."

St.-Sauveur village is the heart of this winter wonderland, located just off Highway 15 halfway between Montreal and Mont Tremblant.

Some 90 per cent of the locals are French and many trace their roots back to Montrealers who headed north more than 150 years ago in search of farm land. Instead they found rocks, lots of them, and turned to logging the Laurentians.

SUSAN PIGG PHOTO/TORONTO STAR

Night-skiing trails of Mont St.-Sauveur always draw a crowd, as do Nordic spas where rivers double as cool-down pools.

As they cut down swaths of trees on the surrounding peaks of St.-Sauveur, Morin Heights, Avila, Gabriel and Olympia – all of them now owned by Mont Saint-Sauveur International – they created the first family ski runs. Horses hauled locals to the top.

By the 1920s a ski train would start running between Montreal and St.-Sauveur, and the first skiers – mainly students from Montreal – would rent rooms in locals' houses. By 1934, the first ski lift was installed on Mont St.-Sauveur, earning it the reputation as Quebec's "cradle of skiing."

Today, however, it is so much more.

ST.-SAUVEUR VILLAGE: Art galleries, artisan shops and cosy boutiques line the main street and it's easy to scout out all this town has to offer, from freshly baked bread at the Boulangerie Pagé to paper-thin crepes at local cafés, on a leisurely stroll.

"We're a metropolitan village when it comes to restaurants," says long-time local and area promoter Rick Strubbe of the village's 98 restaurants, everything from Moroccan to Mexican and Italian to Asian. What local favourites such as French restaurant Le Sauvignon may lack in sophistication, they make up for in charm, including waiters who kindly steer you away from the house wine and into the tiny wine cellar with its wide selection of affordable vintages.

"But if you want a Guinness and fish and chips, you go to Morin Heights," adds Strubbe, the English-speaking enclave just 10 kilometres up the road which has become a mecca for cross-country skiing and Nordic spas.

NORDIC SPAS: They've grown in number – and elegance – since the first one opened in the unlikely rural area of Morin Heights 27 years ago after a local doctor used the concept of alternating hot-water treatments followed by dips in the frigid local river to help ease his wife's back pain.

While the Polar Bear's Club remains the granddaddy of them all here, at least four others are setting the relaxation bar so much higher, from the Ofuro Spa – an Asian oasis on a babbling river – to the recently opened Spa Le Baltique, a Zen zone of saunas, outdoor steam baths, hot tubs and Nordic waterfalls surrounded by lush forest and sunsets. See spaofuro.com, spalebaltique.com and polarbearsclub.ca

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING: The lone traffic light on the shoulder of Highway 329 just outside Morin Heights is curious and, it turns out, clever. It's for cross-country skiers who've just left point zero of the Corridor Aerobique, a 58-kilometre cycling and cross-country trail on an old railway bed, and have to cross the busy road. That corridor is the hub of some 152 kilometres of interconnecting trails that make Morin Heights Quebec's cross-country ski capital. For a complete experience, you can rent log cabins that sleep up to five people and just step out your door onto the trails. See www.mssi.ca for details.

DOWNHILL SKIING: "Night skiing is really different. You'll find an ambiance, an atmosphere that you don't find on other mountains," says Frederic Belval, a spokesperson for Mont Saint-Sauveur International. Each of the valley's five mountains (see Just the Facts for more details) offer their own experience, but the local favourite is Mont St.-Sauveur, with its adjoining Mont Avila. Together they have 49 runs and 11 lifts on about 200 metres of vertical that's somewhat more challenging than Collingwood's Blue Mountain, and one of the biggest terrain parks in Quebec. The real fun starts, however, when the sun sets and lights cast a warm glow over the trails. On weekends, the switch is flipped on all five mountains (during the week only St.-Sauveur has night skiing), and the view alone makes it worth the chilly lift ride to the top. Unfortunately, the whole after dark thing is a real magnet for young snowboarders, which can make the slopes a bit unruly at times, but still an experience not to be missed.

