Friday, 22 September 2023
My Auutmnal Tea
Le vingt-deux septembre (aujourd'hui)
L'équinoxe cette année, c'est demain. Et pour moi l'automne, c'est au début de septembre que ça commence, pas lors de l'équinoxe. Cela dit, c'est une tradition que de partager Le vingt-deux septembre de Georges Brassens sur Vraie Fiction, tant comme célébration de l'automne que de sa mélancolie. Alors donc...
Thursday, 21 September 2023
Bedroom Wolfism
I haven't shared a Wolfism for a long while, not since August, so I thought a new one was long overdue. I think all parents can relate to that one. But anyway, here it is. So Wolfie sometimes plays in his room, which of course gets in a sorry state, like a pandemonium of toys and other things. So he tried to reassure me once, telling me before playing: "Daddy, daddy, I will not make my room very messy, just a tiny little bit messy." Can't say I saw much of a difference, but it could have been worse I guess.
RIP Le Fromentier
Très triste nouvelle que mon frère PJ m'a apprise: la boulangerie Le Fromentier ferme ses portes. Après 30 ans de service, autrement dit une institution. Pour diverses raisons: hausse des loyers, des taxes, concurrence, etc. C'est une énorme perte, je le dis sans ironie. C'est une partie du Plateau que j'ai toujours connu qui disparaît.
Wednesday, 20 September 2023
"Hey man, love your jumper!"
This is what my manager told me this morning at the end of our one to one meeting: "Hey man, love your jumper!" I thanked him, told him that I had beenw aiting forever to wear warmer jumpers. Not that it is that cold now, but it is cooler and often rainy, so you need warmer clothes. This is an old turtleneck jumper my mum bought me a couple of years ago, kind of thin but it does the job when it is slightly beneath 20. Anyway, I am grateful for that reminder: autumn is most definitely here and I can now wear comfy clothes.
La bannière du Salon du Livre 2023
The Gruffalo
L'automne et la lumière
Tuesday, 19 September 2023
Mushrooms (an autumnal chronicle)
Les pédalos
Monday, 18 September 2023
Blueberry Gin
Steak frites
Sunday, 17 September 2023
A portrait of Mary Shelley
Le Salon du Livre (rappel)
Saturday, 16 September 2023
Autumn Leaves
St-Viateur sur Mont-Royal
Whatever happened to the Veneziana?
Tonight, we went to Pizza Express for dinner, to meet my wife's friend who wanted to introduce her new fiancé to us. I always loved Pizza Express: the food may not be fancy, but the quality is always reliable. But recently, there is something that has been bothering me: the Veneziana, my go-to pizza when i go there, is no longer on the menu. The Veneziana has everything I love in a pizza: capers, olives, and well, that's it. They also give a discretionary 25p to the Venice in Peril fund for every Veneziana sold. Well, they still do, except for every mushroom pizza sold, because they don't sell Veneziana anymore. My question is why? Why is it no longer on the menu? Because I don't care about mushroom pizza. I mean I really don't. And I am all for saving Venice, mind you, but I will donate to the charity directly rather than eat a mushroom pizza. In the end, the Veneziana allowed me to make a good deed while enjoying a dinner out. Since it is gone, I don't find the menu of Pizza Express so appealing anymore.
Friday, 15 September 2023
Des vestiges de chemin de fer...
Petite nouvelle pour les amateurs de train, donc pour les gens comme moi: on a trouvé des vestiges de chemin de fer à Montréal. dans le quartier Saint-Henri, au nord de la rue Notre-Dame. Pas grand-chose à dire, sauf que c'est une nouvelle cool.
The Last Hunt in September
Fair warming: today's post is another piece of autumnal chronicle. This is the case for pretty much all of Vraie Fiction when September arrives, but hey. I make the most of my favourite season. This post will also be about The Last Hunt, crime fiction novel by South African crime writer Deon Meyer, often mentionned here. There is a line that struck me when I first read it four years ago and that has remained in my mind since then. This line, in chapter 71, which starts Friday 1 September: "It was cool and overcast, as if autumn was recognising this offical date for change." You will have guessed that this part of the plot is not set in South Africa, as this would be the southern emisphere and the beginning of spring. But it just made me happy as the character whose point of view we are following this considers autumn to start with the first of September. Daniel Darret, you are a an after my own heart.