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Lake Saint-Pierre

North shore of Lake Saint-Pierre

History and heritage buffs won't want to miss the Magasin général Le Brun in Maskinongé.

The red-brick façade of the Magasin général Le Brun

For more information (in French only): Magasin général Le Brun

Owners Isabelle Thibeault and Richard Vienneau will show you around this fascinating early 20th century store, which is part museum and part shop. Nearly 7,000 historic artifacts, some dating back to 1840, are displayed in the store.

Man in period clothing in front of the cash register of the Magasin général Le Brun

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Visitors can admire hats, toys and seven skillfully painted, multicoloured phonographs, which help evoke an earlier time. Visitors will be delighted by the candy counter, where a wide range of old-fashioned sweets will awaken childhood memories.

A variety of colourful products in the Magasin général Le Brun

This welcoming shop features a variety of local products.

Wooden staircase and antique clock inside the Magasin général Le Brun

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This enchanting store looks like an illustration in a children's book. It was recognized as a historic site in 1981.

A woman in front of a gramophone on a counter at the Magasin général Le Brun

The second floor houses a theatre that can seat nearly 100 people. A pianola, an early version of the mechanical piano, is concealed behind a case. This rare musical instrument, dating back to 1904, is one of only two of its kind in Canada.

Man playing an antique musical instrument: the pianola

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Renowned writer, physician and politician Jacques Ferron (1921-1985) grew up in this charming home in Louiseville. He is known for his fantastical and poetic writings. His caustic humour, creativity, sense of irony and taste for the media circus expressed themselves in full with the creation of the Rhinoceros Party.

Red-brick home where writer Jacques Ferron spent his childhood.
Large trees in front of an old gray stone church
Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue Church on Chemin du Roy in Louiseville

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Journalist, lawyer, civil servant and writer Antoine Gérin-Lajoie was born in 1824 in this house near Yamachiche. He entered the Nicolet seminary in 1837, where he was noted for his intelligence and skill as a writer. The rebellions of 1837 and the subsequent exile of the Patriotes inspired him to write the lyrics to what would become an extremely popular song.

Antoine Gérin-Lajoie's childhood home in Yamachiche

Nérée Beauchemin lived in this house in Yamachiche from 1878 until he passed away in 1931, at the age of 81. He was a physician and a poet, and published two volumes of his work: Les floraisons matutinales (The Morning Blossoming) in 1897 and Patrie intime (Intimate Homeland) in 1928.

Red-brick home of the writer Nérée Beauchemin
Nérée Beauchemin's home in Yamachiche

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