Windy and Autumnal September Day

 It is getting a bit warmer and it should get borderline Indian summery soon (albeit we did not really have a frosty day), however, I cannot complain too much, as we have been blessed so far with a very autumnal September. It has been suitably cool and we even had two days ago a very windy day, enough so there was a yellow warning of winds. Nothing to worry about, it was just really nice and it allowed me to wear for the very first time a thick jumper, because temperatures had gone down with the wind. We had a perfectly autumnal September day and I was in seasonal heaven.

Le Parc Chopin modernisé

J'ai déjà blogué sur ce parc de Chicoutimi, celui qui était le plus proche de chez nous. Un parc presqu'entièrement condamné, devenu un trottoir entre deux quartiers. Bien, il semblerait qu'il soit redevenu un parc,mais en plus modeste et en plus sobre. Mon père m'a envoyé des photos. Un peu triste que ce ne soit pas conçu pour des enfants, mais bon, c'est mieux que rien. Et autre détail: je me suis rappelé que son nom officiel est (était?) le Parc Chopin. On l'appelait le Parc de la Clé de Sol, parce qu'il y avait une emblème avec une clé de sol à son entrée.

Cat’s Eye

Well, I didn't expect that. Have you ever heard of the manga series Cat's Eye? It's a caper series about a trio of sisters who are also cat burglars, one of them in love with a young police officer who is bound to catch their cat burglars alter ego. I never read it, but when I was a kid I did watch its anime adaptation. Growing up on Japanese anime, I was bound to come up with it, but I enjoyed it far less than other animes. In fact, I borderline hate watched it at times: too over the top, even for an anime, with a bumbling cop heroic antagonist who was seriously stupid, burglars who did not wear gloves... Well, I wasn't a fan. A few years later, I rewatched a few episodes on YouTube, and frankly it didn't change my mind. Of all the Japanese cartoons we young Quebeckers had, Cat's Eye was one of the silliest. So why am I blogging about it tonight? Because it got adapted again. You can see the trailer below. I might give this one a chance, if only because it's a new adaptation and I (re)discovered recently with Wolfie that I enjoy Japanese cartoons. Worst case scenario, this Cat's Eye will be as bad as the 80s one. Anyway, did any of you ever watched the old anime or read the manga? Tell me in the comments.

Question existentielle (399)

 Une question existentielle inédite jusqu'ici, enfin je crois:

-Qu'aimez-vous faire en septembre? 

J'aime faire bien des choses en septembre, mais je suis curieux de lire vos réponses.

Pot Roast

 My dad sent me this picture of a family classic this time of year: the pot roast. I remember having one every year, either in August or in September, but truly this is a proper September meal. I consider it an autumnal meal in any case, because you eat the products of early harvest; parsnip, carrots, cabbages (surprisingly tasty with plain white vinegar), sweet corn (a staple for autumn if there is one) and some meat to give it a bit of proteins and taste. There's more, but as long as you have your root vegs, your cabbage, sweet corn and a bit of meat, you are set, you have a pot roast.

Le programme du Salon du Livre

Je suis en retard sur la nouvelle, mais je tenais à donner l'information ici: j'ai appris via la page Facebook du Salon du Livre du Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean que leur programme est maintenant disponible. Je n'y suis jamais vraiment allé au programme, en fait j'y allais quand je pouvais, la plupart du temps le samedi en famille, ou lors d'une sortie scolaire. Mais bon, toujours utile d'avoir la programmation.

"Bokke"

 A few days ago, my wife and I were on our way to pick up Wolfie from school when I saw a man walking on the other side of the street. He was wearing a green hoodie with the words Bokk printed on it. So I recognised right away the nickname of the Springboks. I was happy that I picked it up. I know nothing about rugby, far too little for my taste in fact, but at least I know about the Springboks. It's sort of my team, even though I don't follow rugby: my father-in-law is South African and he is of course a massive Springboks supporter. So is his son. Therefore out of family solidarity, I support the South African team. To my wife's dismay, as she is English and, well, she supports the English team. So anyway, I did not shout "Go Bokke!" to him. Maybe I should have had.

Le Viennois de Chicoutimi

 Question pour mes lecteurs qui vivent à Chicoutimi ou au Saguenay: quelqu'un a déjà visité la pâtisserie Le Viennois? So oui, c'est comment? Ils ont aussi une page Facebook, ui semble alimentée (ha, ha, ha!) de façon très sporadique. Enfin bref, depuis que ma femme a vu qu'il y avait une pâtisserie de ce nom à Chicoutimi, elle se demande comment ça se fait qu'on n'y a jamais mis les pieds. Et ça m'a frappé: moi non plus, je ne pense pas y être jamais allé. Je me rappelle de la défunte pâtisserie Allard, qui était dans le même coin, sinon la même bâtisse. Mais après, je n'ai jamais vu de quoi avait l'air son successeur. Parce que je n'étais plus dans la région sauf durant les vacances, sans doute un peu, mais aussi parce que j'étais encore en deuil de la pâtisserie Allard. Il faudra d'ailleurs que je blogue sur le sujet un jour. Mais sinon, si vous savez quoi que ce soit sur le Viennois, dites-le moi.

The Manchurian Candidate... again

 I went downtown recently to buy a few things, I stopped in a gifts shop. The shop sells a few books without being a bookshop, mostly coffee table books and whodunits. So I was surprised to find The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon on display. I have it, I read it, I watched the movie so often I cannot count. In fact I loved it so much that I made a reocmmendation to read it back in 2017. I don't know if you are like me, but sometimes I just wished I could discover a book all over again for the first time.

