Italian Speakers in the Library

Something interesting happened last week during my Thriller Writing Course in the library: as we were discussing about, well, thrillers, an elderly man from the group a few tables away came and kindly asked us to be quieter, as they had difficulties to hear themselves. I thought we were fairly quiet, but anyway. We were very polite and told him we would be careful. We chit chatted briefly, and it turned out they are the Italian speaking group I blogged about in September 2024. So I took the opportunity to speak a few words of Italian, little I knew. The elderly gentleman was really impressed. Apparently I have a great pronunciation and accent. I even managed to converse with him in Italian, albeit it was a pretty basic chat. So I am thinking maybe I should meet that group, even though my Italian is basic. Practice makes perfect and I haven't practised in a long while.

Le Salon du livre en octobre

J'ai trouvé cette photo sur la page Facebook du Salon du Livre du Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean. L'édition 2026 est donc déjà annoncée et elle aura lieu en octobre cette année. D'habitude, c'est fin septembre. C'est vraiment le meilleur temps de l'année pour tenir un Salon du livre. Allez-y si vous pouvez, moi j'aimerais pouvoir y être.

About the last day of school

Today is the last day of school for Wolfie. Actually, it's only a half day: we are picking him up straight after lunch. So he is now on holiday. First, I want to get two observations out of the way: 1)school breaks way too late in this country. I mean, late(ish) July, really? That's at least two weeks too long. It also means that the gap between the beginning of the holidays and the new school year is very short. 2)I say all this this, but time goes way too fast. As for every end of school year, I am bittersweet about today: it means I will spend a lot of time with my boy, yet it also means he is growing up. I will try to keep him entertained every day. When I was his age, I had lots of things to look forward to during the holidays: the family pool, lots of free time reading, etc. I am very conscious that we are building his own childhood memories. No pressure.

Bientôt: le chocolat aux bleuets

Photo prise sur la page Facebook des Pères trappistes il y a quelques jours. Peut-être que cette information lorsque vous la lirez sera déjà passée date (j'écris mes billets de blogue de plus en plus d'avance). Alors enfin bref: les chocolats aux bleuets seront bientôt (sont déjà?) disponibles. Si vous le pouvez, achetez-les.

United Dairies Milk Tank

I took this picture at the National Railway Museum in York. My favourite museum ever. I share it today because, while I have seen many cargo trains in my life, I don't think I have ever seen a milk tank like this one. I mean, not on a train. I have seen similar things in the back of a truck, but never elsewhere. I wonder if they still transport milk by train. Anyway, I also share this picture to remind myself that trains are still used to transport goods. I mostly think of them as public transport.

Colline en juillet

"Quand la plaine est fumante et tremble sous juillet," chantait Brel. Ici, ce n'est pas un plat pays (l'Angleterre est très rarement un pays plat), mais les collines fument et tremblent quand même sous la chaleur. Enfin bref, photo prise lors d'une promenade.

Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife (Signature Weapon)

This is my new post in the Signature Weapons series, about weapons that are or could be, well, signature weapons for protagonists and/or antagonists, heroes and/or villains in crime fiction, spy fiction or adventure stories. So today we are talking about the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife. Okay, so a knife is a knife is a knife, but this one was first used by the British army during World War II. It's a sleek knife with a slender blade, it looks deceptively simple and sober. It does not make it any less lethal. Because it was used by an Allied force in World War II, I would tend to think it is more suitable for a hero, either in historical fiction or in a more modern setting. Although I think the F-S fighting knife might have been the weapon of choice of one very nasty villainous character in one episode of a famous British TV series. It might have been another sort of knife, mind you. Be that as it may, for a hero with a military background, particularly a British hero, this could be his signature weapon.

Il y a trente ans, le Déluge

Bon, je suis en retard d'un jour dans les anniversaires, mais je me devais de le souligner: c'est depuis hier le trentième anniversaire du Déluge du Saguenay. Je l'ai vécu, ce qui ne rajeunit personne. Je m'en rappelle encore. Pour mes souvenirs, vous pouvez lire ce billet qui date de 2016, pour les anecdotes des membres de ma famille, vous pouvez aussi lire cet autre billet du vingtième anniversaire. Ah oui, et pour ce que je pense du journaliste maintenant politicien Louis Lemieux, vous pouvez lire ce billet de 2017. Le Déluge, c'est aussi son avènement comme célébrité journalistique ("Godzilla régional surgi des eaux," j'ai quand même parfois une belle plume bien acérée). Des fois la tragédie prend des allures de farce.

The Strangest Pizza

During our time in Brighton, we went to a pizza place called Pinocchio. A family place with a typical Italian restaurant menu, nothing fancy, but honest food. That said, their trademark pizza, named (of course) Pinocchio Pizza, might have had the strangest mix of ingredients. It had mushrooms, olives, sweet peppers, prawns, anchovies, sausage and artichokes. So it was like a combination of two or three different pizzas. Of course, I had to try it. Quite an experience. Surprisingly, Wolfie wanted to try it, so I had to share a few bites. And he liked it too. Moral of the story: you can get creative with a pizza.

Un bateau vu de haut

 Photo prise à Brighton, du haut de la tour Brighton i360. J'ai blogué sur notre expérience à i360 il y a un mois. C'est trop court, mais c'est assez plaisant: on voit la mer et la plage vues de haut. Et aussi beaucoup de petits bateaux. Je n'ai pas pris de très bons clichés, je dois l'admettre, mais quand même, c'est toujours impressionnant de voir un bateau à partir d'une hauteur. Enfin bref, c'est ça, j'ai pensé partager cette photo de voyage, rien que parce que.

