as far as the tavern goes - i'm thinking mere as in mother. mother machie or michie. that makes sense. i'm preferring machie over michie on pronunciation alone.

QUEBECOIS

Well I met ya in the bar down in old St. Ours
The snow was a-creepin’ steady
And out in the street the ice was thick as sheets
And the snow was blowin’ heavy
Across the bound’ry in Franklin County
Haulin’ some wood from down east
Headin’ up to Ottawa my brakes gave out
And I had to push on my feet

Oh, you black-haired Quebecois, let me be your beau Francois
Ce soir, to-night, al-right
Oh, what you doin’ way up here, way across la frontiere
Ce soir, to-night, al-right

I’s a worn-out Yank with an empty tank
When I seen that sign through the snow
It was a little bar called L’Eglise St. Ours
So I figured I had to go
I walked on in and I seen ya grin
And I said “Bon soir, ma belle”
I bought ‘er a drink and I started to think
That she might have a story to tell

She said “Je m’appelle petite Jouelle,
Je suis de Trois Rivieres,
Et tu est d’ou mon petite chou-chou?”
Je ne connais pas, mon cher
My truck broke down eight miles from town
And my French it ain’t that good
But I like your smile, it’s worth all the miles
That I spent a-haulin’ that wood

My heart was on my sleeve, I was ‘bout ready to leave
When this stranger he walks through the door
He said “Quesque tu fait, avec ma fille?”
And my heart was lying on the floor
Well my wounds were licked, and the beer was kicked
It was time to get over this
I walked outside and I thumbed me a ride
And she came up and gave me a kiss