The Mother Lode

Can you believe this place actually exists?

Well it does, and we found it!

Not without a lot of trial and error though. But we’re going to let you in on the secret.

Every year we drive from Ontario to New Brunswick to visit our daughter and son-in-law (an now our grandson)! We vary our route a little each time, and search out some new sources for the rustic cabin antiques we feature at vintageadirondack.com.

The first year, we headed north to LaChute, Quebec for an Antique and Farmer’s Market. A dealer at the Aberfoyle Antique Market here in Ontario told us about the gathering of farmers and dealers from around Western Quebec that takes place every Tuesday in the summer. We found some fabulous farm fresh primitives at great prices, and discovered LaChute is a lovely little tourist town with lots to see and do.

The second year, we headed through Maine and met a customer from vintageadirondack.com to deliver an old wicker rocker to him. He was on the road in Maine doing some picking. He told us about Michel Prince, a huge treasure trove of architectural salvage and Quebec primitives right off the TransCanada highway between Montreal and Quebec City. If you’re in the market for lovely old primitive farm antiques, this is the place to go!

On the way back that year, after stocking-up at Michel Prince, I was Googling antiques in the area and came across Lauraine Gaudet Antiques in Maddington Falls, Quebec. A charming spot, Lauraine took over her father’s shop out in the countryside that has been there for over 40 years. We had a field day there!

This year, we wanted to visit Michel Prince and Lauraine Gaudet again, and we bought some real treasures at Michel Prince, like this incredible Antique Dough Bowlthat I decorated with some flowers from the garden:

and this awesome Double-Sided Antique Game Board:

But to our dismay, Lauraine’s shop was closed, so we started Googling again to try and find one more stop before heading for home.

And it was a disaster. Google sent us through the backroads looking for shops that no longer existed or that were a horror show of absolute junk. We were bummed and tired, and really just wanted to give up. And that’s when we found La Bigorne in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec, the most picturesque and charming antique and blacksmith shop we’ve ever seen.

Proprietor Clermont Guay is a blacksmith artist and a sign collector extraordinaire! And we bought some fabulous things from him including this incredible Vintage French Ice Cream Advertising Sign:

and this handsome Antique Wood Sap Bucket:

Re-energized and thrilled with our fabulous finds, we decided to make one more stop at another antique store Google found for us in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, which is a lovely town and the capital of wood carving in Quebec. Les tresors Antiques has been in business for 60 years, and the husband and wife proprietors were a delight. They had such wonderful Quebec carvings and unique items that we couldn’t resist buying a few more, like this fabulous Vintage Hand-Carved Deer Lamp:

This gorgeous Antique Copper Boiler with Lid:

this incredible Vintage Barn Thermometer:

and this gorgeous hand-carved Antique Duck Decoy:

By this time the van was truly full and we had had our fill of the bounty Quebec has to offer. If you go, be prepared with your high school French or an English-French dictionary, as most of these dealers did not speak much English. Or you can just visit vintageadirondack.com to see the best of everything this treasure trove has to offer! All of the items featured in this post are available now!