SHOPPING: When you need a break from the cold – and it can get bitter here – while away the hours rushing between outlet stores in St.-Sauveur's quaint and colourful "village" of outlet shops, ranging from Jones New York to Rockport, Nike, Stokes and, of course, ski and boarding shops. Developers were keen to slap up a conventional mega-mall but, thankfully, town councillors stopped them in their tracks, insisting that any shopping stay true to the village's Quebecois village feel and Laurentian heritage.

SUMMER: Winter is one thing, but the best time to come to St.-Sauveur valley is summer, when biking and hiking is at its best and there are more than 20 golf courses within a half-hour drive.

Mont St.-Sauveur becomes a wet-and-wild water park with some 20 ways to soak up the fun, from the lazy river that meanders just outside the base lodge to giant water slides and the rushing Colorado River ride which are tucked so neatly into the mountain's lush trees they're almost impossible to see – even in the Valley of the Stars.

spigg@thestar.ca

WASHINGTON, D.C., -- A new study conducted by Ragatz Associates of timeshare buyers has learned that people buying into timeshare overwhelmingly believe that their decision to buy accentuates the vacation experience.

The study, which was released by The American Resort Development Association International Foundation (AIF), polled existing timeshare buyers and found that 75.7 percent said owning a timeshare makes them more excited about their vacations. Additionally, 68.4 percent said owning a timeshare increased the amount of time spent vacationing a year. These results were released in the survey: Resort Timeshare Consumers: Who They Are, Why They Buy.

Howard C. Nusbaum, ARDA’s president and CEO said he is not surprised by the high level of satisfaction because the typical timeshare offers considerably more space and amenities than a hotel room. By having multiple bedrooms and a full kitchen in a timeshare, the entire vacationing paradigm is changed and therefore affects the buyer’s perception of the experience.

“We are finding out that going on vacation is about rejuvenation with families and bonding. Sitting at a table in the kitchen [in a timeshare] is bonding, whereas everyone eating out of a pizza box on a hotel bed is not,“ said Nusbaum. “Timeshare reflects the way we live.”

Dave Matheson, VP Corporate Communications with Starwood Vacation Ownership, is also a father of four kids ranging in ages from preschool to high school. With such a large brood, and the need to recharge his batteries while on vacation, he said staying a hotel is just not a practical possibility.

“If we all go away and stay in a hotel it is not a relaxing experience for me or my wife,” said Matheson. “With a timeshare my older kids can sleep in while we get up with the younger ones and make breakfast.”

According to Nusbaum, other reasons that play into the high level of excitement surrounding the timeshare vacation are timeshares provide a better way to enjoy downtime and that timeshares offers higher control for owner’s over their lives. Since timeshare vacations are an annual or more frequent experience, Nusbaum said people look forward to that getaway throughout remainder of the year. “Families know they have vacation currency and that anticipation of the next trip carries the vacation throughout the year,” said Nusbaum.

Additionally, the study noted the average timeshare visitor spends 8.6 nights per vacation in the resort area where their timeshare is located. The average timeshare visitor party spends $1,334 per timeshare vacation—an increase of 10.7 percent since 2002 the survey found. The average size of timeshare visitor parties is 3.8 persons.

Matheson believes more of this money is staying on site at resorts that utilize a mixed use model; that is, resorts that have both a hotel and timeshare component. “When we build a vacation ownership resort next to an existing Starwood property we have found it increases the value of the vacation to our owners,” said Matheson. “Our hotel owners benefit from having the hotel in that package next to it.”

The hotel usually has additional added amenities such as golf courses, more restaurants, spas and retail outlets. Together, Matheson said the varied components all play into adding to a more multi-dimensional getaway.

Of all owners, 35.8 percent personally used their own timeshare purchase during the past 12 months, while 47.4 percent exchanged or space banked it, 4.4 percent rented it out, and 2.9 percent gave it away. Nine and a half percent of time owned by all owners went unused during the last 12 months.

The study investigated the usage of vacation ownership based on surveys of 938 recent timeshare buyers and 1,547 owners who purchased prior to 2005.

hotelinteractive.com