Petro-Canada Convenience Store (Saint-Apollinaire)

Dear readers, this section is a very particular tribute to our dear Zakary, who will never forget our memorable stop at the Petro-Canada in Saint-Apollinaire on our last drive to Montreal. How to describe the atmosphere? Picture the set of a Quebec horror movie, but on a budget.

At first glance, everything seems normal. A classic service station just off Highway 20. Pumps. A sign. Nothing to be suspicious about. But the moment you push open the door of the convenience store… time itself changes. As if you'd just walked into an episode of Stranger Thinks, Chaudière-Appalaches edition.

The fluorescent lights flicker (or is that in our heads?). An indefinable smell — somewhere between coffee burnt since 1997, fryer oil that has never been changed and a mystery best left unsolved — gives us a warm welcome. 

The aisles seemed organized according to a logic known only to initiates: chips, auto parts, baby blankets, fishing line, and air fresheners next to the beef jerky. A coherent whole, in its incoherence. The sink in the washroom? A spiritual experience. The mirror? Cracked just enough to make the reflection slightly unstable. Our faces were never quite the same after that visit.

And what about the silent customer at the back, motionless, one hand resting on a bag of chips since we walked in? Still there when we walked out. Maybe he's part of the official furnishings? A mystery only Saint-Apollinaire knows.

If one day you plan yourself a « quick little stop » at this address, know what's waiting for you. Maybe pack a headlamp, in case the lights decide to give up for good.

And yet, in spite of it all… we're still laughing about it. Because it's stops like these that turn a road trip into a legend. Thank you Zakary, thank you Saint-Apollinaire, thank you Petro-Can — you gave us a story for life.