Saturday, 21 February 2026
The Ravens of the Tower of London
Samedi aux Bouquinistes
Friday, 20 February 2026
Skorpio
Cendrillon au Royaume
Thursday, 19 February 2026
Schnapps
I was thinking about it checking the pictures of our trip to Austria: there were lots of schnapps being sold in tourists shops. One of the many drinks I failed to try during our time there. I'm not sure if I would have liked anyway, but I'm curious. And I also like the name, it's snappy and kind of cool in an aloof yet joyful way. It makes you want to celebrate. I understand it is a spirit common to the Germanic world, not merely Austria. But I don't remember drinking any in the past. Any amateurs of schnapps among my readers? Worth a try? I need to add it to my bucket list in any case.
La Relâche de petit loup
J'ai oublié de mentionner une chose: c'est la semaine de Relâche pour petit loup ici. Pour lui et pour les autres enfants de son âge. Je ne sais même plus c'est quand au Québec. Comme je ne travaille toujours pas (mais ça pourrait changer bientôt, j'en dirai plus quand j'aurai plus de nouvelles), je passe beaucoup de temps avec lui. Ce qui nous fait à tous les deux un bien immense.
Wednesday, 18 February 2026
Memento Mori from Pompeii
Un vieux suspense
Tuesday, 17 February 2026
Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday
Rose et le Diable
Monday, 16 February 2026
Unfamiliar Thriller
As I have a fair deal of free time on my hands, I have been waching a lot of spy thrillers. I discovered one recently, an eight episodes long German TV series set in Berlin, called Unfamiliar. So far it is very solid, violent and brutal like I like them, but very sober in its diaplay of violence at the same time. The plot is intelligent, does not go on melodramatic streaks or shiock value for the sake of it. It's also a nice change to see a spy stories set in contemporary Germany and not shortly before or during World War II. It's still traditional in many ways: the antagonist is a Russian agent. But then some things never change. So yes, I am going to binge watch this.
Volaille et lapin
Sunday, 15 February 2026
Samovar
Mystérieux oiseau de proie
Saturday, 14 February 2026
Tamino and Pamina
Dites-le avec des sucreries
Friday, 13 February 2026
Friday the 13th: a Doomsday Memory
So, as you probably have noticed, today is Friday the 13th. We have three this year, so the superstitious among you better brace themselves: it's going to be a heavy year. I never was superstitious, except maybe when I was a child, and then it was more for fun than anything else. I always had a certain shiver of fear, of playful uncertainty, when it was Friday the 13th. When we were walking back from school, we sometimes walked along the way with a fellow pupil, not a friend but a friend of a friend. He had a wild imagination and had invented a sort of Doomsday calendar for Friday the 13th. He used to say that this particular day was Zombie Day, or Axe Wielding Maniacs Day, or some such things. He started saying whatever horror Apocalyptic things was meant to happen on this specific Friday the 13th we were on. Then he carried on for the rest of the week. It might have sounded scary, but I found it entertaining in its sinister way. So yeah, this is my most vivid childhood memory of Friday the 13th. What is yours?
Question existentielle (401)
Nous sommes le vendredi 13, j'ai donc une question existentielle sur le sujet:
-Avez-vous des souvenirs spécifiques liés au Vendredi 13?
Moi j'en ai, voir le billet suivant.
Thursday, 12 February 2026
Latest Train Travel
Oiseau d'argile
Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Schnitzel
La charrue et son ombre
Tuesday, 10 February 2026
Bigfoot Sighting in Cannock Chase
This bit of news dates back from last January. For some reason, I hadn't seen it. But anyway, here's something interesting for whoever is into cryptozoology, even if only as a skeptic (like me): a man saw a Bigfoot in Cannock Chase. Now, like I said, I am very skeptical every time someone claims to have seen a cryptid, wherever it is in the world. And I read that Cannock Chase is (in)famous for many sightning of various cryptids and paranormal activities. It sounds like an hoax or a genuine mistake. All the same, I like a place with a lot of local folklore and this story and others could make for an interesting work of fiction. So I intend to learn more about Cannock Chase in the future. Maybe even visit it.
Le Concorde en Lego
Monday, 9 February 2026
Condor Thriller(s)
I love a good spy thriller, as you know, and I try to read all of the classics of the genre and watch them when there are any available. I watched Three Days of the Condor a few times, I even read James Grady's Six Days of the Condor. Great author to read, by the way, I suggest you see his other works (I haven't many of them, but still), not only the one that made him famous. Anyway, I recently learned that, like many iconic stories, this one got readapted in 2018, a TV series simply titled Condor. There's too many of them these days, on too many streaming services, it's hard to keep track, so I had no idea it even existed. I guess I will have to check if I can see it somewhere. If you have seen it, please leave a comment. In the meantime, I recommend the original novel. You might also find interesting that Grady wrote a sort of sequel to it, condor.net, setpost 9/11, with a new protagonist with the same codename.