Des cadeaux pour Wolfie

 C'était la fête de petit loup récemment. Wolfie a neuf ans. Je vais dire un cliché mélancolique: le temps passe trop vite. Cela dit, célébrer son anniversaire est toujours vraiment plaisant. Je veux dire, j'aime plus sa fête que la mienne, même si c'est dur de voir qu'il grandit si vite. Et puis on le gâte. J'essaie de ne jamais être excessif, mais, ben... Jugez-en par vous même. Vous voyez ici les cadeaux achetés par moi, pas les autres achetés par sa mère. On n'y est pas allé avec le dos de la cueillère de main morte, mettons. C'est peut-être un peu parce qu'il est enfant unique, même si je m'étais promis de ne jamais trop le gâter, c'est un peu aussi parce que sa fête est un peu une seconde enfance pour tout le monde. Mais au moins, il n'est jamais ingrat ou blasé.

Kidult

 My wife sent me this YouGov article about kidult behaviours and activities, thinking it sounds very much like me. In case you don't know (and I sure did not until I rea the article), a kidult is an adult whose interests are ore aligned to the ones of a child, among other things his medias consumption. Yes, I agree, it does fit me, but I always thought it was due to my natural nostalgic temperament. Because I am nostalgic, guilty as charged. In case you haven't noticed. Anyway, maybe this blog is an extension of my so called kidulting. Be that as it may, kidult is the word of the day. And on a final note, I am wondering what are your thoughts on kidulting. Please leave a comment.

Pain saveurs d'automne

J'ai pris cette photo sur la page Facebook de Première Moisson. Il y a bien des choses que j'aimede cette boulangerie-pâtisserie, dont ses produits automnaux. Il y en a un qu'ils ont sorti récemment: un pain saveurs d'automne. Décrit comme "un mariage qui célèbre l’automne et les moissons à la perfection," il est fait de "pommes fraîches du Québec, de dattes, d’épices automnales, de miel et de graines de citrouille grillées". Vous devinerez que ça parle mon language.

A perfect autumn evening

 I don't care what people say, we are in autumn, even though the equinox is stil a week and a half away. Our family had the opportunity to appreciate it during our evening walk. It was, in fact, a perfectly perfect autumn evening. It was a little bit after six o'clock, sunny, but the air was chilly enough so we needed warm clothes. It felt and smelled autumnal around us. Comfy clothes, comfy weather, the sun about to set... I just felt great.

Les requins du Saint-Laurent

J'avais blogué sur le sujet le mois dernier: il y a des requins blancs dans le Saint-Laurent. Le 9 septembre, on sortait un autre article sur le sujet dans la grosse Presse. Outre cela, on donne quelques conseils de prudence, comme par exemple de ne pas aller nager près des phoques. Les phoques faisant partie du régime alimentaire des grands blancs, ils pourraient confondre le nageur et l'animal. Et si ça arrivait, le nageur dirait vite phoque. (Pardon pour le calembour atroce, je ne pouvais pas résister.) Non mais blague à part, je trouve cette nouvelle fascinante. Ce qui m'inquiète, ce n'est pas tant la présence de requins blancs dans le fleuve, mais c'est le réchauffement des eaux qui est la cause de leur présence.

Medieval Fantasy Read

Anybody among you ever read The Innocent Mage? Or anything by Karen Miller? Anyone? I'm asking the question because I bought it in a thrift sale for Wolfie a few weeks ago, for a quid. I thought at this price, it could not be a bad investment. I don't think he will read it any time soon, at least not by himself, but we do enjoy reading bigger books together, albeit we haven't done it in a while. Maybe it's too grownup for him for now, in which case I might read it by myself. There is another reason for my purchase: I thought I might use it for inspiration for our Dungeons & Dragons game. Wolfie's character is a mage, so it seems like a fitting source.

Arc-en-ciel (2)

Autre photo prise par on père de l'arc-en-ciel sur Chicoutimi, il y a quelques jours. Je la partage parce que.

9/11... again

I always commemorate the anniversary of 9/11. I am doing it this year again with this post, although I don't write long posts about it. From my thoughts and memories about it, read this post from 2008 and that post from 2009. However, I will say one of thing of what happened in the USA since. On the 11th of September 2001, democracy in the West and in the USA in particular was attacked. Islamic fundamentalism showed its ugly nihilistic head. Sadly, nowadays democracy in the US is falling apart, not because of an alien force of Islamifascists, like almost a quarter of of a century ago, but because of the Xian fascists who took power. So yeah, I am feeling a tad cynical and gloomy today, thinking about it.

Qu'en est-il de la St-Ambroise à la citrouille?

J'ai piqué cette photo sur la page Facebook de McAuslan. Elle date de... 2019. Je regardais mon fil sur les réseaux sociaux, et une chose m'a frappé: je ne trouve nulle part de signe que la St-Ambroise à la citrouille est de retour. Pourtant, elle arrive en général au début du mois de septembre. À Monréal, c'est ma bière pour l'Halloween et pour l'automne. Je sais qu'ils ont changé leur branding un peu à McAuslan: la Griffon est devenu la St-Ambroise Rousse. J'espère qu'ils n'ont pas mis fin à leur bière à la citrouille...

Halloween Activity Books

Oh goodie, goodie, goodie! Halloween is not as big in this country as it is in mine, but at times, the English make an effort. So I was walking in one of the local shops yesterday when I saw these Halloween activity books. I didn't buy them, although I was very tempted. I think Wolfie might already be a tad old for it, but I might try to convince him all the same. I love doing activity books with him. And, I know you cannot judge a book by its cover, even a children book, but I'd buy them for the cover all the same. What do you think?

Un chemin de fer à Val-Jalbert?

