Everything Train for Christmas

You may remember that last year I blogged about the Christmas presents you could buy at the shop of the the National Railway Museum in York. My wife spoiled me last Christmas with, well, lots of train related gifts, among them a Christmas train jumper (which you can see on this picture) and scarf. I think most of the presents she bought me were from the NRM, actually. You know how much I associate Christmas with trains. It is even more so now.

Ciné-cadeau est commencé

Je veux faire un petit rappel pour mes lecteurs du Québec, surtout ceux qui ont des enfants: Ciné-cadeau est commencé depuis le 5 décembre. Il me semble, je me trompe peut-être, que ça commence beaucoup plus tôt que quand j'étais jeune. Pas que je m'en plaigne (ou pas que je m'en plaindrais si je vivais au Québec): ça fait durer le plaisir et ça nous permet aussi de patienter d'ici à Noël. Mais sinon, dites-moi ce que vous pensez de la cuvée 2025 et si vous regardez Ciné-cadeau déjà.

Spiced Mulled Wine

I went to a local Christmas fayre recently. Our little town has one every year, I try to go there if I can. It's pretty much the same every year mostly a night of shopping for Christmas, but it is also the opportunity to eat and drink. And, often, to drink the first cup of mulled wine. There were stalls selling it everywhere. I took a glass from The Spiced Wine Company. Not sure why this one or another, as it was a quid more expensive, but I enjoyed the drink anyway. All warm and spicy and seasonal.

Neige encore

 Une autre photo de la neige à Chicoutimi, rien que parce que.

Crime Fiction during Advent

 I found this picture thanks to Books Are My Bag. Although I did not get my hands on this issue of Booktime, its cover got brought my attention to Murder By Christmas. You know I associate Christmastime with crime fiction, so I spent Advent reading crime fiction. I am kind of kicking myself that I did not buy this book to have as my literary Advent calendar. I have been wanting an Advent calendar related to crime fiction since, like forever. Maybe for next year.

La légende de Saint Nicolas

C'est la Saint-Nicolas aujourd'hui. Je partage donc une vidéo que j'ai trouvée aujourd'hui, qui raconte la légende sinistre que j'aime tant, ainsi que bien des choses sur le Père Fouettard et Krampus, ainsi que quelques légendes locales sur Saint Nicolas.

Grieving for Mozart

Sad anniversary which I commemorate every year: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died on the fifth of December 1791. His Requiem is  played all around the world to commemorate, I am doing the same here on this blog. It's been centuries, but the grief is still fresh: Wolferl died young, he died with an unfinished masterpiece. And I also thought this is a good opportunity to share a picture from our last trip to Austria. His statue in Salzburg. Sadly we didn'y visit his grave, even though he does not rest in it. Be that as it may, Requiem Aeternam, Amadeus. Dead, but truly immortal.

Neige

 Photo de la neige au Saguenay, à Chicoutimi. Elle date un peu, mais je la partage rien que parce que c'est l'hiver pour vrai au moins quelque part dans le monde.

Time for Christmascrimes

 'Tis the season to be reading, and, in my case, to read crime fiction. Especially crime fiction set during Christmas.  We had #Noirvember last month, I think there should be a #Christmascrime. But I am currently stuck when it comes to crime fiction: I am a bit bored with the novel I am reading, as I feared I would be, and it's not in season enough. So I am wondering if I should take a break from it and reread one Christmas crime novel I already read. Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series has a few titlesset in the Season, including The Pusher. Just for the very first sentence, "Winter came in like an anarchist with a bomb", I think I want to get back to it. But there are so many others to rediscover. And I could check in my TBR list if there isn't one set during Christmas, or at least in winter.

Les Bouquinistes durant les Fêtes

Photo prise sur la page Facebook des Bouquinistes. Ma librairie régionale préférée se met dans l'esprit de Noël et ils observent l'Avent en faisant des tirages de bouquins, notamment. Les Fêtes, c'est souvent pour moi les librairies, surtout les librairies locales. Alors donc je vous encourage à aller faire le plein de cadeaux aux Bouquinistes, si vous pouvez.

North Star Bucks Coffee

During our last family trip to a near(ish) petting zoo, which lead us to the North Pole through Christmas magic (or so said the elves who were not very little), we made a few discoveries. Wolfie was very skeptical it was the real North Pole, but I think it was. Asit turns out, they have their own coffee shop for Santa's helpers and anyone else living there: the North Star Bucks Coffee. Not related to a certain coffee chain. Of course, the bucks are meant to be reindeers and the North Star the actual North Start. I took a picture for proof of its existence.