Courvoisier
Je regardais ce film il y a quelques jours, quand j'ai vu une bouteille de Courvoisier sur la table. Et je me rends compte encore une fois que je ne connais vraiment pas grand-chose sur le cognac et ses marques. Je bois très rarement des spiritueux. La plupart du temps, quand ça arrive, c'est une shot de whiskey pour accompagner une bière, ou alors quand on m'offre un verre. Mais je suis depuis l'an dernier plus curieux en ce qui concerne le(s) cognac(s). Vous avez bu du Courvoisier? C'est comment? Dites-le moi dans les commentaires.
Sunday, 8 February 2026
Ludo
Princesse/Impératrice Sissi
Sherlock and Baskerville Hall
Anecdote à Salsbourg
Saturday, 7 February 2026
My Terrestrial Globe
Une occasion pour du mousseux
Friday, 6 February 2026
Tracking Trackers
I am finishing for the second time South African crime writer Deon Meyer's novel Blood Safari.It is just as good as I remembered it and it made me eager for more. The hero appears in another novel, Trackers, which was adapted into a TV series of the same name (and not to be confuse with this one, same title except without an s). So yeah, I have beend esperate to find it. It's not on Netflix, but apparently (as far as I understand from the researches I made) it's on Sky TV, on Apple TV and on Amazon Prime. Just not the streaming services I am subscribed to. This is really frustrating. I was hoping to find it on BBC iPlayer, but no luck there either. This is very frustrating. I am kind of tempted to get Prime, but not sure it is worth it. I will be patient.
Voltaire (citation apocryphe)
Tiens, j'en ai appris une bien bonne aujourd'hui et je voulais la raconter. C'est une citation apocryphe de Voltaire, mais quand même, elle est drôle. Donc, sur son lit de mort, le 30 mai 1778, un prêtre vient à son chevet.
Le prêtre: "Renoncez-vous à Satan, mon fils?"
Voltaire: "Mon bon monsieur, ce n'est vraiment pas le moment de me faire de nouveaux ennemis."
Bon, comme je dis, c'est apocryphe, mais c'est plein d'esprit. Une part de moi espère vraiment que ce soit vrai.
"Autumn Story" (Brambly Hedge)
Autruches en Autriche
Thursday, 5 February 2026
Where's the snow?
Since we got back here from our holidays, there has been some snow early January, then nothing. As in: nothing. It's been quite disheartening. There were a few snow forecast, here and there, of course snow fell up North, but here in the South, nothing happened, even when there were chances of snow fall. As winter is passing through, way faster than I care for, I hope we will get some snow before long, like a proper snow day when we have to stay in. I say "I hope", but I am beyond hope now. I will believe it when I see it.
Rafistoler (mot du jour)
Je ne sais pas pourquoi, mais j'ai un mot en tête, qui sera notre mot du jour aujourd'hui: rafistoler. ce qui veut dire réparer grossièrement ou réparer de manière imparfaite. Synonyme québécois: renipper. Vous aurez deux mots du jour pour le prix d'un. L'étymologie est incertaine, il serait un dérivé de afistoler, qui voulait dire parer ou orner. Je ne savais pas et je me coucherai moins niaiseux ce soir.
Wednesday, 4 February 2026
Komodo Dragon
Concours des Bouquinistes pour la St-Valentin
Tuesday, 3 February 2026
About Diamonds
Mitaine perdue
Monday, 2 February 2026
Morning TV, Not Morning People
This is an oldie but a goodie, made by YouTuber (and fellow Montrealer) Ryan George. Do you hate morning TV shows? Hate how cheerful these people are, so early in the morning? Cherrful, upbeat and alert? Are you, like me, NOT a morning person? Well, this video is for you. I would unironically watch such morning TV show, if it existed. Anyway, it's Monday, it should cheer you up if you are at work or going to work. I am still unemployed, but this is one aspect of employment I could do without: early mornings.
La Chandeleur
Nous sommes la Chandeleur. On appelle ça aussi, de plus en plus, le Jour de la marmotte. Mais pas moi. Je le considère toujours comme la Chandeleur. Même si l'un de ses aspects le plus connu, c'est de marquer le passage des saisons et l'arrivée, hâtive ou tardive, du printemps. Parce que, comme le dit le proverbe: "À la Chandeleur, l'hiver passe ou prend vigueur." Cela ne vous étonnera pas si vous suivez ce blogue, mais je préfère qu'il demeure hivernal, parce que je n'aime pas, je n'aime plus, le retour à la chaleur et au printemps. Bien entendu, ici, de novembre à mars, sinon avril, de l'hiver au printemps, ce n'est guère différent de toutes façons. Alors l'adage ne s'applique pas vraiment. Chaque printemps est tardif.
Sunday, 1 February 2026
Early February
I will start this post by a shameful cliché: today is the first of February, in case you didn't notice it. A month mostly known for Valentine's Day and, well, that's pretty much it. Oh yes, there's Candlemas tomorrow, but it tends to be forgotten as well. Anybody doing something for Candlemas? Anyone? Anyone? I thought so. Anyway, I am not a big fan of February, but here it is, I'd like to know your opinion in the comments section.































