BROME LAKE BOOKS / THE BOOKSTORE

“You feel you’re letting down a friend,” said Reine-Marie.

“Partly, but I run a bookstore,” said Myrna, looking at the row upon row of books, lining the walls and creating corridors in the open space. (The Nature of the Beast, Chapter 4)

Founded in 1998, Brome Lake Books is a little village bookstore with a lovingly curated collection of new titles and old favorites for the discerning booklover. Local authors and books on the area are featured in their own section. A special area in the bargain basement is dedicated to raising money for the community hospital through second hand book sales. Wooden shelves made by a local craftsman line the walls. Lower units in the middle of the room are fitted with casters for smooth movement along the hardwood floors (you do have to be prepared for those impromptu dance parties). Large bay windows overlook the park and the river in the heart of the loyalist village of Knowlton.

A reading area is dedicated to Louise Penny with a little wood stove and a mantle above to display Louise’s books, Three Pines café-au-lait mugs and a decanter of licorice pipes. On the wall is a framed copy of the Three Pines Inspirational map. A braided rug made by a friend’s mother with two cozy arm chairs and a little coffee table complete the area. Lining the top of the bookshelves are samples of Louise Penny’s books in various languages.

Owners, husband and wife, Lucy Hoblyn and Danny McAuley may be found puttering around the store on most days. Daily they walk to work with their three year old Portuguese sheepdog, Watson, or the big hairy carpet as he is often called. Watson is the official greeter at Brome Lake Books and he has many friends that stop by for a friendly wag. Their three boys Angus (age 18), Adam (age 15) and Benjamin (age 9) have all grown up with the bookstore and have inherited a love of reading; the very best gift a parent can give.

Last April, Brome Lake Books moved into the next door building and were overwhelmed by all the generous help that they received. Thirty friends, neighbors and customers turned up to carry boxes and boxes of books and heavy shelves. A book club prepared a sumptuous picnic lunch for all to share. One of the happy helpers was none other than Louise Penny herself. Everyone was smiling and jovial then someone starting singing their A,B,C’s as it helped put the books in alphabetical order. It was a very Three Pines day.

One of the great pleasures at Brome Lake Books is having the chance to meet and correspond with the many fans of Louise Penny. Whether it be Arleen from Texas, Diana from Nova Scotia or Andrea from Australia, Louise always has the best fans. Louise inspires us to be kind, caring and thoughtful people. Her books are more about love and community than murder; more about art, poetry and food than crime. More about living than dying. Vive Gamache, Vive Louise!

“So often, a visit to a bookshop has cheered me, and reminded me that there are good things in the world.” ― Vincent van Gogh

BAIE-SAINT-PAUL, QUEBEC

The dot had a name. Baie-Saint-Paul.

Saint Paul. Another one who’d seen something unlikely on the road. And whose life had changed.

“We’re on the road to Damascus,” said Armand with a smile. “Or Charlevoix anyway.” It was an area so beautiful, so unique, it had attracted visitors for centuries. At least one American president had had a summer home there. But what Charlevoix mostly attracted were artists, Quebec artists, Canadian artists. Artists from around the world. (The Long Way Home, Chapter 21)

Louise has described the Charlevoix Municipality and specifically Baie-Saint-Paul as “an area so beautiful it almost defies reason” and by simply looking at these photos you can see why. So stunning, in fact, that the region was a favorite locale of the Group of Seven, a.k.a. the Algonquin School, a collective of landscape artists who immortalized the area and spawned the first major Canadian national art movement.

Established as a part of New France in 1678, the village is situated in a valley at the mouth of the Gouffre River and bordered by steep cliffs. Baie-Saint-Paul’s geography made it isolated and nearly inaccessible for almost 150 years, until a road was built in 1812 connecting the settlement to Quebec City.

An odd and unflattering historical side note: Baie-Saint-Paul first came to international prominence in the 1770s when Dr. Philippe-Louis-François Badelard named a local ailment he was researching the “Baie-Saint-Paul maladie.” The condition, it turns out, was a strain of venereal disease and his conclusions became one of the first medical studies published in Canada.

On a more entertaining note, Cirque du Soleil was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by former street performers, Guy Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix.

Today, its quaint narrow streets make it a premier destination for tourists and it has one of the highest concentrations of art galleries and craft boutiques in all of Canada. The surrounding countryside offers kayaking, bicycling, bird-watching, and miles of hiking.

Louise mentions both Auberge La Muse and the Galerie Clarence Gagnon in the acknowledgments of The Long Way Home and notes that she took some “artistic license” in describing them.

The “real” Auberge La Muse is a beautifully appointed Victorian Hotel that offers amazing getaway packages including everything from spa treatments to whale-watching. La Muse also houses an eco-friendly restaurant that serves up locally sourced fare and whose philosophy is one of “social, economic and environmental balance.”

The Galerie Clarence Gagnon was the first art gallery to open its doors in the Charlevoix region back in 1975. It is named for the great Québécois painter and Baie-Saint-Paul resident, Clarence Gagnon, who is credited with “inventing a new kind of winter landscape that consisted of mountains, valleys, sharp contrasts, vivid colours, and sinuous lines.” Aside from the traditional buying and selling of works, the gallery also offers appraisals, framing, and restoration.

