Then we circled up through Cowansville, through Bromont, then east to Route 243 to head south to Knowlton, passing along the east side of Lac Brome. Leaving early on Tuesday the 14th, we crossed a remote border spot (again, you know I love those) and headed to Sutton to have lunch, but also to see the inspiration Boulangerie (below) for THE CRUELEST MONTH. Did you know you can get there in only three hours? We met briefly, reviewed the “inspiration” map below (which you can click on to enlarge), and booked our rooms. But alas, Louise has created the town from an assemblage of places in the Eastern Townships all a short distance from Knowlton. I became hooked, and in conversations with Tara, Carolyn, and Chris, we needed to search for Three Pines. Set in Three Pines in the Eastern Townships, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is the quiet hero who heads murder investigations, and becomes good friends with the town’s residents.

There is so much psychology revealed by her characters and you get to understand yourself and others better. I have now found award winning Louise Penny a brilliant writer filling her tales with intriguing paths of learning and characters that are flawed. A few months ago I was encouraged to pick up and read STILL LIFE. Last year she and a friend journeyed overnight to Knowlton, vowing to return. T loaned me a bag of Louise Penny mystery books, but sadly I never got into them.

Intriguing looking restaurants everywhere, shops… ” Well, I finally got back, on a mission with friends, and “I cannot wait to get back again.” And then I got to my first Chemin Des Cantons – Knowlton, where I strolled around. Some of the most beautiful scenery I have seen and most pristine properties. In that post I told you “… I cannot wait to get back.

It was on a “repositioning day” from Montreal to Whitefield, NH, in June of 2013 that for a second time I got well into the Eastern Townships of Canada.

Louise penny still life synopsis