The Consuls of Lac Saint-Jean
Lac Saint-Jean Consul Statues
100 Route des Trappistes
Dolbeau-Mistassini, Quebec, Canada
submitted by “Jo, eh”
Frequent contributor, Jo, is back with some very unique-looking statues that are currently on the grounds of the Monastère Notre-Dame de Mistassini.
I have to note that this may have been hardest roadside contribution to research yet. There is surprisingly very little information on the Internet about these curious Consuls. Luckily, I was able to find the Bluets du Lac-St-Jean blog which was very helpful (translated from French to English here).
According to Bluets du Lac-St-Jean, what Jo and I initially presumed to be statues of saints representing the various towns around the Lac Saint-Jean area in Quebec, are actually meant to represent fictional Consuls. They do, in fact, tell the stories of those communities though. It seems that they were originally along a footpath during an outdoor historical festival at a park near the monastery. They are now on the grounds of the monastery near its chocolate factory.
Each of the chairs gives a description of the history of the community that it represents.
I’m pretty famous for saying, “I want to go there!” to just about any place that someone brings up … but the Lac St Jean area looks absolutely gorgeous. The monastery where the statues now stand is famous for their confections, particularly their chocolate-covered blueberries. Unfortunately, the season runs from May through Mid-September so I’ll have to wait a while to satisfy a craving that I didn’t even know that I had. If you aren’t tempted too, visit their lovely website and I’m sure you’ll be on board for a road-trip!
History of the Chocolate Factory
The illustrations on their Easter page are adorable
Bonus:
A celebration of 50 years of chocolate-covered blueberries (in French)
Nice post, Wendy!
Here are some things that I thought monks did:
— Meditate and reflect
— Pray
— Live atop cliffs in stone buildings that you could only reach by climbing a rope ladder
— Make new copies of important books by writing them out, word by word and sentence by sentence, over the decades.
These are things that I did NOT know monks did:
— Make delicious chocolate candies
Thus, this represents important new important. I want to visit these monks and their “Candy of the Lake.” I would consider joining their venture, certainly, if I am qualified. (I’m balding. Does that help? Most monks are balding, in the picture in my head.)
And what chocolates they are! On the page you linked to, it stated that they have a 1600-gram chocolate rabbit. Google tells me that’s the equivalent of 3.5 pounds! …. OK, maybe I *shouldn’t* visit the monks, lol.
You’re right, though. It seems to be an absolutely gorgeous area.
I don’t think I would look good with a tonsure … but if it involved free chocolate???