Mon père a pris cette photo à Val-Jalbert.La patente à gosse que vous voyez est, je crois, une draisine. C'est le mot du jour. J'en ai vu par le passé, mais je ne ne savais pas le nom jusqu'à ce que je fasse une recherche hier. Enfin bref, s'il y a une draisine sur des rails, c'est qu'il devait y avoir un chemin de fer, c'est donc qu'il y avait un train qui passait par Val-Jalbert. Enfin, qu'on me dise si j'ai tort. Si c'est le cas, le village est encore plus cool que je pensais.

Daunt Books Abroad

 You may remember that back in June, I blogged about the bookshop chain Daunt Books. Well, I saw someone carrying one of their bags again. Not in London, like last time, not in England in fact, but in Austria. In om Salzburg, to be precise. It was most likely a British tourist, but I thought it was nice to see it there. I know it was only a bag, nevertheless it's  nice that this small chain of indie bookshops is thriving, thriving enough to see their brand even when we are abroad. That's encouraging for literature and book lovers like myself.

Les récoltes du marché

Photo prise par ma mère au Grand Marché de Québec. Quand je vois des légumes comme ça dans un marché local, c'est automatique, je me rappelle du temps où on allait les chercher dans le jardin de mon oncle. Un autre rituel qui me rappelle le retour de l'automne. 

I'm a Cryptkeeper

 You might have noticed another badge on the sidebar of this blog, a badge I also add on this post. As the Countdown to Halloween is getting closer and closer, I have of course decided to become a Cryptkeeper again. I am a little bit nervous this year: as I registered to the countdown a bit late, Vraie Fiction is not on the blog roll yet. Not as I am typing it. But otherwise, check this space for a lot of Halloween stuff, most of the time related to scary stories.

Arc-en-ciel

 Mon père m'a envoyé des photos d'un arc-en-ciel qu'ils ont eu récemment. C'est drôle, parce qu'on en a eu un aussi il y a quelques jours, à peu près à la même date. Enfin bref, c'est joli.

Blood Moon

Tongith is a full moon, the one for September, and it is also a Blood Moon. I know it was a full moon (I do because I'm a werewolf, no just kidding), but I did not know it was a Blood Moon. My wife informed me and, at her suggestion, we all went out when evening had started falling to see the Blood Moon. We could not even see the moon. All the same, it was nice being outside when the sun was falling down. It is a simple pleasure we need to enjoy more often. Oh, and a question about full moons: are there any "normal", regular full moons? It seems that each and every one of them is a Blood Moon, or a Strawberry moon, or a Blue Moon, or a Whatever Moon.

Thé et calembour atroce

 J'ai pensé à ça ce soir, et ça me trottait dans la tête: ma femme, bien qu'anglaise, n'aime pas le thé. Je sais, c'est ironique, dans une nation d ebuveurs de thé. Elle le sait depuis qu'elle en a essayé enfant (on essaie d'inculquer de bonnes habitudes aux petites Anglaises, mais ça ne fonctionne pas toujours). Alors j'ai fait cette constatation: Carrie a toujours détesté le thé. On peut même dire qu'elle l'a toujours détesthé. Et oui, je viens de commettre un nouveau calembour atroce.

True scary stories in the library

I took this picture in October last year (I think) in the Marlow Library. The town of Marlow is a lovely place to go to any time of year, but especially round Halloween, when it is really atmospheric and eerie at places. I haven't been there in month, so I don't know if they are already in a spooky mood in its library, but I am and I have started my Halloween reads, which consists of a lot of ghost and horror stories. I don't imit myelf to fiction, but also to alleged real life hauntings and alleged true stories of the supernatural. Not that I believe in them, I am a skeptical person, but they give you a chill nevertheless and can be a great source of inspiration when you try to write horror stories yourself. And there is just something about reading ghost stories in an old library such as the Marlow one.

L'automne à Première Moisson

Photo trouvée sur la page Facebook de Première Moisson. Ils sont en mode automnal et j'en suis heureux. Ils ont pleins de desserts pomme et érable, selon ce que je peux voir. C'est vraiment dommage qu'on n'ait pas un commerce de bouffe avec un état d'esprit pareil.

"Hello Darkness My Old Friend..."

No, no, I'm not speaking about the song. Although yes, I love it. I don't think I shared this meme before on this blog. I have first seen it a few years ago and I loved it. So I am sharing it today. Here darkness is coming around 8:00PM these days, but it's already an improvement. Evening falling earlier and earlier is one of the things I really love about autumn, so I am welcoming this seasonal change. Especially since autumn evenings are so beautiful.

Turbine de Val-Jalbert

Mon père a pris cette photo lors la visite de mes parents au village fantôme (je ne veux pas l'appeler village historique, c'est un village fantôme, bon!) de Val-Jalbert. Parce qu'avant d'être un village fantôme, c'était un village tout ce qu'il y a de plus vivant, dont la vie économique dépendait d'une papeterie. Quand même, la photo ici a quelque chose de spectral. Depuis que je suis enfant, je crois toujours que Val-Jalbert devrait être le lieu d'une histoire d'horreur. Tout y est: un lieu abandonné au milieu de nulle part, plein d'atmosphère, une nature proche et étrangère à la fois, de l'architecture rétro, ainsi qu'une technologie qui paraît maintenant bien impuissante.

Mushrooms Sighting

Two of our neighbours, an Italian couple I blogged about before, have got themselves a brand new lawn. As I walked by their place recently, I saw that it already had mushrooms on it. No dandelions, no daisies, but mushrooms. I don't know if they'd like this sight, but I was quite happy about it. Because mushrooms are one of the signs that autumn is here, or at least on its way. I love to see mushrooms come September. Less so to eat them. But I thought this looked quite nice, soberly elegant.

