A fall weekend at our Val-David auberge, dinner downstairs

The colours are coming. Every year it goes the same way: the maples start to turn, Le P'tit Train du Nord fills up with bikes and hiking boots, and the village settles into its fall rhythm. It's our favourite stretch of the year, and not just because it's pretty.

It's also the season our auberge gets back to its real job. Seven rooms above the pub, and guests who've figured out the trick: dinner downstairs, bed upstairs. Rooms book direct at book.mactaverne.ca, it's the simplest path.

Here's how a fall weekend works with us.

You come up Friday or Saturday. About an hour from Montreal. You walk or ride Le P'tit Train du Nord, it runs literally past the door, and if you ride up, there's a locked bike shed for the night. You wander down to the Rivière du Nord. You poke around the village. You stay out until hunger wins.

Then, dinner. The room is candlelit, the music is good, and the menu is short on purpose. The fish and chips we do with haddock, beer batter, mushy peas. Best in the Laurentians? Not ours to say. We won't stop you from saying it. The steak du moment depends on what Mike found that week, so ask what's on tonight. The wines are private imports we pick because we want to drink them. And fall is when the kitchen starts testing the winter menu, which means there's always something new simmering.

On fall weekends the terrasse generally stays open with patio heaters, as long as the season allows. A pint outside, a bit of chill, the maples all around: it goes down very well.

From behind the bar, you can spot the upstairs guests right away: they finish their glass without checking the time. Everyone else checks the time.

The next morning, the village is yours. Le P'tit Train du Nord early on an October Sunday is a different world: the river, almost nobody out, leaves on the trail.

If you're aiming for Thanksgiving weekend, book early. It's always a special one here.

The room: book.mactaverne.ca. The table: our pub page. One scheduling note for planning: from September 9 we're closed Wednesdays and Thursdays, but on weekends we're here from noon on.

Eat well. Stay a while. Fall was made for it.