In the 1800s, paper was sometimes in short supply. One solution was to write directly on objects, such as cabinet panels or the inside of a writing desk. As can be seen in a historic room at the Centre Marie-Rose, a writing desk used by the nuns at the time.
On the inside of the lid, the dates of spring break-ups on the river opposite were noted. Even today, you can still make out a few phrases dating from before 1880, including this pearl: “la glace a marchée” (“the ice has worked”). A poetic way of saying “at last, we’ll be able to cross the river in a boat again, to get to Montreal more easily”…
Interesting fact: the famous desk once belonged to none other than Louis-Joseph Papineau. Who, we presume, wrote his notes on paper…