Past Perfect tells the story of an exceptional, and exceptionally welcoming place. It also recounts the story of a city listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 and of a land with a long history of openness to the outside world. On Saint-Antoine Street, the pavement shows the changing high-tide line of the St. Lawrence River. The Auberge Saint-Antoine, despite its contemporary style, subtlely blends history with hospitality, evoking the shore, the wharves and the port and introducing us to residents and travellers of the past. Archaeological remains once hidden in the soil have been carefully restored and are now bathed in lights of changing colour, transforming us from passers-by into visitors. This elegant book uses both words and images to illuminate the links between past and present in the auberge's design. It also presents the multidisciplinary work of archaeologists and creates a dialogue with "those who went before." The title reminds us that we all make history every day – and, that perfection, while perhaps not found on this earthly plane, is the ideal honoured by all those involved with the Price family in the "adventure of the Hunt Block." You are invited to step into this past perfect...