The South ... in the summer!

The mass of gray clouds is formless, still, and it extends to infinity above the balcony of my apartment. Three days ago it rains on Montreal. Right in my vacation week. I need the sun and fast. So I took the road to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, the paradise of all-inclusive.

At the airport, a glance is enough to understand that I am not alone. Marie-Josée Racicot did not dig the head before deciding where to vacation. This resident of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu wanted one thing more than any other: the sun "It would have cost the same price of a week's vacation in Quebec, she said while waiting for boarding Punta. Cana. And it could very well be cold or raining. "

Met on the same flight, Claudia Bernard abounds in this direction. She could spend a week camping, or in the old capital. But the bill would have been almost the same. Moreover, to choose between palms and pines, she did not hesitate one second.

"In Quebec, we have super beautiful places to visit, but I think it is expensive, she said. When you go to Quebec City for the weekend, with hotels and restaurants, it's practically the same price as a week in the South. "

The trend is undeniable: traveling south in May, June and July are more popular than ever, said Vincent Bolduc, owner of the agency Select Space Travel. The contractor expects its sales packages to South rose 15% in low season for two years. Its customers flying to Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba, attracted by the great prizes as well as the undeniable charm of sandy beaches and palm trees.

"It's a trend confirmed by the continued summer routes to these destinations far by tour operators such as Transat, Air Canada and Mexicana adds Michael Archambault, holder of the Transat Chair in Tourism at UQAM. Before, it ended in late April. "

However, our journey in the South experienced a false start. The plane has not landed at the Punta Cana airport that the pilot puts us already warning: it's 21 degrees, raining and thunderstorms are expected. "Just like in Montreal," he says, tongue-in-cheek.

Our taxi driver is swerving on the road from our hotel: the streets are partly flooded. Our stay in the Dominican Republic he fall into the water? Fortunately not! The sun is already back at his post in the morning. The purpose of the day is certainly punctuated with a few showers. But after hours of searing heat, the cooling rain is welcome.

We stay at the Barcelo, a vast complex of five hotels where there is a golf course, casino, shops and - does it really indicate? - A long beach lined with palm trees.

The window in our room opens onto a grassy courtyard. Since the whirlpool installed on the balcony, walkers strolling gently on the sand beside a turquoise sea is visible. The breeze rustles the leaves of palm trees.

Few Quebecers on the horizon. During the summer, the hotels in the Dominican Republic are filled with Argentines, Chileans and other inhabitants of South America fleeing winter in their hemisphere.