English 
FrançaisALSFX 2007 Fall Newsletter (extracts)
A Small Road Will go Far?
This is what I received from Mr. Jean-Marc Devirieux when I inquired about his road project leading to parcels of land that he had purchased west of the Bay (a section without road access, with a virtual Mount "street"). This large parcel of land circles my property and the properties of eight or nine of my neighbours.
There is also a proposed access to the aerobic corridor* and (it has an entrance to) the lake (Newaygo Basin; by a small waterfront lot). In light of things, it seemed of interest to inquire about this project that is still the talk of our area, without taking any definite position. I have submitted below his letter that is his contribution to our newsletter. Carl Chapdelaine
"Hello, first of all I would like to introduce myself: My name is Jean-Marc Devirieux and I started coming to Montfort after my daughter's birth in 1988. I started buying parcels of land on the western side of the Bay, a beautiful elevation where someday, I would like to build. We are now at the beginning of blue algae and environmental concerns. I am now proposing to the cottage owners on the western side of the Bay a reasonable arrangement for the sharing of a road that would be private unless the municipality shows interest in my proposal. Waiting for your comments,
Sincerely yours, » J.-M.-D.
Note: This lot seems to have been sold to private buyers; or to the municipality, since the latter had almost offered me to buy the waterfront lot next to my property that accesses the lake. But the municipality immediately withdrew its offer... This lot still belongs to the municipality, while the rest would be privately owned. As for the desired road, which undoubtedly corresponds to virtual Mount Street**, it has the misfortune of leading onto the Aerobic Corridor, and is therefore not allowed to connect...
These second-ring properties have no access to the lake and are currently unbuildable, due to the absence of an access road.
* Via a path that leads to the Aerobic Corridor, just before entering the woods after km 12, and topped by a log bridge spanning the stream that feeds the Bay.
**Probably originally a municipal reserve.
Translated by Edna Schell? & deepl.com/translator
By Carl Chapdelaine
Ending my fifth season at lake St.François-Xavier
«When Carl Chapdelaine took possession two weeks ago (June2003) of the summer cottage he purchased in the Laurentians, the 58-year-old Ahuntsic man figured he had done well». «There were problems: with the toilet, with the water, and no road.» «Maybe that place might not have enough comfort for everyone but it was fine for him.. …He could not regret his purchase. He said he did not want to invest his life savings in the Laurentians. He just wanted to enjoy them. …And it was lakefront » «The days of buying a lakefront summer cottage in the Laurentians for less than $100,000 were almost gone – but not quite.» (C.Cornacchia)
Early in Spring, I was on the road, even before the heavy snow coat on our Laurentians soil had started to melt, searching for my lake, my dream of youth. After several days of raid to the four corners of the area, without wanting to move away too much from Montreal, my budget seemed to condemn me to some hut, with its foot in water certainly, but the rest searching to follow soon.
Then, the love at first sight for this large lake, for this old house at the end of the path, firmly anchored on its masonry fireplace, could not lie. No regret since, even if my first season ended in a light heart stroke after leaving my hollow valley and climbing the steep which enables me to reach the former railway.
Only happiness, in spite of the material problems attached to the difficult access of the property. An unhoped-for leisure had come to me. I discovered and I experienced a new medium of life. I had never seen a loon, only heard in Mont Tremblant’s park, calls I had taken for howls of wolves! A great number of birds that I had never seen and which come even to greet me in the window. The hummingbird, the kingfisher, the crested grouse.
It became my lake, my loon, my mergansers, my landscape, even if, in the far end of the Bay, the watery plants do not always appear inviting and the vastness of the lake remains to be discovered. It is what I undertook to do by rowing, in perfect happiness. To mix with the colours of autumn; to see ones visitors sharing ones admiration. Was there better choice for my retirement? The hammer and the saw almost daily; that does not displease me.
A motor for my boat? A way to reach my place? A septic tank? An artesian well? To winterise the cottage? A baffle of neighbours? What else? Will the wind turn and the star-studded sky of Newaygo darken? Yes, your lake is large and beautiful, its limpid water, its friendly residents. In addition, there is our association. I hope to contribute protecting it, maintaining it mighty. It will help me, perhaps, be a resident with whole share. Half of me live in Montreal; the other half is now at Lake St-François-Xavier.
Translation by Edna Schell?