Tombola

There was a school fayre this afternoon at Wolfie's school, I went there right after work, for the last thirty minutes or so. I had time to enter a tombola: you buy tickets and you could buy a bottle of wine, of beer or of whatever drink, alcoholic or not. It was £2.00 for five tickets. At first, I only found a pound, so I asked: "Can I have two tickets and a half?" I think it deserves to be a great unknown line. Not my best, but it's been a while since I shared one funny line. Anyway, I found another pound in my pocket, so I got my five tickets, then I bought some more. In the end, we got a bottle of red wine, a soft drink and a bottle of non alcoholic coktail. Not bad.

Chutes de Val-Jalbert

Photo prise par mon père des chutes de Val-Jalbert. C'est tout ce que je voulais montrer.

The Violin Theft

Here's a bit of crime news I found out recently, which both shocked and fascinated me: a man was arrested for the theft of a £150,000 violin. First thing to say: wow! That is one expensive violin. To be honest, its value is not exactly surprising. There are expensive musical instruments out there, artifacts from another time still in working condition.This one is from the 18th century. It's just the sheer audacity of stealing a musical instrument that I find morally repellent to the extreme. It's one of the worst kind of thefts I can think of. Unfortunately, the violin has not been recovered as I am typing this. On another note, this could make for a great starting point for a crime novel. It already did, sort of, I mean I read one crime novel featuring a stolen violin. If you want to know which one check this link (otherwise: spoiler alert). And the theft happened in a London pub, because of course it did. So please keep your eyes open. Probably your ears too. I hope they find the violin.

Le chocolat aux bleuets arrive...

Voici une annonce d'intérêt public (pour ceux qui peuvent) glanée sur la page Facebook des Pères trappistes: leur chocolat aux bleuets sera bientôt disponible. Qui sait, il est peut-être déjà là au moment où vous lirez ceci. La page Facebook n'a pas précisé de date. Dans tous les cas, un grand produit régional est en chemin.

Jack (O'Lantern) in the box

I don't believe in destiny, that said sometimes there are things that create a certain synchronicity, like circumstances match your state of mind. I started my job a month and a half ago or so, I received my computer at the end of May. It was an old box, full of old plastic bags used to protect the cables and everything, and it also had paper and... confettis. Among them, some shining confettis shaped like Jack O'Lanterns. God knows what it was doing there, how it got in the box, but I think like ol' Stingy Jack is telling me that I should start reading horror stories for my Halloween countdown. What do you think?

Chaudronnée de pleurotes

 Lors du dernier séjour de mes parents au village fantôme de Val-Jalbert, mes parents ont mis les pieds dans le Restaurant du Moulin, qui est je crois le seul restaurant au village. Ils ont l'air de faire de la bonne bouffe, à voir les photos que mes parents m'ont envoyées. Dont cette "chaudronnée de pleurotes avec carottes sucrées en filament." Même moi qui ne suis pas amateur de champignons, j'essaierais bien.

Reading Mugs at The Little Bookshop

You may remember that I bought a "Go away, I'm reading" mug back in 2017. Well, I was happily surprised to find the same mugs in The Little Bookshop in Cookham, during our first and so far only visit there. I know they are available online as well, but it's nice to know we can buy reading accessories in the bookshop as well, and invest in an independent business without hoarding books. Now I won't buy more, because our cupboards are even more crammed than our bookshelves. That said, if my mug breaks, I know where to go to replace it.

Val-Jalbert

Mes parents ont récemment été au village fantôme de Val-Jalbert. Je sais, je sais, on l'appelle maintenant le village historique de Val-Jalbert, mais pour moi, ce sera toujours un village fantôme. Un de ceux qui hélas n'a pas d'histoire d'horreur à son nom (pas que je sache en tout cas), mais qui devrait. Enfin bref, je regarde cette photo et je crois qu'il devrait y avoir un fantôme ou deux qui s'y cache. Est-ce que Val-Jalbert fait quelque chose de spécial pour l'Halloween? Si non, il devrait. ENfin, dans tous les cas, je vais bloguer plus de photos du village envoyées par mon père.

Sunflowers

I saw a lovely sight yesterday, while we were getting Wolfie from school: in the front garden of one of the houses there, two sunflowers growing. When I was a very young child, I mean very young, before my youngest brother was even born, my father had two sunflowers like these growing in our then very bare garden. I loved them. For me, sunflowers is a sign of autumn, either autumn that has arrived, when they are fully grown, or autumn coming, when they are growing. So it is another sign that reminds me of my favourite season. It helps me to stay patient.

"La pièce qui tourne mal"

 Des fois, on donne à des choses des titres prédestinés. Enfin bref, j'ai appris dans la grosse Presse, grâce à mon frère PJ, qui m'a refilé la nouvelle, que le comédien Guillaume Lambert s'était blessé à Drummondville lors d'une représentation de... La pièce qui tourne mal. Ça ne s'invente pas. C'est pour ainsi dire tenter le sort. Blagues à part, je lui souhaite un prompt rétablissement. Autre détail anecdotique: j'ai déjà connu un Guillaume Lambert. Mais non, ce n'était pas le comédien.

