On the Road to Quebec

By CadyLuck Leedy on September 25, 2013

Autumn is right around the corner.  That would be a long corner here in the South. Today it is 85 degrees outside. Eventually, the leaves on the trees  will turn to flaming red, brilliant orange and deep green. They will last for two or three days and then drop off. I am ready for autumn now. A long beautiful autumn with brilliant colored trees, cool crisp days and evenings by the fireplace with mugs of apple cider. My thoughts turn to Quebec.  Autumn comes early in this paradise of color.  Their Thanksgiving festivals are in early October.  Leave the holiday to the end of October and there is a good chance for snow on your pumpkin.

We flew into Montreal the first time we went to Canada, but now we fly to Burlington, Vermont and rent a car in the States and drive into Canada. The roads in Canada are easy to navigate.  They are double lane with a median dividing them, small roads in the country with little to no traffic or gravel roads with a six foot drop on each side of it, an eye opener.  The stop signs and street signs are also several feet higher than in the States so they can still be seen when the snow piles up beneath them. There is abundant scenery. Let’s start in Montreal. We visited the Montreal Botanical Gardens and loved the Japanese Garden.

Canadians deck out the town for Fall and there are beautiful foliage arrangements and pumpkins everywhere.  If you look up ghostly exhibits await you.

Window Displays are Everywhere

When I was looking over my pictures for Quebec it dawned on me that I first went to the region in 2008 to meet the author, Louise Penny, for a book review and signing. When I think about it many of my planned excursions have been based on what I have read about the area in a book.  I don’t know why I did not realize that before now.

Since that first meeting with Louise Penny, we have made several trips to Quebec, Canada, but always in the Fall. Louise Penny writes a mystery series about Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and a  fictitious tiny village in Quebec, Canada, Three Pines. Louise’s latest book, How the Light Gets In , is #1 in Mysteries on the New York Times Bestseller List.  I have read all her books (start at the beginning) but I did not want to put this book down.  This is her ninth book and they all have been a delight to read. You will fall in love with all the characters and follow them along, in their ups and downs, throughout the series. Here are some pictures from the first book review I attended meeting Louise Penny in Knowlton, Quebec, Canada at Lake Brome Books, a tiny cozy shop nestled in a cluster of wooden buildings along the waterfront. In the bookshop you will discover a walkway to a small bistro with the best pumpkin pie I have ever eaten!

We visited the small village of Sutton, which is also a back drop for Three Pines village Louise writes into her mysteries.  On an early Sunday morning we were treated to fiddle playing and the singing of old Quebec tunes in a small bistro on Principale St while we munched on homemade delights. There is also a market that sells homemade breads, local meats, cheeses and  compotes that was busy serving up fresh turkeys and trimmings, and pies for the locals to take home and prepare for their Thanksgiving.  The entire village had a festive feeling!

It is such a joy to explore these tiny hamlets in the Eastern Provence of Canada!

To learn more about Louise Penny visit http://www.louisepenny.com

Practice your French, we go next to North Hatley, Quebec Canada, a must do Fall pilgrimage!