In Search of Happiness in Saint-Eustache

This story originally appeared on July 17, 2025 in URBANIA, an online magazine based in Quebec focused on pop culture and society. The original title of this article, La ballade des gens heureux (de Saint-Eustache), hinted at a song by Gérard Lenorman from 1975 that just didn't quite translate right, so we tweaked it. Sorry, Hugo.

Summer is often a time of slow news.

Not all the time, I know. Sometimes a train explodes in downtown Lac-Mégantic or a teenager is shot by police in Montréal-Nord. But generally, the news is pretty slow.

Yes, yes, there's Gaza, Ukraine, Trump, tariffs, the weather apocalypse, etc. But there comes a time when the fourth estate also wants to smear Banana Boat on its face and sit on a towel by the pool. Not the one in Jarry Park, because it's full of shady men .