A beautiful working monastery in the heart of the rural Eastern Townships, the Abbaye de Saint-Benoit-du-Lac was well worth the visit. It is a relatively modern monastery, built over the course of the early to mid 1900s. We went on a Sunday morning for mass and found the sanctuary full of parishioners and tourists. The Gregorian chant was beautiful to hear, although we weren't able to stay for the whole liturgy due to a very impatient infant.
We weren't there for a tour, but did stop to read some of the displays describing the history of the monastery and the rhythms of monastic life. The colored brickwork and overall architecture is beautiful. There aren't a lot of spaces open to the public, but we still enjoyed walking around and seeing some of the snow-covered grounds.
The monastery is known for its cheeses and jams, so a visit to the store was on our agenda. The store, however, was located in the basement, and the only access we could find was a flight of stairs. We had a stroller, though, and couldn't find an elevator. We ended up taking turns walking the baby outside while the other person explored the store. The grounds at this time (April) were mostly not open to the public, but I've read that they have some walking trails.
When it was my turn, I didn't have much time to look. But it looked like they had a large selection of abbey-made items as well as a bookstore with a good sized children's section. I bought some postcards and a French-language children's missel for a friend, but would have looked longer if I could. The Tall Man picked up a four pack of cheeses for a Swiss friend, who loved it, plus some other goodies, but we wished we had some jam!
They didn't have larger bags at the register, but they did have some empty boxes. There are a couple parking lots that quickly filled up for mass.
I would love to know if they have an accessible entrance to the store. By the time I found some of the store staff, though, I didn't ask since I needed to go. We noticed others who either left strollers outside or turned back from the abbey entrance. read more