Sipping and Sniffing in Lac Brome, Quebec

Last night, after a filling and fabulous dinner, I was served a dark chocolate truffle that tasted of lavender.

It was an unexpected sensation, this hint of lavender on my tongue; my body is so much more accustomed to gathering this herbal delight in through my nose.

Well, today I shook the hand of a lavender grower when I visited a small lavender farm called Joie de Lavande.

Its fields don't yet measure up to those fragrant and photogenic acres upon acres in Provence, France. But this Quebec lavender farmer is still in his beginning stages. He only started his plants a few years ago.

Nonetheless, it was a pleasant treat to stop and smell the roses, er, lavender for a while or so. What was left of it anyway. Apparently, harvest season for lavender is in July.

To help me wash down my lavender-infused dark chocolate truffle last night, I sipped on a sweet and smooth iced wine.

And today, after various sightseeing, we stopped at the local winery that grew the grapes that produced the wine so that we could have some more.

The L'Orpailleur vineyard is the oldest in this part of Quebec, and it's managed to win quite a few international awards since opening in 1982.

Several of those went to the Vin de Glace, the sweet iced wine I enjoyed last night ... and again this afternoon.