Des pommes au marché

Je place ici une autre photo prise par ma mère au Grand Marché de Québec, rien que parce que. On y voit des pommes, des tomates et des haricots. Mais ce sont les pommes qui retiennent mon attention. J'adore acheter des pommes dans les marchés, surtout ces temps-ci, parce que c'est le fruit de l'automne.

The Monster Game

I blogged before about All About Monsters, the very popular Usborne book about, well, monsters, mythical as well as cryptids. A lot of emphasis was put on the cryptid ones, actually. When Usborne republished the book, I quickly bought it. But I discovered that one thing in the French translaitonw as missing in the original English: the Monster Game. Truly a board game that was made of the last page of the book, especially created, I think, for the French edition. I'm not sure why. The objective of the game was finding evidence for the existence of a lake monster, the Monster of Ellness Lake, basically a thinly disguised Loch Ness. We never played it. The rules were shoddy at best, for one. My brothers and I used the Monster Game, however for a few make belief games set around a lake and involving a cryptid like this one. Our characters explored the lake in a bathyscape, we questioned the locals, etc. It was quite fun. Anyway, I asked my father to send me pictures of the "Great Monster Game", beacause I wanted to share this memory on the blog. And because it might come in handy.

Un bateau dans le parc

Des fois je trouve que mon fils a une enfance plus distrayante que la mienne, rien qu'en allant dans les terrains de jeux dans les parcs. Parce qu'ils n'ont pas que des glissoires et des trapèzes, ils ont aussi parfois, ben, ça. Dans un parc à quelques minutes de chez nous, on trouve ce bateau, qui est un grand succès depuis que Wolfie a deux ans. Et encore, dans les plus grands parcs de la ville, il y a des jeux qui sont des navires et des jonques chinoises. Mais je pense que c'est celui-ci son préféré.

September Bucket List

I found this bucket list online and I thought it looked very nice. There are so many things I want to do this month, only a few of them on that list, so many ways to enjoy this month and my favourite season. Because make no mistake, we are in autumn already. So yes, I want to press leaves in a book, buy a knit piece of clothing (in a thrift or not, try a recipe with apples and go on a walk.

Salon du Livre 2025

Petit rappel que le Salon du Livre du Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean aura lieu du 25 au 28 septembre. Dans un nouveau lieu et je sais, la bannière est un peu poche cette année. Mais c'est mon salon du livre préféré et j'ai d'excellents souvenirs de mes visites.

"Back to school" tomorrow

 If this pic looks familiar, it is because I shared it last year. It might become a new tradition. If I am sharing these two pages from What to Look For in Autumn, it's because I must have read them a dozen of times this evening. Tomorrow, my son is going to be back to school and I am simply not ready. I think I am dreading it more than he does. He grows up so fast.

Mafalda et la pluie

 J'ai trouvé ce gag sur la page Facebook officielle de Mafalda. Je me sens mélancolique ce soir, alors je partage. Mafalda a le don de nous faire sourire et verser une larme à la fois.

Skorpio, the South African Scorpion

Great news for me, who loves crime fiction and who really enjoys the work of South African crime writer Deon Meyer: there is more news about his new novel: it will be released in Afrikaans in November 2025, then translated at some point in 2026. It will feature Benny Griessel and Vaugh Cupido. Furthermore, from what I understand of this cover, explosives will be part of the plot. Its original title will be Skorpio, which I guess will be Scorpion. Although with a k and wihtout the n, it sounds more menacing. I'm excited.

Le boudin Chez Lévêque

Autre photo prise lorsque mes parents sont allés Chez Lévêque. Ma mère (je crois que c'était ma mère, en tout cas je crois que c'est sa main sur la photo) a commandé du boudin noir. Ca a l'air dégueulasse, du boudin noir, mais quand c'est bien fait c'est vraiment très bon. Je crois que la dernière fois que j'en ai mangé, c'était à un déjeuner dans un hôtel. Il était un peu sec. Enfin bref, c'est toujours intéressant de voir un met rustique, voire un repas de pauvre ou en tout cas prolétaire, se faire gentrifier comme ça quand il se retrouve au menu d'un restaurant.

"The dirty golden mustard of September"

And I stop by a gateway
To smoke a cigarette
And stares across the fields and remember
The gypsy fairs of August
And early evening haze
The dirty golden mustard of September

Martin Newell, Black Shuck
 

I quote this poem every year or so, but not this specific stanza. I do the previous one, but rereading it yesterday as I often do during my reading ritual in preparation for Halloween, the last line struck me. This is what it has started to look like now outside, the trees have dirty golden mustard spots in their branches. Dirty golden mustard is the colour of September. Oh and you can most definitely feel (and enjoy!) the early evening haze too.

La vache au marché

 Mes parents ont pris cette photo au Grand Marché de Québec, il y a quelques temps. Impressionnant et magnifique.

First autumnal walk

As it is today the first day of September, which I consider the first day of autumn (see my post from earlier on, and in the meantime enjoy a gorgeous seasonal picture), I made a point of going out today after work for a quick walk. I finish work early, so it allow me to have more fun and more active end of afternoons. Wolfie went out with me. We did not walk very far, just to the nearest corner shop and back, but it was a long enough walk to last fifteen minutes and back. Enough to get a feel of the atmosphere. It was not cold, but we put on light coats to be comfortable. It was a really lovely moment.

