B onhomme Carnaval is a long way from home. A statue resembling the Carnaval de Québec’s iconic red-toqued snowman grins from the corner of a courtyard at Richard’s Motel in Hollywood, Florida. It’s early November, balmy and quiet aside from Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” playing over the speakers scattered around. Air conditioners click on and off as I scan the nearby buildings—the clay-tiled two storey behind Bonhomme, the shingled bungalow to my left—trying to decide where Richard’s Motel starts and ends.
Richard’s Motel isn’t a motel. It’s a patchwork of properties owned by Richard Clavet, who grew up in Quebec City. Clavet’s mini empire is made up of eight properties concentrated in Hollywood and nearby Hallandale Beach, all of which cater to Quebec snowbirds.
