I was so excited to find this amazing French language book store in Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu. I had…read morechecked out a few book stores in Montreal but had not been able to find what I was looking for- small, pocket sized French- Spanish conversation guides and dictionaries. Librairie du Richelieu delivered! I found two super cute French-Spanish guides as well as a very amusing French-English guide book that I thought would be helpful for traveling in Canada. I learned French in college in a literature based program and can recite Baudelaire and describe beautiful sunsets and flowers, but don't know the French words for more practical things like speed bumps and tail lights that are kind of important in real life, especially when traveling. I think I spent over an hour in this place, it was so cool. There's plenty of stuff to look at. In addition to a huge assortment of books, there's a small gift section (complete with lots of greeting cards in French), a toy section, a section of children's books and a large section of school and office supplies. I think they were particularly well stocked because at the time I visited, it was right at the height of the back to school season. So many pens and backpacks! For books, they had a great selection of foreign language dictionaries and guides and lots of non-fiction including books on beauty, health, exercise (including lots of yoga books), and cooking. The staff seemed very willing to help. I had someone different check in with me about four times, but I was just interested in finding my guides and browsing all the coolness. For sheer selection of books, this place was so much better than the Librarie Renaud-Bray that I usually go to in Montreal. I am so happy to have discovered this treasure and future trips to MTL will include a stop in Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu to visit this cool place.

This is a cool bookstore and record seller in the area. We stopped by to check out some of the…read morevinyl and books. The store is large and the different sections and departments are clearly signaled. My husband found some really cool vintage vinyl at 3 for $12 CAD. Good variety and choices.

Okay, so here's the deal, I read a TON of French books. And Gallimard produces lovely editions. So…read morethis should sort of be heaven on earth, n'est-ce pas? Well... (First of all, in case it's not clear, this is a FRENCH bookstore. Just thought I'd get that out o' the way...) The store is fairly small, and there were definitely a few key things missing. But all in all, it's worth a look. The philosophy section is surprisingly bulked up for such a small store, and they have a decent collection of graphic novels. Oh! And a lot of cute kid's books, si t'as un enfant francophone dont il faut acheter des cadeaux d'anniversaire... Like most brick-and-mortar book shops these days, it's more about the experience of browsing (remember browsing through bookstores, guys? Remember how great that was?) than about actually finding a particular book that you need. And even if you don't read the language, it's lovely to poke around and enjoy the flawless simplicity of French publishing. Staff is friendly and helpful. (Even when I kinda faux pas'd by acting really surprised that they didn't have something in stock, seeing as how it's on the list of texts for the French bac. He was all, "Well, that doesn't matter, because this is actually Quebec." And I was all, "I know this is not France. Merci.") Anyway, they are all knowledgeable and happy to look things up. Long story short, worth a stop in, for the ambiance at least. Though I would also recommend you buy some books. Real paper books, with real words.