Être d'accord avec Régis Labeaume

J'ai lu aujourd'hui la chronique de Régis Labeaume dans la grosse Presse. Je la lis parfois, mais pas très souvent. Je n'avais jamais pensé avoir beaucoup d'affinités avec l'ancien maire de Québec, mais ô surprise, il aime l'automne comme moi. Avec un titre qui dit "L'été est fini, enfin!", je constate qu'il a les mêmes sensibilités par rapport à la chaleur, mais aussi qu'il considère que l'automne commence avec le mois de septembre. Enfin bref, j'ai bien aimé ma lecture.

Long-awaited September!

Happy first of September to all my readers! At last it is here! I have been waiting for it since at least June, if not May. Today is, for me, the true beginning of autumn. To commemorate and celebrate it, I share here a basket full of crap abbles and apples, and their jellies, home-made by my parents. They took this picture back in 2008 I think, took a lot of them actually. I think it makes for a perfect horn of plenty. Boy am I a happy fellah knowing that September is finally here! Be warned: this blog is now mostly an autumnal chronicle.

Val-Jalbert (un souvenir)

 Photo prise par mon père des chutes de Val-Jalbert. Pourquoi je blogue sur cette photo aujourd'hui? Parce que je me rappelle d'une vieille annonce à la télévision sur le village fantôme. Elle passait ces temps-ci de l'année, enfin dans les semaines avant l'Halloween.  On y voyait des dessins de fantômes surimposés sur des images de Val-Jalbert. Durant les semaines du retour à l'école, elles me mettaient de bonne humeur.

Porcelaine anniversary

Today is my wife and I are celebrating our 18th wedding anniversary. From what I read online, it means we are celebrating our porcelaine anniversary. Although, according to Wikipedia, the 20th year of marriage is marked by the porcelaine anniversary and there's nothing between the 15th (crystal) and the 20th. So I am quite confused. Its gemstone is the chrysoberyl, commonly known as cat's eye. But in the end, what matters is that we will celebrate today with our little boy and that we built a family together.

Foie de veau (Chez Lévêque)

Mes parents sont allés Chez Lévêque il y a peu de temps. Je crois que nos vacances en Autriche les ont influencés: ils ont mangé riche. Ceci est un foie de veau, avec pas mal de gravy et des patates pilées. Deux choses à dire sur cette photo: 1)on n'a plus le foie de veau que l'on avait. Dans mon jeune temps, le foie de veau, c'était une pénitence. 2)laportion est gigantesque. Je suis allé Chez Lévêque une fois je crois, en 2009. Il faudrait peut-être que je revisite un jour, lors d'un prochain séjour à Montréal.

The Birthday of Mary Shelley

Today is a  big day for any fan of classic horror stories and Halloween lovers: it is the birthday of Mary Shelley. She is of course the author of Frankenstein. I pay homage to her every year on this blog and I always make her birthday one of the benchmarks of my countdown to Halloween. Her most famous novel is one of the happy discoveries of my early teenage and I go back to it from time to time. I have been trying to find the cover of the first version I read, no luck yet. So to accompany this post, here is a portrait of her. Happy birthday Mary!

Murale de fleurs et de champignons

Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo, prise à Montréal je crois. Une murale de fleurs et de champignons. Les champignons étant des aspects de l'automne, je trouve cette murale automnale.

From Salzburg to Vienna by the railway

You might have been wondering when I would blog about it. Well, here it is: the railway travel post, because I must blog about trains, from time to time. But I digress. So anyway, one of the many, many, many pleasures I had during our time in Austria was the train journey we had. Too short and I wished we had done more travel by train, but to me it was a long awaited rediscovery. So we went from Salzburg to Vienna by the railway. As I said, it was only one journey and a too short one at that, boy did I enjoy it. I love all train journeys, but I had forgotten how nice Austrian trains are. They're clean, they're spacious, they're comfy and, at least when we traveled, they're not overcrowded. Seriously, even the common, plebeian train we traveled on, in economy class (or whatever they call it), has way more to offer than most of what I experienced in this country. I think even the French trains are not that good. I could go back to Austria just for its trains.

Je t'aime en Nestea

Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo. Je ne sais pas si c'est une vraie de vraie pub de Nestea, ou si c'est un artiste québécois avec le sens de l'humour qui a fait ça pour rire, mais en tout cas, j'ai bien ri. J'aime le thé glacé, j'adore le thé en général et, sans rire, ça me confirme que le thé, bien c'est plus cool qu'on le croirait au premier abord. Non mais sans blague, qui aurait cru qu'on pouvait faire une publicité de thé et lui donner une touche aussi québécoise? Que dire de plus? Je ne crois pas avoir déjà bu du Nestea, mais je vais corriger ça au plus tôt.

Autumn Rehearsal

You might think I'm obsessed about autumn, and you would be entirely right. I'm very obsessed about it. But these days, we have been blessed with signs of the autumn to come. August is not always a very nice month for people like me: it can be too hot, too summery, and it often is. Indeed, it has been this year, until fairly recently. But now, it is much cooler, it does not get any higher than lower 20s in the middle of the day, so from the evening (which comes way earlier) until morning, I can actually wear a light jacket, pure blissful joy. It often has that autumn breeze as well. It is like we are in a full on autumnal rehearsal. I even saw some leaves changing colour, although they are hard to spot.

Un hiboux de Riopelle

 Mon père a pris cette photo, devant le Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal. C'est une statue de hibou créée par Riopelle. Je n'ai pas grand-chose à dire, sauf que j'aime les hiboux, alors bien entendu j,ai voulu le partager, et puis c'est un Riopelle, ce qui n'est pas rien. C'est quand même cool que l'on ait accès comme ça, gratuitement, à une oeuvre de Riopelle. Et je trouve que Riopelle a bien montré l'aspect un brin effrayant et toujours mystérieux du hibou. Il a presque l'air d'un fantôme.