Superman in Milton Keynes

 I know there is a new Superman movie in the theaters now, but I am not blogging about it. I haven't seen it and don't know know if and when I will. But something showed up on my newsfeed that made me want to blog about the superhero: this BBC article about Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. For two reason: first, it is the very first Superman movie I saw in cinema (and only one of two, I might add), on his release in 1987. Second, some of the film was filmed in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. And I lived there for a little bit. Not very long, but I do know the town. I only ever watched the fourth Superman movie once, maybe twice, but I have been wanting to re-watch it ever since I learned about this little bit of trivia. I watch the pictures of the shooting and I can easily recongise the Milton Keynes' train station (doubling at the UN building I believe). It feel a bit surreal, knowing I have been where Superman was. Oh, and for the record I know the film is terrible.

Le 14 juillet au travail

 Aujourd'hui c'est le 14 juillet, donc la Fête nationale française. Un jour intéressant quand comme moi on s'intéresse à l'histoire et au moins un peu à la Révolution française. Je le souligne à chaque année. Mais ça veut aussi dire autre chose pour quelqu'un qui, comme moi, travaille au moins en partie en contact avec le marché français, mais vivant hors de France, ça veut dire une journée tranquille au travaille. Pas ncéessairement plus plaisante, parce que se tourner les pouces, c'est épuisant aussi. Alors aujourd'hui, je risque de trouver le temps long. Et ça se pourrait que ce soit tranquille demain aussi, pour des raisons évidentes.

Mental State: Spooky

Is it too early to think of Halloween? Is it? Of course it isn't! And I'm so glad to see that I'm not the only one to think like this. Anyway, I saw a meme yesterday on my feed and, well, it was this one. It's both very cute and very me. It may not be autumn yet, far from it, it certianly does not look like it, but I will very soon be reading horror stories and this will kickstart my countdown to Halloween. I need to think of something else than summertime, I am officially done with it.

Promesse de pluie

 J'ai pris cette photo il y a une semaine seulement, juste avant que la canicule nous tombe sur la frippe. Nous sortions d'une canicule et la température avait soudainement baissé de manière dramatique, à mon plus grand bonheur. Il a fini par pleuvoir, assez pour nous rafraîchir, mais pas assez pour faire verdir la nature: partout l'herbe est encore très jaune. Ils prévoient encore de la pluie dans quelques jours, mais je ne retiens pas mon souffle: je sais que je risque d'être déçu. C'est trop long l'été...

Spy Activities

I love Usborne books. And I always look for new and old books from them. A few weeks ago, in a local shop (though ironically not the local bookshop, I stumbled upon Lots of Spy Activities, a book of, well, activities and games for children. I didn't know they had such book. I did not buy it, I swear, I restrained myself. However, I took a picture of it, as a reminder, and to show it to Wolfie. I asked him if he wanted the book, and he said yes. So I think he might get it for his birthday.

Une voile

Photo prise par mon père à La baie en 2023, je faisais le ménage dans mes photos quand je l'ai trouvée. J'aimerais qu'il vente comme cette journée-là. Et être près de l'eau.

Sake

In recent years and for a number of trivial reasons I cannot be bothered to dwell on just now, I have started developing a certain interest about Japanese culture. This is kind of new, but you might have noticed it on this blog. So yes, a few days ago, looking at the stocks of alcohol we have, I was wondering if I should not try sake again, if I can find any good quality sake nearby. I say try again, because I did drink sake once, back in 1996(!), in a course about world's literature(!!). The teacher had given us samples to try at the end of a class. I had not been impressed then: I thought it had a papery taste. But my tastes in alcohol have evolved a lot since and I am wondering if I should give it another try. If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments. Also, tell me if you have any experience drinking sake.

Question existentielle (397)

 Question existentielle d'une importance vitale ces jours-ci:

-Comment survivre, mentalement et physiquement, à la canicule? 

Non mais c'est sérieux. 

Coolcation

Sometimes I discover new concepts, thanks to internet algorithms. A few days, I stumbled upon an article about the best coolcation destinationsin Europe. The term coolcation is self-explanatory, but I think it's the first time I ever came across it. According to AI, a coolcation is "vacation taken in a cooler climate to escape the summer heat". Which is exactly what I need right now. It is exactly what I need every summer, come to think of it. Anyway, be that as it may, it is a nice concept and the word of the day. I might come back to this article in the future. In the meantime, if you have any suggestions for coolcation destinations, please tell me in the comments. I need them.

Festival des vins de Saguenay

J'apprends au hasard qu'il y a un Festival des vins de Saguenay. Et que c'est commencé aujourd'hui. Alors, voilà, annonce d'intérêt public: c'est du 10 au 12 juillet.