YOGA
Thanks to our yoga studio and multi-purpose sports room, you can enjoy training and renewing your body in our space located along the river, promoting a balanced body, soul and mind.
The spirit of LOLË and their clothes make us particularly happy! We would like to thank LOLË for the sun-coloured YOGA mats available to you in our studio. : )
MAGICAL FOREST
VILLA NAO and its exceptional setting allow visitors an opportunity to experience the splendour of nature. Walk for kilometres on nature trails through our magical forest and along the riverbank. Follow the trails of five elements and discover magnificent meditation and relaxation spots, as well as our small private beach surrounded by lush vegetation. Beautiful all year round!
ADMIRE THE STARS
At night, we turn off all of the lights at VILLA NAO so that you can take in nature's magnificent night sky. Take off exploring the universe with our headlamps and discover the majestic beauty of Montérégie's starry nights.
CAMPFIRE
The best way to end the day at VILLA NAO: with bursts of laughter and happiness along the riverside.
MR. THOMAS’S MILL
Located on the villa's property and a few minutes’ walking distance from VILLA NAO, the ruins of MR. THOMAS'S MILL can be admired. The lumber mill was built between 1850 and 1856 and belonged to Mr. Thomas Jackson, who used it to cut wood for his home construction business. It was a rather large company (at the time), because, in the 1861 census, Mr. Jackson declared he had 14 employees. MR. THOMAS'S MILL is the ideal location to admire the river and sunset at the end of the day.
BIKING
Built on a former railroad, the Campagnarde Bike Trail is a 79-km trail that runs through the centre of Quebec, the Eastern Townships and the Montérégie region. It offers stunning landscapes along the way, interspersed with rest areas equipped with picnic tables. Linking Drummondville to Foster, the path runs through a number of municipalities, including Wickham, Saint-Théodore-d’Acton, Acton Vale, Roxton, Roxton Pond, Warden, Waterloo and our own village of Roxton Falls.
Bike rentals are available upon request.
Box lunches are also available for cyclists, upon request.
LOCAVORE MARKET
Food connoisseurs can take a trip to the weekly Racine Locavore Market, located 25 minutes from VILLA NAO, and greet the food connoisseurs who've just come from gathering fresh ingredients for seasonal recipes. Taste foods whose names roll off the tongues of the people who produce and process them. Discover the region's flavours, grown and produced nearby, and breathe in their freshness, since intermediaries are a rare breed these days. This is what being a locavore is all about.
J. ARMAND BOMBARDIER MUSEUM
Located 20 minutes from VILLA NAO, this museum takes you back in time to the era of Mr. Joseph-Armand Bombardier and
his successors to show visitors that every person has the ability to solve problems, to be inventive and to innovate in their professional and personal lives. The “Bombardier Spirit” is inspiring, contagious and a source of pride.
CRYSTAL MINE
Located 30 minutes from VILLA NAO, Crystal Mine is a unique geological jewel. It is the only mining region in Canada where top quality quartz crystals can be found in abundance. The owners’ mission is to protect this enchanting site as a crystal sanctuary, to teach visitors about the mineralogical universe and to showcase Quebec's quartz crystals. Extracted by hand in a 300-year-old massive white quartz vein, the mine's sparking crystals are among the most beautiful in the world. www.minecrystal.com
ROXTON FALLS
A village rich in history...
In 1792, the British government of Canada began to divide land into townships divided to the east of Richelieu River and south of the St. Lawrence River. After being displaced by the Americans, Abenaki tribes who lived along the Atlantic coast moved close to the Canadian border. We know that they were nomads and, since the forest in the Roxton Falls region was rich in flora and fauna, they could find enough food to survive. According to some accounts, a stopping place used to exist at the foot of Roxton Falls where Abenaki women came to trade their fish. The land, part of the “Crown lands,” was covered with forest, making access difficult due to the lack of roads. The distribution of the township lands was completed haphazardly and with favouritism; the friends of those in power were granted immense territories which remained unexploited. In the township of Roxton, the first concessions were recorded on January 8, 1803, in the six first ranged lots, and the rest would not be surveyed or subdivided until 1830. Facing the general failing of colonization, the British American Land Company was incorporated in London in 1834 and opened a business office in Sherbrooke. It would go on to acquire a large part of the crown lands that remained in the Eastern Townships, including more than 26,000 acres in the township of Roxton. To develop its holdings, the company founded a village at the beginning of the 1840s and named it Metcalfe, in honour of the governor general. An urban plan was laid out that set out city lots and more spacious suburban lots surrounded by small farms. In the city, the planting of trees and the construction of sidewalks were required. In addition, in 1844, the construction of a railroad was planned to pass through this still unknown region, and it was decided that it would cross through Acton. That same year, a total of only 200 residents inhabited the entire township of Roxton, a sign of the slow pace of colonization, while many Canadians were already emigrating to the United States.
Colonization of Roxton Falls
Roxton Falls was colonized by French Canadians from surrounding regions, including Milton and Saint-Pie. Labourers who paid dues to feudal lords, which were required to qualify as electors in certain jurisdictions, cultivated the lands of the surrounding seigneuries (Richelieu, Iberville, Saint-Hyacinthe). When there no longer remained any space for their offspring, many began to establish themselves in Roxton. It was a rough start. The main obstacle encountered was the absence of roads. To demonstrate the difficulties encountered by travellers, we will cite a passage from a letter from Abby Leblond, the first missionary priest to visit Roxton, addressed to Monseigneur Bourget in 1848:
“I could only cross through the last three and half places by horse, and I still had to invoke the graces of my condition as a missionary so that I did not lose faith. An animal that is able to swim, more than a fast trotter, is needed for such a trip, because there were often acres of quagmires and marshes that had to be traversed.” Ref: Livre du 125e (Unofficial translation)
The first bridges appeared in the region between 1855 and 1860. Before, the rivers had to be forded, meaning, crossed in shallower places where you would not lose your footing. When the current was too strong, ferry glides were used, which were boats guided by a cable and propelled by manpower. When there were more bridges, which were mainly covered, it was easier for inhabitants to travel from one location to another.
Source : www.roxtonfalls.ca