The Ferris Wheel from The Third Man

I haven't yet shared a picture of our time in Vienna. I was wondering what to share first, then it struck me: the ferris wheel we see in The Third Man, a movie I really like, both a spy and crime thriller. If you haven't seen the scene, you can find it on Youtube here. You may not know this, but Vienna used to be a center of international espionage and criminality. It might still be the case now, although the city looks far more joyful and bright. In The Third Man, it looked and felt dark, or rather Noir. We went there of course. It really felt like we were in a film.

Blonde de Soif

Je partage une photo prise par mon père d'une bière de la Brasserie Port-Alfred. C'est la Blonde de Soif. J'avais partagé une photo de la bière dans un verre ici, mais je voulais montrer la canne, parce que j'aime bien l'ancre et le thème nautique, que l'on ne voyait pas.

Overly Sarcastic Productions about Quebec's Architecture

I don't know how I could miss this one a few weeks ago: Overly Sarcastic Productions made a video about Quebec City's architecture. I must confess, I learned a few things. Here it is for you.

L'épaisse du Saguenay

Des fois je me désole du Saguenay et ma fierté de Bleuet en prend pour son rhume. On a eu pndant des années un maire ultra catholique enfant de choeur attardé, la nouvelle mairesse se fait condamner au criminel pour fraude électorale. Bon, je sais, elle porte sa cause en appel, mais ça regarde mal quand même. Si elle avait un peu d'honneur, elle démissionnerait afin de préparer son appel. Mais elle s'accroche. Épaisse. Vraiment, les politiciens locaux, au municipal, c'est vraiment pas riche.

Wolfism about Caffè Nero

 I blogged a few days ago about the imminent opening of Caffè Nero, which I was quite looking forward to. My wife and my son don't share my interest in this coffee chain. And Wolfie reminded me why: last time we went to a Caffè Nero, we had a rather lacklustre experience. Bad enough for him to remember it. Too many people, barely anything to eat or drink behind the counter, dirty place, it truly was a terrible experience. As he explained himself in an hilarious Wolfism: "It was like: "Welcome to the King of Rubbishness!" So we might not go there any time soon, come to think of it.

L'odeur du papier, des crayons, etc.

L'école recommence dans une semaine environ. Un peu plus d'une semaine en fait. Même si je ne suis plus aux études, il reste que depuis que Wolfie va à l'école, c'est redevenu une étape importante de nos vies de parents. Et j'ai toujours en tête les rituels de mon enfance, devenus nos rituels de famille, lors qu'arrive ce temps de l'année. C'est le temps des achats de fourniture scolaire: les cahiers, le papier, les crayons, les effaces, la colle etc. Ce temps-ci de l'année, la vie a des parfums de papier, de crayons, de colle, etc.

Back to work today

So as the title of this podt states, I am back to work today, after a long holiday break. As it was a bank holiday yesterday, I am starting on a Tuesday and the working week will only have four days. And thankfully, I work from home. So I should not complain, things should go fairly smoothly (touch wood), especially since I had a very long holiday break. As always, I am kind of anxious about what happened in the office while I was gone, I always feel like this. It was the very first holiday I took since I started in my new job and so it is my very first return from leave. Otherwise, I don't go back to work with a feeling of gloom and doom like I was with my previous job, not for now anyway. Which is always in itself a positive sign.

Mafalda siempre

 C'est le temps de l'année où l'on se sent naturellementplus mélancolique: je suis de retour au travail après des vacances, les vacances scolaires achèvent, c'est donc le temps où je lis des Mafalda. Enfin, quand j'en avais à la main, il me faudra les acheter un jour. Dans tous les cas, voici une photo prise sur la page Facebook officielle. En espérant que ça vous guérisse de la mélancolie. Vous sentez-vous comme ça quand vous allez vous coucher, surtout la veille d'une journée de travail? Moi oui. Et c'était le cas quand j'allais à l'école aussi.

So I read Gibbet Hill

 You may remember that I blogged last October about the rediscovery of Gibbet Hill, a ghost story of Bram Stoker that had long been forgotten. Well, I did not waste time and bought it a few months ago. As this is now my officious countdown to Halloween, since we are after all in Augtober, I read it already, along other scary or supernatural stories. It was first on my to be read list this year for the spooky season. And I loved it. I will blog about it in more details in the future, but to all the horror fans among those following this blog, I heartily recommend it. There is a lot to love about it: it's set in October, it's beautifully eerie and atmospheric, there is plenty of horror and a fair deal of gore too. Some of the ideas he placed in there, he deveoped them later in Dracula (but I guess all his writing ultimatey leads to his most famous novel). Oh and, bonus point for those living in England: Stoker used real places for the story's settings, so you can visit them if you are so enclined. I will mention more about it in a future posts, but one in particular isn't so far away from where I live. So yes, read it if you can.

Framboises blanches

Mon père a acheté des framboises blanches il y a quelques jours et m'a envoyé une photo. Parce que... J'avoue que je les trouve pâlottes et pas mûres, mais j'essaierais quand même, par curiosité. Pour moi, les framboises, ça représente la cueillette de la fin des vacances, chez mon oncle. On y allait au moins une fois par année. C'est l'un des rituels de mon enfance qui me manque parfois. Enfin bref, ça n'a l'air de rien, mais cette photo est un peu l'une de mes madeleines de Proust.

Signs of autumn: the breeze and the light

 I don't want to sound like I am repeating myself, but I know I am. But I need to keep in mind that autumn is on its way, because tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, it is meant to be hot. Well, by hot I mean around 25 degree Celsius, the temperature that gets me uncomfortable. One last blast of that dreadful summer. But I do know autumn is coming. Because in the middle of the week, it should cool down considerably, in the lower twenties. Then there is he cool breeze we feel. Just enough to give a shiver. Even watching it in the trees, it makes you feellike autumn is near. And finally, there is the sun going down earlier and earlier. Sometimes August just feels like autumn, like it's the case now. Sometimes.

