Inside Papeterie Saint-Gilles: Charlevoix’s Papermaking Économusée

There’s a quiet kind of awe that settles over travellers the moment they step inside Papeterie Saint-Gilles. It’s not the grandeur of a cathedral or the thunder of a waterfall; it’s the soft swish of pulp in a vat, the careful lift of a wooden mould, and the human rhythm of a craft that has survived precisely because people chose to keep it alive. On Charms of Québec, this isn’t a quick look through a window. It’s an intimate encounter with artisans, a living tradition, and the stories held in every sheet of handmade paper.

In Charlevoix, experience an Impact Moment as you meet the craftspeople behind centuries-old traditions. Watch paper take shape as it did in the 17th century, cotton fibers pressed into sheets before your eyes — with time to linger, learn, and ask questions along the way.

A Living Workshop

In the heart of Charlevoix, Papeterie Saint-Gilles isn’t a museum — it’s a living workshop where artisans turn cotton into handmade paper right before your eyes. They’re eager to share their craft, explain the process, and show how tradition lives on through touch.

Part of Québec’s Économusée model, Saint-Gilles puts makers at the centre and connects visitors to the heritage they preserve. Each sheet tells its own story: subtle textures from the human hand, delicate inlays of local flower petals, and the iconic Saint-Gilles watermark known to lovers of fine paper.

It’s creativity, culture, and craftsmanship, all beautifully intertwined.

The Travellers’ Experience

The Demonstration

The visit begins on the factory floor, where the scent of cotton pulp lingers in the air. The team welcomes you in, guiding you through the compact workshop where tradition still shapes every step. Watch an artisan dip the mould and deckle into the vat, lift it just so, and give it that gentle shake as the fibers knit together. The sheet is laid, pressed, and left to dry.

The Conversation

This is where the experience comes alive. Ask questions about tools, fibers, or how long it takes to master that steady hand. The artisans are generous with their stories: how they learned, who taught them, and how they’re passing the craft along to the next generation. It’s the human connection that defines the Économusée spirit, keeping tradition alive by sharing it.

The Boutique

By the time you step into the shop, the pieces on display feel transformed. You’ve just seen their origins and each notebook, card, and print now tells a deeper story. Some sheets hold petals from local flowers whilst others carry the elegant Saint-Gilles watermark. Every purchase supports more than an artisan. It’s a way of saying yes to heritage, craftsmanship, and community.

History Behind the Craft

Papeterie Saint-Gilles began with a writer’s dream. Novelist and poet Monseigneur Félix-Antoine Savard imagined books written on handmade paper created right here in Québec. In 1965, that dream found a home in Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive, when the old village schoolhouse was transformed into a workshop. Savard, along with his friend Mark Donohue, helped turn that vision into something tangible — a space where craft and culture could exist side by side.

Today, Papeterie Saint-Gilles stands as a working studio open to visitors, dedicated to preserving and sharing the art of handmade papermaking. Step inside and you’ll see artisans crafting paper much as it was done in the 17th century. Each sheet they lift from the vat holds centuries of tradition, creativity, and care.

Sustainable by Design

Every sheet of paper at Papeterie Saint-Gilles begins with cotton as a deliberate choice that reflects both durability and care for resources. Cotton-based paper is strong, long-lasting, and often made from reclaimed textiles, giving new life to what might have been discarded. It’s a reflection of the workshop’s identity as a social-economy enterprise committed to thoughtful, responsible practices.

Here, producing fewer, better things isn’t just an ideal — it’s a way of working. Each step is done slowly, with intention, honoring time and craftsmanship over convenience.

The studio’s small size adds to the experience. Demonstrations unfold just a few steps from the drying racks, close enough to feel the rhythm of the work. That intimacy changes everything. You don’t just watch paper being made, you begin to understand the patience, precision, and quiet pride woven into every page.

Meet the Makers

The artisans at Papeterie Saint-Gilles are keepers of a tradition that predates printing presses in North America. Their work is intensely physical — lifting vats, aligning molds, maintaining the steady calm that consistency requires — but it’s also deeply communal. By opening their workshop to visitors and mentoring apprentices, they ensure this centuries-old craft lives on, not as re-enactment, but as a thriving, intergenerational trade. It’s the essence of the Économusée spirit: transmit as you create.

When you visit, ask about the watermark that glimmers in the light. Ask how the pulp recipe shifts with the weather. Ask who taught them that subtle, practiced shake of the mould. In their answers, you’ll find where memory and mastery take root.

Buying With Intention

When you shop at Papeterie Saint-Gilles, especially after seeing the process firsthand, every piece feels different. A simple notebook becomes a travel companion with a story woven into every page. A pack of writing sheets turns the next letter home into an heirloom. And a single, frame-worthy sheet can find new life on your wall as a tangible reminder of Charlevoix, Québec, and the people you met along the way.

Each purchase supports a local, social-economy workshop and the artisans who keep its heartbeat steady — crafting beauty, preserving heritage, and passing it on.

Memories Made by Hand

In a world of mass-produced everything, watching something made slowly reminds you what value really feels like. The paper you take home from Papeterie Saint-Gilles isn’t just a keepsake; it’s a memory of care, of patience, of people who welcomed you into their workday. And because this workshop roots itself in sustainability and purpose, it feels good to support.

This kind of encounter can’t be found in a guidebook or on a screen. It’s rooted in place and time, made possible because artisans choose to open their doors and share what they love with travellers who soon feel like friends.

Papeterie Saint-Gilles is a reminder that in a world rushing towards convenience, there’s meaning in slowing down to appreciate the deliberate, the handmade, the personal. And perhaps that’s the true charm of Québec: not just its scenery or cuisine, but the way it invites you to connect with its people and its enduring sense of craft.

On Collette’s Charms of Québec tour, moments like this are woven into the journey — moments where you don’t just see a destination, but truly experience it, one handcrafted sheet of paper at a time.

Start planning your adventure today!