Baby, It's Cold Outside...

Ice driving, husky dogs, underground spas and fine French food Martha Hayes gets wild about Canadas Mauricie region, and not even the -40C wind chill can stop her.

- Martha Hayes

‘WOOOOO-HOOOOO!!!’ I'm racing in a Porsche Boxster at close to 150mph on a frozen lake in deepest, wildest Quebec. I think I’m screaming pretty loudly, but I can’t hear myself over the roaring engine and I can’t see anything other than the gusts of snow blowing on to the windscreen every time the car’s tyres skid round a bend. Thankfully, it doesn’t matter, as I’m in the passenger seat, sitting beside our instructor, Jean-Sébastien Sauriol, who single-handedly brought this Bond-style thrill to northern America.

Next, it’s my boyfriend Chris’s turn to get behind the wheel – and it’s safe to say he thinks he is 007. I’ve never thought of myself as an adrenaline junkie, but that’s why Hôtel Sacacomie, a winter wonderland buried in a breathtaking forest in eastern Canada’s Mauricie region, seems perfect for a couple like us. This enormous, log-cabin-style resort caters for both the adventure-seeking (dog sledding and snow tubing are just a couple of the many activities on offer alongside ice driving) and the spa-worshipping – and the somewhere in between. A two-hour drive north-east of Montreal (and 37 miles from the nearest city of Shawinigan), this remote nature resort, built from 250-year-old pine trees, attracts mainly French-Canadian holidaymakers (Montreal being the second largest primarily French-speaking city after Paris). It definitely feels like we’ve stumbled across a hidden gem.