Et maintenant le vin blanc...

 Parce que le vin rouge me fait éternuer, j'ai décidé petit à petit de l'éliminer de mon régime et de privilégier la bière et le vin blanc, même si je n'ai jamais été un grand fan de ce dernier. Mais au fil des années, j'ai appris à apprécier le vin blanc et à accompagner mes repas avec, puisque je ne pouvais plus autant apprécier le rouge. Jusqu'à ce soir: je viens d'avoir une bonne crise d'éternuements comme si j'avais le rhume. Ce fût pénible, pour moi comme pour ma femme, qui déteste quand j'éternue comme un éléphant enrhumé. Enfin bref, je ne veux pas devenir (entièrement) sobre, mais ça commence à bien faire. On dirait que le vin ne veut plus de moi.

Sausage and sauerkraut

Well, it had to come to this: I had to share here what I ate during our time in Salzburg. Because yes, it was maybe the most unhealthy food I ever ate during a trip, it was fatty, meaty, what have you, but it was delicious. Anyway, the first proper Austrian meal I had was in the restaurant of the Hohensalzburg Fortress. Authentic veal sausage, hash browns (the fried potato thingies) and sauerkraut. I regret nothing: it was delicious.

La Justice de Salzbourg

 J'ai pris cette photo à Salzbourg, une des nombreuses statues que l'on peut voir. Sans farce, j'ai rarement une aussi petite ville avec autant de statues, même ici en Europe. C'est bien entendu une représentation allégorique de la Justice. J'avais déjà blogué un peu sur cette allégorie en 2021. Mettons que la statue est pas mal plus belle. Mais enfin bref, si elle n'était pas couverte par une sorte de mince grillage, on se croirait à une autre époque. Parce que, comme je l'ai djà dit hier, on dirait que Salzbourg est une ville hors du temps.

The signs of the coming autumn

 This post is another autumnal chronicle or, rather, a pre-autumnal chronicle. Because for the last few days, I have seen the signs of the upcoming autumn. I have made a list here, because I am in an autumnal mood already (being my favourite season and all that) and because I want to savour each moment, each manifestation heralding its arrival:

-After weeks of heatwave, the temperatures have finally gone down. Oh, it's still in the lower twenties and it's not auutmnal yet, but it's a welcome change from the year. And you can feel a coolness in the air, especially in the evening, that really feels autumnal.

-The breeze. It gives you a slight shiver when you feel it, and it smells moist and ever so slightly not quite summery.

-Dusk. The sung goes down way earlier and you can finally see it. Even my wife noticed it yesterday. 

-The leaves have already started changing colours on some trees.

So there you have it. We are not there yet, but I am starting to feel the season coming. And that makes me very happy.

Les enseignes de Salzbourg

 De retour de Salzbourg depuis deux jours, je me permets de mettre sur le blogue quelques photos de voyage. C'était la première fois en plus de trente ans où je mettais les pieds dans la ville. Elle n'a pas vraiment changé, enfin selon mes souvenirs. Sauf pour une chose, circonstantielle: c'était très pluvieux lors de ma première visite alors qu'il a fait une canicule cette fois-ci. Mais il y a une chose qui n'a pas changé: les enseignes des commerces dans la ville. On dirait que Salzbourg est un peu figé dans le temps.

Mozart Everywhere

"Oh my God, the dude's everywhere!" This is what my wife said on our first day in Salzburg. She was referring to two things: first, the iconic image of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, which was indeed everywhere, albeit mostly in a dignified form, tall, handsome, commanding. Not exactly how I imagined the hot kid from Salzburg to have been in real life. Second, the Mozartkugeln, which are sold everywhere, in every shop, in every form. With Mozart to promote them, of course. They use his image shamelessly. And, I must confess, we bought the chocolates shamelessly. But anyway, what my wife said deserves to be a new great unknown line and I will not end this blog without a bit of Mozart music. So here's the fourth movement of hos Jupiter Symphony, which I think I never shared until now. Enjoy.

L'affiche du Salon du livre 2025

 J'ai été en vacances ces derniers temps, alors je n'ai pas eu le temps de bloguer sur un sujet qui est maintenant peut-être une vieille nouvelle. Enfin bref, j'ai appris via la page Facebook du Salon du Livre du Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean qu'ils ont leur nouvelle affiche. Et franchement, je ne suis pas certain. Celle de 2024 m'avait laissé froid, mais celle-ci a l'air vraiment désuète. J,avais vraiment aimé celle de 2023, j'imagine qu'elle était difficile à battre, mais quand même, celle-ci,on dirait un catalogue d'un magasin des années 50. Enfin, qu'en pensez-vous?

Back from Austria!

 Well, home sweet home, we are back from our holidays. If you were wondering why I was blogging more sporadically, it is because I was busy being away: we spent about two weeks in Salzburg and Vienna. I'm glad to be back, but the holidays were in a way too short. We really enjoyed it there. Anyway, I will blog more about it these coming days, so watch this space, as there is a lot to tell. I will try not to turn this blog into a travelogue or a tourism blog, but I think I will speak about Austria fairly often.

Gelée de pommettes

Signe que l'automne approche: mes parents ont fait de la gelée de pommettes. Il m'a envoyé des photos. Si j'étais chez eux, j'en mangerais sur mes toasts le matin et je commencerais à rêver à l'automne qui arrive.

