Some entrepreneur could make a few bucks by making a tourist attraction from the apartment made famous by the song Suzanne by Leonard Cohen.
The song references a multitude of local scenes, including the St. Lawrence River and the Our Lady of the Harbour Statue near the Bonsecours Market, near Common St. and of course...um... the "heroes in the seaweed" who are undoubtedly down there too.
Those who visit could re-enact the famous poetry that ensued from Cohen's platonically dropping in on Suzanne Verdal, then wife, or perhaps estrange-wife and dance partner of sculptor Armand Vaillancourt.
I dropped in on Vaillancourt's home a few years back and asked him about where exactly the apartment was but didn't get a precise answer.
One local hotel called the Auberge de la Place Royale will rent you room 202, that they claim was the 500-square foot spot that the encounter took place in.
The joint is adjacent to the Helios Cafe, which was supposedly the notorious spot where James Earl Ray was encountered by his mysterious guide in the quest to kill Martin Luther King a couple of years later.
I'll have to see proof before I'm convinced however.
And even if it's the real spot, what we need is an actress, a hologram, or a robotic Suzanne bringing you tea and oranges all the way from China.
Cuz supplying your Suzanne might be a bit of work. I don't want to scour the Salvation Army to find a new-gen Suzanne.
The song references a multitude of local scenes, including the St. Lawrence River and the Our Lady of the Harbour Statue near the Bonsecours Market, near Common St. and of course...um... the "heroes in the seaweed" who are undoubtedly down there too.
Those who visit could re-enact the famous poetry that ensued from Cohen's platonically dropping in on Suzanne Verdal, then wife, or perhaps estrange-wife and dance partner of sculptor Armand Vaillancourt.
I dropped in on Vaillancourt's home a few years back and asked him about where exactly the apartment was but didn't get a precise answer.
One local hotel called the Auberge de la Place Royale will rent you room 202, that they claim was the 500-square foot spot that the encounter took place in.
The joint is adjacent to the Helios Cafe, which was supposedly the notorious spot where James Earl Ray was encountered by his mysterious guide in the quest to kill Martin Luther King a couple of years later.
I'll have to see proof before I'm convinced however.
And even if it's the real spot, what we need is an actress, a hologram, or a robotic Suzanne bringing you tea and oranges all the way from China.
Cuz supplying your Suzanne might be a bit of work. I don't want to scour the Salvation Army to find a new-gen Suzanne.