Coin des Péchés

When I left you last, the Prince has gotten into a vehicle with a strange little Quebecois man, and was driving off to his countryside home where he would ride horses and eat hemp-burgers with renovating lesbians. Now, for the final half of the trilogy...

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Well, shortly after we had left the university, the car pulled up beside a small shop and the little stout man, who was my chauffeur, said, “Here we are!”

I looked out the window, and was a little surprised because it appeared that we were in a parking lot for a large mall that was right behind the little shop. At this point my fantasies began to waver, and my wide-eyed smile was dropping into an expression of disillusionment. There would be no writing poetry from the bay window in the attic.


What I found was something equally lovely in it’s own unique way.

The little stout man is actually called “Ivan Roberts”, and he is one of the best Luthiers in Canada (a Luthier stems from the word “lute”, and is the term to describe one who makes instruments). He lives with a woman named “Anne Jones” who is a sculptor and artisan. She specializes in paper-maché sculpturing, jewelry making, and designing marionettes. I have had the privilege of being matched with this couple for the duration of my language program here in Chicoutimi.

Ann and Ivan have their workshop in the centre-ville of Chicoutimi. They work downstairs during the day: carving wood, molding shapes, painting violins and marionettes, and living their creative lives. It is a bit like a storybook here.

Above the workshop is a comfy apartment with three spare bedrooms that they rent to students throughout the year. As I was the first of three students to arrive that Sunday afternoon, I had the first choice of bedrooms. I chose the sunniest bedroom with gentle tones of green. It also had a paper-maché wall hanging that portrayed a man with an erection chasing a red-haired naked woman, both under the watchful eye of a giant pig. It felt immediately at home.

It turns out that each room in the apartment is named- the kitchen is called “Aux Petits Oignons”, another bedroom is called “Soleil Rouge”, my bedroom however is called “Coin des Péchés”. Roughly translated, this means “center of sins”. I am going to have to get busy and live up to the name.

Anyway, later that day my two roommates arrived. First was Rachel, who walked up the stairs with two instruments in her hands and a friendly smile. She has worked as a project coordinator for Katimavik, traveled around the world, has run a marathon, and just finished her Masters in Urban Planning at Dalhousie (Halifax). Needless to say, Rachel is doing amazing things with her life and I am enjoying the process of getting to know her.

The third, and final, student to arrive was Evan. He came in smiling, but with a slightly disheveled aura around him. He then proceeded to tell the story of how he lost his bus ticket and had to buy another one. He has a talent for telling well-animated stories, humouring us his intelligent side comments, and stumbling out of his room late in the morning with epic bed-head. Evan is studying world religion at McGill and I hope that we’ll have the opportunity to continue learning the language together when we return to Montreal.

The three of us are all vegetarians (hence the reason we were housed together) and all originate from British Columbia. We are also at similar levels with our French; we can carry on basic conversations but struggle with the complexities of the language. Often we can be heard asking each other, “how do you say ‘Suck it up Buttercup’ in French?”, as well as many other important idiosyncratic phrases that are key to express oneself in a new language.

So this is the story of my temporary home in Chicoutimi. I am living above a little shop in the center of town with four other unique souls: Ivan the instrument maker, Ann the sculptor (and vegetarian chef extraordinaire), Rachel the achiever, Evan the actor, and me (the prince with the active imagination). There is a beautiful little balance here. Life goes well…




However, on Wednesday we received news that things would change.

(stay tuned!)