Des rennes

 Noël ne serait pas Noël sans quelques rennes pour tirer le traineau du Père Noël. Même des rennes artificiels. Enfin bref, lors de notre dernière visite à la ferme pour enfants, où nous avons semble-t-il magiquement voyagé au Pôle Nord (petit loup est sceptique sur ce dernier point), j'ai pris cette photo des rennes qui tiraient un traineau immobile. Avec les sapins en arrière-plan, ça fait plutôt joli. Qu'en pensez-vous? Mais bon, j'ai hâte d'en voir des vrais. Je partagerai les photos dès que possible.

Wishing Tree

 Last weekend, we went to a nearby(ish) petting zoo for their special Christmas event, which included a visit to the North Pole to see Santa. Wolfie loves it. We think it might have been the real Santa, but we cannot be sure. Wolfie thinks he was, but he thinks this wasn't the real North Pole, even though the helpers told us we got there through magic. Anyway, there were many wonders there, including this WIshing Tree: you pick up the North Pole snow at its base, you blow it and make a wish. I don't know why there was a bear in the branches, but why not. Maybe the bear was the guardian of the tree? In any case, I'm sure this was a real magical Wishing Tree.

Murale de Noël

Photo prise sur la page Facebook de la Bouquinerie du Plateau hier. Je crois comprendre que la librairie a réouverte. Mais je partage parce que leur murale, même si elle est visible à l'année, est vraiment une murale de Noël.

Roasted Nuts for Christmas

 I love the products of  Rebellion Beer. I love their beers all time of year, but especially come Christmastime, because they really have perfectly seasonal ones. So yesterday, we went to a day out at the petting zoo, our first Christmassee day out, and I saw they were selling Roasted Nuts. Roasted Nuts is available all year round now, but it truly is a Christmas beer in my eyes. So I had half a pint, because that was the only format they were selling it into. On a cold day like yesterday, it's a pleasure.

La Marche des Rois

Comme le veut la tradition sur ce blogue, je partage La marche des rois. Je le fais parce que c'est le premier décembre, premier jour de l'Avent (en fait non, officiellement c'était hier, mais bon, ça n'a pas d'importance,pour tout le monde ça commence avec décembre).

The Marlow Donkey (the railway line)

I took this picture in one of our latest trips to Marlow. Before the Marlow Donkey was a pub near the train station, which was bigger than the one they have now, it was the affectionate nickname given to the branch line. I love all things trains and their history, big or small, so I wanted to share it here. If you increase the image, you might be able to read about the line's history.

Série Noire pour l'Avent

 J'ai blogué à plusieurs reprises sur Un beau cadeau, un polar publié par Série Noire. Le roman a cette originalité d'être un polar de l'Avent, donc un roman qui se lit comme un calendrier de l'Avent, un jour, un chapitre. Il y a de ça environ trente ans (je crois que c'était en 1998) que je l'ai vu pour la premièr eet dernière fois. Je regrette amèrement jusqu'à ce jour de ne l'avoir pas acheté. Mais je l'ai mis sur ma liste de cadeaux de Noël et j'espère pouvoir le lire pour l'Avent de l'an prochain. Il doit bien se trouver quelque part.

Christmas in the Jewellery

Is it too early to talk about Christmas? I guess not, although I try to avoid the topic until December, or at least until very late November. Well, it gets hard, as Christmas comes earlier and earlier. So anyway, you may remember that I blogged last year about a jewellery in Marlow that had really nice decorations. They did it again this year, with this big teddy bear and sort of slide of presents. It's very cute. Last time we went into Marlow, I took this picture so I could share it here.

Beaujolais pas nouveau

 Bon, c'est le temps du Beaujolais nouveau. Je ne suis pas un grand amateur de vin, ni encore moins un connaisseur, mais j'aime bien parfois suivre la tendance et les vieilles traditions, enfin bref, il m'arrive de boire du Beaujolais nouveau. Ma femme en a donc commandé lors de notre dernière épicerie. Je me suis rendu compte que c'était du Beaujolais de... 2023. Je l'ai bu quand même. Pour être honnête, je ne fais pas la différence.