A promise of autumn

 Yes, I know, I know, we are in the heart of summer and it's still hot. Not exactly the heatwave we've had, not the worst of it anyway, but it's hot during the day. Yet, to keep my sanity and get myself in an autumnal mood, and because I am attuned to seasonal changes, I have started noticing a few small signs of the autumn to come. It's in the morning and evening when we can feel them. During camp night for instance, in the evening. The sun had not even set yet and there was a breeze and a proper chill. We had arrived in the afternoon, it was hot, we had brought no coat or fleece. Well, in our summer clothes, we were a bit cold. Oh, not much, but enough to feel the chill in the air. Right after a hot day. Then some mornings recently have been much cooler than we would expect. The breeze cools things down a lot, and it smells does feel a bit, just a bit but still, autumnal. So I keep saying to myself: we are not there yet, but this is a promise of autumn. Things will get better.

L'Aristocrate (billet nostalgique)

J'ai blogué en 2020 à propos de L'Aristocrate, l'hôtel à Québec où nous séjournions lors de nos vacances dans la capitale nationale, quand nous étions enfants. Je crois que c'est le premier hôtel où nous avons séjourné. En tout cas, c'est sans doute mon premier. Comme les vacances d'été arrivent à grands pas ici (je sais, elles sont longues à arriver en Angleterre), ça m'a rappelé mes séjours à Québec enfant, ainsi que le temps passé à L'Aristocrate. Avant de voyager plus loin, nous passions souvent trois ou quatre jours à Québec par été. Pour moi, la ville a été LA destination de nos vacances et une ville exotique et lointaine. L'Aristocrate était à l'époque bien plus simple que bien des hôtels visités par la suite, mais pour moi c'était le gros luxe. Je regarde les photos sur le site, et je trovue qu'il n'a guère changé depuis mon enfance.

Tarot Reader

It is Summerween and I'm already in a spooky mood, preparing myself ready mentally for Halloweenso let me blog again about an old horror trope. I took this in Brighton, on the Brighton Palace Pier to be precise. I think it's the very first Tarot consultant business I have ever seen. And in a cart, like in old horror movies. Now for the record, I do not believe in Tarot reading, or any supernatural in general. That said, I often read and watched horror stories when Tarot reading is involved in some capacity. And in fiction, it's always accurate, and more to the point, it's predictions are always catastrophic and sinister. So I associate Tarot reading with gloom and doom. It was a hot and sunny day when I saw this, yet seeing this I shivered.

La queue d'un dragon

Photo prise au Royal Pavilion à Brighton. Comme tout est décoré à la chinoise, ou en tout cas à la pseudo-chinoise, avec des dragons partout, il y a une exhibition sur les dragons. On trouve aussi dans le pavillons deux dragons espiègles (je ne me rappelle plus des noms), un rouge et un vert, qui se promènent partout et font parfois du saccage. J'ai pu prendre une photo de la queue d'un d'entre eux, qui montait une cheminée. Vous voyez les traces de ses pattes sur la dalle de pierre.

Summer Staycation?

 Okay, I am very late sharing and musing on this BBC article, which my wife sent me back in May, but here it is anyway. Apparently, because of international unrest, the Britons have been heading for a staycation this summer. Or rather, they will take their holiday within the UK. This seems to be the case for us. We considered going abroad, but for various reasons, one of them being the scorching heat that doesn't seem to leave and is even worse on the continent, we might actually stay in the country. If you have any suggestions, please let me know in the comments section. Preferably cool places.

"L'Objet du délit"

Bon, ben il y a un film français que je veux voir. C'est une chose qui m'arrive assez rarement, mais celui-ci m'intéresse. Vous devinerez facilement pourquoi. DOnc, le film a pour titre L'Objet du délit. Réalisé par Agnès Jaoui, il raconte une production troublée de l'opéra Les Noces de Figaro, de Mozart, alors que des allégations d'agression sexuelle éclatent. Une comédie dramatique inspirée du mouvement #MeToo, avec comme myse-en-abyme un opéra qui justement parle en des termes à peine couverts (sinon pas du tout couverts) de harcèlement sexuel. Vous pouvez voir la bande annonce plus bas.

The crab apples are green

We went to visits my wife's parents recently. Her mother planted a crab apples tree, which has been growing quite nicely. I love crab apples: my parents have a crab apple tree as well. When the fruits turn red, at some point in August, it means that it's time to harvest them and that autumn is going to be here soon. Of course, we are in the heart of July and the crab apples are still very green, as you can see. Still, in the hot summer days, crab apple trees remind me to be patient and help me wait for my favourite season.

William Walter

 J'ai blogué le mois dernier à propos de William Walter, le saucissier qui a été l'une de mes sources de bouffe lorsque je vivais à Montréal, sur le Plateau. Autant dire que William Walter m'a sauvé de la famine. Dans tous les cas, ma table aurait été bien fade sans sa charcuterie. Et je m'en ennuie.

St Swithin's Day

Today is St Swithin's Day. I like to mention it each year. You can read more about the day on the page here (with a lovely image), taken from What to Look for in Summer. If one is to believe the old tale, we are to have a sunny rest of summer. But it also reminds me that we are in the middle of summer and there is less of the season behind us than ahead of us. So I'm always carefully hopeful come St Swithin's Day.

Tilleul?

J'ai pris cette photo il y a quelques semaines. Je ne sais pas trop comment identifier les arbres, mais j'ai demandé à ChatGPT qui m'a dit que c'était peut-être un Tilleul. C'est un gros peut-être. parce que je l'ai pris de loin. Je vais prendre une photo de plus proche la prochaine fois que je passerai dans le coin. Le pire, c'est que j'ai un livret pour identifier les arbres. Je devrais l'avoir sur moi plus souvent. Je vais essayer de me rappeler de l'emporter avec moi lors de ma prochaine promenade.