We’re all familiar with the expression “you’re as old as you feel,” and most likely have dismissed it as wishful thinking. But meeting Denise Chartré, trim and spry at 92, confirms that, in fact, it’s true.

Chartré published her first book this year. Être jeune à 90 ans (Being youthful at 90: The Denise Chartré Method) is a culmination of a lifetime of passion and curiosity regarding health and well-being.

“I did not invent this method,” she says. “I developed it over the last 30 years by reading about health. When something made sense, I tried it, and when I felt it was effective, I incorporated it in my life.”

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At first glance, you wouldn’t necessarily peg Brent McNair, 27, for a war veteran – especially when paired with Leslie Newman, a gentleman who served in the Royal Montreal Regiment for 32 years.

But that’s exactly the sort of perception McNair is trying to banish, and one of the reasons he is volunteering at the poppy tables during his last two weeks of vacation before returning to service.

McNair is decorated with the General Campaign Star for his service in Afghanistan, where he recently spent seven months and is soon to return.

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“People are mainlining nostalgia like it was morphine” – Bob Dylan

Many of us who grew up in Montreal around the Second World War spent summers in the Laurentians. Even the most modest of families tried to manage a few weeks of “fresh air” in its villages, including the popular Val Morin-Val David-Trout Lake-Ste. Agathe cluster.

Nestled in the region was the hamlet then called Préfontaine, and on a recent weekend, we returned to the area for much the same reasons our parents felt it was important: to marvel at the tree-clad hills, now multi-coloured, to walk beside a lake or river, to listen to the wind, soak up the silence and pollution-free atmosphere, and yes, retrace old steps and revive near-forgotten memories.

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Last year was particularly stressful. When I was given the opportunity to spend my summer in Europe, I decided to make the most of it and take part in a relaxing yoga retreat in the south of France.

It was late in June when I got on the train in Orléans. Four hours later, I arrived in Toulouse, where I met with four other women at the airport. Mike was waiting for us with a large van. We drove quietly through the dark countryside of the Ariège region, one of the least populated in France, to arrive at Domaine de la Grausse.

Domaine de la Grausse is a seven-hectare estate in the tiny village of Clermont in southwest France, within the magnificent Pyrénées mountains. During the summer months, Mike and Dagmar open their property to host yoga retreats for those looking for a week or two to relax and rejuvenate. The estate consists of a 17th-century château, three renovated stone barns and a small lake. It is built in a serene valley.

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