Lovecraft

Today is an important date in my personal countdown to Halloween calendar: it is the birthday of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. The father of modern and of cosmic horror. I first discovered him via the role playing game Call of Cthulhu, based on his work. I will try to read him today and in the upcoming weeks, it's one of my reading rituals in the months leading to Halloween.

Autriche/autruche

Je sais que je vais commettre un autre calembour atroce, mais je l'ai en tête depuis un bout. Toujours est-il que j'avais enfant un camarade de classe que je n'aimais pas beaucoup. Il était un peu (beaucoup) nono.  Il confondait la Grande et la Petite Bretagne, notamment. Quand il a appris qu'il existait un pays appelé Autriche, il l'a appelé Autruche. Il n'a jamais été foutu de comprendre que l'Autriche n'avait pas le nom de l'oiseau. Et même alors, je le trouvais crétin.

News about my godson

I spoke to the mother of my godson recently, via messenger. I hadn't taken news from her in a long, long while and I thought it was about time. I learned that my godson, who turned 20 this year, is going to study engineering in another city, a few hours away from his mother. I know I'm not his dad and I'm already living an ocean away from him, but it shocked me all the same. On the one hand, I'm really proud of him. Nevertheless, it's hard to know he grew up so fast.

Question existentielle (398)

Une question existentielle sur un mois parfois mal aimé, y compris par moi:

-Quels sont les aspects les plus plaisants du mois d'août?

Je crois que je ne l'ai jamais posée...

Caffè Nero (coming soon)

I blogged back in February about the Caffè Nero that was going to open soon in our town's high street. Well, in six months or so, it hasn't opened yet, which is kind of baffling. That said, word of mouth said the opening is now imminent. It's official enough that there's posters announcing it. Some residents are cynical, because we already have plenty of coffee shops. It's not like we needed another. That said, I'm welcoming it, because I quite like the atmosphere in their shops. Also, the building it is going to be in has been empty for at least a year, so it's going to fill an empty space that looked pretty depressing. Anyway, I'll probably blog about my first visit there, so I'll keep you posted...

Retour sur un calembour atroce

Je reviens sur mon billet du 16. J'avais alors commis un calembour atroce: "mi-août, miaou". En fait, c'était pas le mien, mais le calembour involontaire (mais quand même atroce) de bien des connaissances quand j'étais enfant. Or, j'ai vu que Stéphane Laporte l'a commis dans une chronique, La nostalgie du présent. Et en plus, il l'a commis volontairement. Je ne sais pas quoi en penser, sauf ayoye. Outre cela, je ne suis pas vraiment d'accord avec ce qu'il pense de ce mois-ci ou du suivant, mais ce sera (peut-être) pour un prochain billet.

Summer Blast

How's summertime where you are? In continental Europe, it's been akin to hellfire. And I mean, really. There's been a heatwave that has been doing my head in. I read that it's the same in Québec and in many other places in the northern hemisphere. I was hoping to have a cooling month of August, like we sometimes have. Instead, we got a proper summer blast. Anyway, I hope it cools down soon.

Des requins blancs dans le St-Laurent

Grosse nouvelle pour les baigneurs et les amateurs de requins: on a observé l'apparition de requins blancs dans le Saint-Laurent. Je ne sais pas si la nouvelle vous remplit de terreur, mais moi je la trouve fascinante. 

£5 on a book

Wolfie and I went to the local bookshop about a week ago or so, just so I could buy him a book for the holidays. I ended up buying him two, but never mind that for now. I saw a young boy and his dad, the boy must have been five or six, all happy about purchasing a book of his choice with the £5 bill that his father had given him. I don't think you can find many books at this price range nowadays, even children books, but I applause this family policy. It reminds me of my own childhood: my parents often gave us a few dollars to buy a new book at the beginning of a holiday, to celebrate it. It's a good tradition, which I intend to follow. 

Mi-août, miaou

Nous étions hier la mi-août. Que je prononce mi-ou. Mais quand l'étais jeune, il y avait des camarades de classe qui disaient "mi-aou". Comme miaou. Je trouvais la prononciation un peu colonne et le calembour, bien qu'involontaire, partièrement atroce.

New (?) local police station

I noticed it recently when I was walking through the business estate: we have a new police station there. Well, I say new, maybe that's not quite right, but it's the first time I noticed it. A bit less than a decade ago, we used to live near the "old" police station, which was a rather quaint and old fashioned building. It looked really nice, but not exactly the kind of place I would expect to have a professional constabulatory force, working against crime in a small English town that can surprisingly... I'm not sure of the word. Criminalised? If you read this blog, you know what I'm talking about. It can be a dark place and the ideal setting for a crime novel or two. But anyway, this new (somewhat new) local police station looks suitably modern, from what I could see from the outside. Which is kind of reassuring. I think it's also at a more strategic place, giving a police presence where there was none before. So yes, good news. And if I need to find inspiration for my stories, I know where to walk by.

"Le 12 août", etc.

Un rappel de l'expatrié que je suis pour tous ceux qui peuvent. Oui, c'est vous là, mes lecteurs du Québec. Ma mère, mon père, mon frère et sa petite famille et c'est sans doute pas mal tout. Enfin bref, le 12 août, achetez un livre québécois. 

Catholics VS Protestants (Derry Girls)

 Has anyone here watched Derry Girls? I'm late to the party, but I discovered it recently on Netflix and binge watched it with delight. Really enjoyed it. The sitcom first caught my attention during our trip to Belfast last year. There was this chalkboard a the Ulster Museum, which I thought was funny. It was taken from the show. In context, it's absolutely hilarious. Anyway, you can watch it here. But I cannot encourage you enough to watch the full series.