Oh, and that American president who had a summer home in the region? That would be none other than William Howard Taft, who the locals jokingly referred to as the “Little Judge” on account of his enormous size.

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?

MUSÉE D’ART CONTEMPORAIN DE MONTRÉAL

Someone had lied. Or hadn’t told the whole truth. In her dream, her only dream, played over and over since childhood, she had a solo show at the Musée d’art contemporain. She walked down this corridor. Composed and collected. Beautiful and slim. Witty and popular. Into the waiting arms of an adoring world. (A Trick of the Light, Chapter One, Paperback Edition)

Dedicated exclusively to contemporary art, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MACM) is the perfect setting for a Chief Inspector Gamache novel. The MACM has been described by one visitor as “Inspiring, provocative, and rewarding.” Pretty much how we sum up every Louise Penny novel!

Located on St. Catherine Street, Montreal’s main thoroughfare, the MACM was established in 1964 by a cooperative of both artists and collectors with the mission to “make known, promote and preserve contemporary Québec art and to ensure a place for international contemporary art through acquisitions, exhibitions and other cultural activities.”

The building itself, designed by the award-winning Jodoin Lamarre Pratte architectural firm, is a site to behold. Decidedly postmodern, composed of multiple angles, and topped with a giant pair of red lips. That’s right. A giant pair of red lips. The work of the gifted artist Geneviève Cadieux, the lips are actually her mother’s and Cadieux says the piece represents the “the idea of the feminine voice” as she feels “it’s very important for women to have a voice and be seen.” It would seem Louise subscribes to that very same maxim, don’t you think?

Inside the seven-story structure you’ll find diverse exhibition spaces, a theater, a library, and a multimedia room which are all anchored by its spectacular rotunda that represents the “pursuit of Drapeau-era ideals: the creation of a central artistic hub.”

Past exhibitions have included an amazing Jean-Luc Godard retrospective on his personal thoughts and images from the history of cinema, Karel Funk’s hyperrealistic paintings (see image here), and Young and Giroux’s re-examination of mid-twentieth-century modernism and the representation of consumer products.

Upcoming exhibitions this year include the work of David Altmejd, who, in creating his one-of-a-kind masterpieces, works with Plexiglas, polyurethane foam, synthetic hair, latex paint, glass eyes, domestic goose feathers, coconuts, and coffee grounds!

For more information on the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal please visit http://www.macm.org/en/.

Who here has visited the MACM?

MORRIN CENTRE, QUEBEC / THE LITERARY AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

“Inspector Langlois told me a body has been found in the basement of the Literary and Historical Society.” Gamache watched her as he spoke. “It wasn’t a natural death.” (Bury Your Dead, Chapter 3)

Founded in 1824 and housed in Morrin College (now the Morrin Centre) since 1868, The Literary and Historical Society of Quebec was Canada’s first scholarly order. Their aims are diverse but the preservation of Canadian history and the pursuit of knowledge are writ foremost in their charter.

That said there are plenty of bodies buried in their basement. . . .

The first structure to stand where The Literary and Historical Society now resides was part of Fort Quebec. Erected in 1712, the stronghold, known as the Royal Redoubt, housed soldiers and prisoners during the height of the Colonial Wars. Due to malnutrition and the prevalence of disease, many of these prisoners perished before the fortress was finally razed in 1808.

In 1812, Quebec’s first prison or the “common gaol” opened its gates at this location. Severely overcrowded and exceptionally filthy even for the time, the jail saw no running water until the 1850s. It housed both men and women and over a dozen of those men were hanged, their bodies strung out over the main entrance. Closed in 1867, remains of the gaol can still be seen in the basement of the Literary and Historical Society. Among the remnants is this graffiti (pictured here) from one Christopher Paul, an English sailor who was imprisoned in 1850.

In 1868, Morrin College, Quebec City’s principle English language institution welcomed its first class of students who sought higher education in Divinity, Law, and the Arts. While persistently underfunded and suffering from low enrollment, the college was very progressive for its time and admitted female B.A. candidates. One notable graduate was Dr. Margaret Ethel Fraser who went on to run the American Women’s Hospital Services in France during World War One.

The college shuttered its doors in 1902 and eventually became what the Morrin Centre is today. The Centre, by way of oversight from the Literary and Historical Society, now hosts concert performances, corporate events, and weddings. But, the real highlight of this Quebec City treasure is the English-Language Library which houses over 20,000 volumes of rare tomes. The Centre itself urges you to visit this hallowed hall and tell them what the room reminds you of—“Scenes from Louise Penny’s Bury Your Dead? Disney’s Beauty and the Beast? The magical library in the Harry Potter series?”

To plan your visit, go to http://www.morrin.org/en/.

Did you know that Tours Voir Québec offers a 2½-hour Bury Your Dead walking tour?
http://www.toursvoirquebec.com/en/our-quebec-city-tours-bury-your-dead

Have you taken the tour?