SPOTLIGHT ON Hélène and Wilfrid from Québec, Canada

We are honored to be invited to participate in the HomeLink Spotlight Blog. We are Hélène and Wilfrid Lavallée, we live in Chelsea, Québec, we are now retired and we continue to do house exchanges.

How we started home exchanging:

Our adventure with HomeLink started in 1994 while I was working at the University of Ottawa and Wilfrid was in construction. I heard about HomeLink from a colleague while discussing the rising costs of travelling (even in 1994) and how difficult it would be to travel once we retired. So, what started for us as a project to save money soon proved to be so much more over the years, as you will see.

About our home and area:

Our home in Chelsea, Québec is located on a one-acre lot overlooking the Gatineau River where we have a dock and a canoe. Our guests are welcomed into our home which is surrounded by our landscape of flowers. Many of our exchanges take place in the early Fall, so they can experience the stunning display of Fall colors unique to this part of the world. We say we offer the best of both worlds as we live in the countryside, but are only twenty minutes from Ottawa, Canada's Capital. The Capital and the Gatineau area offer world-class museums, hundreds of miles of bicycle paths, golf courses and bistros. We are just a few minutes from Gatineau Park and its year-round walking trails. There are two charming villages less than fifteen minutes away: Wakefield with its covered bridge and beautiful rapids to the north, and Old Chelsea with many restaurants and shops to the south. Our visitors love these villages as they represent the multiculturalism of our Province and of our country.

Museum of History

Rideau Canal

Why we love HomeLink: 29 exchanges and counting….

Since 1994, we have travelled the world through HomeLink enriching our lives with each exchange and establishing incredibly special 'links' in many of the exchanges. In Canada, we have been to Victoria twice (the farthest point west) to Newfoundland (the farthest point east) to St Catherines, Ontario, near Niagara Falls and twice in Québec City, the same house as the owner loved our first exchange so much. In the United States, Arizona, and San Diego.

Arizona

In France, our very first exchange was in St Michel l'Observatoire, I fell in love with France and have since had 9 more exchanges: Pertuis, Perpignan (we exchanged with Albert and Gisèle, the February blog, Ghislaine is their daughter). We remained friends and spent a few days with them on many of our exchanges. Then Pertuis, Uzès, Toulouse, Dax, Manduel, Archamps, La Salvetat Peyrales and Ascain in the Basque region. In France, we were welcomed as their 'petits cousins français' and enjoyed comparing the French from France with 'le français québécois'!

La Rhune Basque Region

Top of La Rhune between France & Spain

We cherish all the 'links' created through our twenty-nine exchanges: Holland, Germany, England, Sardinia and then we discovered New Zealand where we stayed on a kiwi estate, Tasmania and finally, Wilfrid's coup de coeur Australia: Maroochydore, Perth, Mt Eliza near Melbourne, Yeppoon.

Werribee Safari

Kiwi Estate New Zealand

Memorable “Links” that stand out:

• In Perpignan, we were lucky to get to know Gisèle and Albert after they visited our home in Chelsea. They took us on long walks on the Canigou and Albert was a Catalan and thanks to him we went to Collioure. A village which influenced the Impressionists and to Banyuls sur Mer to see the parade of Catalan boats. Albert and Gisèle then exchanged with Pertuis.
• In Manduel, we met our exchanger's neighbors who invited us for a cookout, and he started dropping off bags of fresh vegetables attached to our fence post and took us to discover La Camargue and its wild horses and delicious 'moules et frites' in Aigues-Mortes. Over the years, during our other exchanges in France, Julien and Viviane spent a few days with us or hosted us. They also visited us in Chelsea and in Florida where we spend two to three months each year (not on an exchange).
• An interesting link came from our exchange in Toulouse where Jean-Claude who also became a dear friend, made us promise to spend time with him on each of our France exchanges and has offered to host us if we ever want to go to his beautiful home again. As he was interested by our exchange in San Diego, but our exchangers did not speak French, I acted as go-between, and they had a great exchange. On their last day, they went to a casino and his wife won a big amount which paid for their trip...

But the most memorable link is with Claudette and Daniel from the small village of La Salvetat-Peyrales in the Aveyron region of France. Their little 'Château' close to the village center is still in our hearts as the area is surrounded by what is known as the 'Most beautiful villages of France': Saint Cirq Lapopie, Sauveterre de Rouergue, Najac, Auvillar, all so rich in architecture, history, and delicious food.

Corniche Biarritz

In the Vineyards

We became dear friends with Daniel and Claudette and two years after our exchange, they wanted to experiment a Canadian winter. Yes, you read right! So, they organized an exchange a few kilometers from our house, and we spent two weeks introducing them to a Québec winter: their first hockey game, the Ottawa Winterlude with ice skating on the longest rink in the world, Omega Park, a 12 km Safari trail where you can witness all the Canadian animals in their environment. Then just before the pandemic, they had an exchange in Vancouver, BC so we secured one in Victoria, and we shared both exchanges. Now in July 2023, we will join them on their exchange in Calgary, Alberta during the Calgary Stampede. This link is not over!

The Best Part of Exchanging, Becoming Friends like Family:

Our story would not be complete without sharing how we now have a ‘second family’ in Australia. I hope it will not be too confusing, but I think you will appreciate our adventures down under. We had our first exchange in Queensland in the pretty village of Maroochydore and our exchangers Ken and Margaret recommended we go to Fraser Island from Hervey Bay. As their best friends Vic and Betty lived in Hervey Bay, we were to contact them so they would book a facility in a trailer park for our stay. We arrived in Hervey Bay to find them waiting outside their house and they informed us, with no arguments, that we would stay with them. The rest is history! We became long lasting friends not only with them but with their entire family. Vic and Betty came back to Canada on their way to visit their son in Toronto. We took them to the Governor General for a guided tour where Vic met the head gardener and had a wonderful exchange on gardening habits in our two countries and of course to Omega Park. Their daughter Pam met us on our exchange in Yeppoon and guided us on walking trails and later came to us in Québec. Their other daughter Robyn met us at the airport in Mt Eliza and she and her husband Rob organized golf games, took us to outdoor markets and to Phillip Island where they have the smallest penguins in the world who come out of the sea at night to nest. Melbourne is a most interesting city, and this is where the two Robs introduced us to their friends, Robyn and Stan, who took us under their wing. We stayed with them, and they surprised us with an overnight stay at the Werribee Open Range Zoo where we slept in a tent and experienced an Aboriginal dance and meal as well as a safari!

Overnight safari at Werribee Zoo

Both couples joined us on our exchange in Perth and together we went down the Margaret River to the farthest point southwest to explore the Valley of the Giants and the men climbed the Karri Giant trees which can grow up to eighty-five meters (honest), no they did not climb to the top! Since this adventure, both couples have visited us, even coming to our home for my 65th birthday. We have a lasting friendship with all of them thanks to Betty and Vic, Betty is now ninety-six and as bright as ever and our extended family has enriched our lives. Our adventures have influenced our friends and family to join HomeLink, our daughter from El Paso, friends from the University of Ottawa and from Chelsea

Do you have future HomeLink plans?

Yes, we hope to continue this wonderful way of travelling, perhaps not as far away but this summer in Calgary and who knows in the future...Wilfrid and I are always open to interesting offers!

Bon voyage!

Our adventures continue!

More of our anecdotes are in a book I wrote: 'Before it's too late' and the French version 'Avant qu'il soit trop tard':