CHAMPLAIN BRIDGE, MONTREAL

She drove through the Ville-Marie Tunnel, then up onto the Champlain Bridge. Gamache was silent, looking at the half-frozen St. Lawrence River far below. The traffic slowed almost to a stop once they approached the very top of the span. Lacoste, who was not at all afraid of heights, felt queasy. It was one thing to drive over the bridge, another to be stopped within feet of the low rail. And the long plunge. (How the Light Gets In, Page 22, Hardcover Edition)

Hovering high above the St. Lawrence River and nearly four miles long, the Champlain Bridge connects Three Pines with Montreal and features heavily into the works of Louise Penny.

Named after Samuel de Champlain (remember his remains play a big role in Bury Your Dead), the intrepid explorer who founded Quebec City and New France. The bridge is a steel truss cantilever and was designed by Philip Louis Pratley. Pratley also had a hand in building the Quebec Bridge which also crosses the St. Lawrence and is the largest cantilever in the world.

Begun in 1957, construction took five years to complete and the Champlain now hosts six lanes of traffic and has nearly 50 million vehicles cross its span per year, making it Canada’s busiest bridge.

If you recall, our own Chief Inspector Gamache is afraid of heights and at 120 feet above the river, at its highest point, the bridge unnerves Armand; “…his hands were balled into fists, which he was tightening, then releasing. Tightening. Releasing.”

How the Light Gets In begins with a body being discovered and “brought up from the side of the Champlain Bridge” and sadly, like many bridges, the Champlain has seen its fair share of deaths but not nearly as many as its sister bridge, the Jacques Cartier, which has had as many as 16 suicides in a single year.

The overall state of the Champlain plays a big part in the plot of the novel and this, like many of Louise’s themes, is more fact than fiction. The bridge has suffered heavy deterioration over the years and a 2010 study revealed that the bridge is “functionally deficient” thus a strategy was put in motion to replace it.

In 2014 the new plan for the replacement bridge was unveiled with completion scheduled for 2018. It will maintain its six lanes of traffic and add in a separate span for bicycle and pedestrian paths.

While many are referring to the new structure simply as the “New Champlain Bridge”, it has not been officially named.

What do you say we all lobby for it to be christened the “Louise Penny Bridge”?

ABBEY OF SAINT-BENOÎT-DU-LAC / SAINT-GILBERT-ENTRE-LES-LOUPS

This was the near mythical monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups. The home of two dozen cloistered, contemplative monks. Who had built their abbey as far from civilization as they could get.

It has taken hundreds of years for civilization to find them, but the silent monks had had the last word.

Twenty-four men had stepped beyond the door. It had closed. And not another living soul had been admitted.

Until today. (The Beautiful Mystery, Chapter Two)

Among the most memorable—and visually stunning!—real places in Louise Penny’s canon is the Abbey of Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, the locale that inspired the fictional Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups. The religious affiliation and events of the book bear no resemblance to the Benedictine Monks of the real abbey, as explained by Louise: “it became clear in researching [The Beautiful Mystery] that I couldn’t set the book in a monastery, or even an order, that really existed, so I dug into history and found the Gilbertines, an order that actually once existed, but went extinct.”

Situated on the shores of Lake Memphremagog, the real abbey was built in 1912 by Benedictine Monks fleeing the anti-clerical laws in France. The magnificent monastery was commissioned in 1938 with plans provided by the renowned architect and fellow monk, Dom Paul Bellot.

The monks themselves, numbering about 50 in all, devote themselves to obedience and prayer, and are keen practitioners of Gregorian Chant (See the video below).

While very cerebral and spiritual, the Benedictines believe “one must live by the work of one’s hands.” The monks operate their own orchard and cheese factory and the products of their harvest can be purchased at the Boutique de L’Abbaye. Don’t miss “Le Moine,” a cheese very similar to gruyere or the “Bleu Bénédictin,” a soft blue cheese. They also make superb ciders from their own apples—a sweet non-alcoholic blend and their specialty, Le Kir Abbatial, which is a hard cider that pairs exceptionally well with desserts.

If you’re planning on visiting the abbey, make a day of it. Walk the exquisite grounds, attend a mass—whether you’re secular or religious—there’s nothing quite like it; admire the architecture of the Abbey itself; or, if you’re really in search of solitude, stay the night!

For more information, please visit: https://www.abbaye.ca/en/

Music is a central theme in The Beautiful Mystery. In fact, Louise has said, “a piece of music can transport us to another place and time, and not just evoke that memory, but the emotion. It can inspire great courage, and reduce us to tears.”

Did the Gregorian Chant of the Benedictine Monks evoke any memories and emotions for you?

The Beautiful Mystery is the first of Louise’s books set wholly outside of Three Pines. How did you feel about this?