…I’ve never taken pictures in Lachute, Québec, before. Despite it being only 30-minutes from Vankleek Hill, I’ve only been there a few times — one of which was when I was a kid to watch a Vankleek Hill high school cover-band play a concert one night at the Lachute high school. Which, from memory, didn’t end very well.

Lachute is a small city of roughly 14,100 mostly French speaking people. It’s the poorest city in Québec — according to the 2021 census [link], 24% of people living in Lachute do so on an income less than $22,133 for a single person, or $56,400 for a family with two children [link], and the second poorest in Canada behind only Hawkesbury, Ontario… which, of course, is the closest city to Vankleek Hill. Lachute also has the oldest Agricultural Fair/Festival in Quebec — and the second oldest in Canada, and one of the oldest, and largest, Flea Markets.

The “Lachute Farmers Market, Flea Market and Horse Auction” runs 2-3 days per week, year-round, with Tuesday being the largest day. Sunday, the day my mom and I visited the Market last week, is its smaller version. But it is still, literally, acres and acres of Stuff [link].

There were tables of hammers, licence plates from every Province and State, machete’s and axes, Dollar Store crap, some pretty cool records, old stuff, new stuff, a tiny amount of pretty racist stuff, mounted animal trophy heads, farm fresh vegetables and fruits, ancient family photos, a lot of religious stuff, and more stuff.

There was also a well-used karaoke machine at the bar, and a restaurant that served a pretty good grilled-cheese with bacon.

…anyway. If you’re down with it, just click a photo to get the carousel going. No pressure.