The Red Lion

We went to High Wycombe last week. Not something I like to do very often. To be honest, I am not a fan of Wycombe. For a number of reasons, which I will not mention today. That said, the town has a few redeeming qualities and a few nice sights. Including this Red Lion, from the former Red Lion Hotel. It's an impressive beast.

Les sanguinaires

 Mon père m'a envoyé des photos de ses sanguinaires. J'en partage une rien que parce que. Vous trouverez plus de détails sur les sanguinaires dans ce billet de mai 2019. De jolies fleurs à l'apparence innocente et au nom sinistre.

Shillelagh (Signature Weapon)

This post is part of my Signature Weapons series, which I hope to get going for a while. One weapon that I have seen time and again in movies and TV series, yet I didn't know its name or even that it had a specific term for it. I am referring to the shillelagh, an Irish walking stick which can also be used as a club. It even has its own website and they don't even hide they can be used as fighting sticks. Better (or worse?), you can even order them from the website. I must confess, they look very stylish. And what a badass sounding name too! I love Ireland and everything Irish, so if I was to feature a shillelagh in one of my stories, it would be hard not to have it wielded by a good guy. What do you think? Ever seen one in real life?

Le crinqué

J'ai écrit un billet mercredi dernier sur le Mondial de football/soccer. Et depuis, il y a un commentateur anonyme qui a écrit non pas un mais trois messages me disant plus ou moins à quel point j'étais dans les patates. Trois commentaires, tous le 15 mai, à quelques minutes d'intervalle. Je trouve ça un peu fort de café, mettons. Si je me cherchais une raison de plus pour ne pas aimer le football/soccer, en voilà une: les fans sont parfois un peu trop crinqués. Mais bon, je savais déjà, alors ce n'est qu'un rappel.

Whatever happened to the local May Fayre?

Every year in May, we have a fayre held in the biggest park of our little town. It's on Saturday, usually the last Saturday of May. But this year, we have nothing. For some reason, it stopped. No explanation has been given, as far as I know. My wife and I checked on social media, in the local news, nothing has been said about this cancellation. They just haven't advertised it this year. I was already seriously down that the autumn fair has been cancelled this year (and maybe permanently), this is getting worse, adding salt to the wounds. It's just really depressing how special events I look forward to all year just disappear.

Question existentielle (405)

 Question existentielle venant d'un homme qui déteste magasiner pour des vêtements:

-Peut-on être élégant sans être prétentieux ou snob? 

Qui sait, ça fera peut-être une controverse. 

"Beastly Tales"

The treasures one can find among a pile of old books. A few weeks ago, Wolfie's school were giving away free books. We could do donations, but they were free. We picked up a couple of them, him and me, including this one. When I was his age, I was fascinated by cryptids. I don't believe they exist anymore, but I kept a sort of interest about the myths surrounding them. So we eagerly read this book together. And I read it another time by myself, just for fun. I told him to be very sceptical about the accounts told in Beastly Tales. Even if one doesn't believe in them, they are still entertaining. If you have any suggestion for such books about cryptozoology, please let me know in the comments.

Chocolat chaud (observations)

Il y a des principes irréfutables dans la civilisation humaine. L'un d'entre eux: si les adultes ont le thé et le café, les enfants ont he chocolat chaud. C'est le breuvage chaud de l'enfance. Petit loup s'en est fait servir un à notre dernière visite chez ses grand-parents maternels (vous le voyez sur la photo), il s'en est fait servir un autre encore plus décadent en fin de semaine dernière à la fête de son meilleur ami. Autre principe: les grand-parents sont indulgents envers leurs petit-enfants.

First Thunderstorm(s)

So far this year, the month of May has been, well, weird. Weather-wise, it has been downright schizophrenic, worse than April. It has been hot last week, but suddenly temperatures dropped dramatically. Like, beneath 15 degrees Celsius.And stranger than this: we've had our proper thunderstorm(s) yesterday. Usually, storms happen when it is hot and humid. In the morning, around 11:00, we started having rain, wind, and finally hail, then it got sunny again. Not warm, but sunny. As we were waiting for Wolfie to get out of school, we suddenly heard thunder. It then started pouring down. It was surreal. But I'm not complaining: I far prefer this to warm weather. I find it way more comfortable. And it's very atmospheric.

Un parfum de lavande

 Ma femme a fait la remarque hier: ça sent la lavande quand on sort de la maison. C'est le jardin de notre voisine, une vieille grebiche acariâtre (désolé, mais c'est le cas, pas ma faute, elle n'est vraiment pas aimable), mais qui est sommes toutes assez bonne jardinière: elle a une haie de plants de lavande qui longe sa cour-avant à la nôtre. J'aime bien la lavande, ma femme pas tant. C'est quand même un parfum agréable (je trouve) quand vient ce temps de l'année. Je l'associe beaucoup à la Provence et au Midi de la France, pas vraiment à l'Angleterre.

Mysterious Black Cab

I was walking on the High Street last week when I saw a unusual sight: a bona fide black cab going up the street. Now, there are plenty of taxis here, but you usually see black cabs in London, and even there, you don't see as many as you used to. I had seen them in other cities, but as far as I can remember never in our town. I always loved black cabs since I first saw them for the first time as a child, back in the late eighties, I thought they looked like the quintessential English vehicle. They are taxis with a certain style. The driver didn't seem to know our town one bit, he had his mobile in his hands giving descriptions of what he saw. I guess he probably dropped a client picked in London and he was trying to find the quickest way back to the city. I wonder what errand brought him here and who was the client who paid the expensive fare. Because London is fairly close, but not that close, especially by car. And this begs another question: why pay a black cab instead of, well, anything else?

La Saint-Jean à Londres

Petite annonce pour les Québécois expatriés en Angleterre comme je le suis: la Délégation générale du Québec à Londres organise une célébration de la Fête nationale pour le 20 juin. J'y serai et je vous encourage à y aller.

Crunch Time on the Train

 I love train travels, as you know. I always look up to them. One of the many reasons why is that you can indulge yourself with nice food and drink without feeling too guilty. You know, because you are travelling, you need to eat when you can, and eat what you can find. And there is the whole ritual: you buy lunch at a connecting train station, you bring it with you in the train, you eat it while watching the window. One of my favourite go-to places when I travel by train is Upper Crust. I don't think I ever ate a baguette from there unless I was on the move. I had an Upper Crust baguette on our last railway journey, washed down with a Coke. Pure bliss.

Pourquoi je n'aime pas le football/soccer

Vous savez que je n'aime pas le football/soccer. Parce que je trouve que c'est un sport plate, un sport qui parfois et un peu trop souvent en est un de petites brutes et de bullies, pour pleins d'autres raisons, mais surtout je trouve ça plate. Mais il y a aussi ça: la FIFA est une organisation trop gourmande et un peu escroc. Lire cette chronique de Patrick Lagacé datant d'avril pour vous en convaincre, de toutes les exigences demandées aux gouvernements pour permettre aux villes de recevoir le Mondial. Voir aussi ce reportage de Rad Can. C'est assez damnant. Comme le disait le regretté maire l'Allier, c'est socialiser les dépenses pour privatiser les profits. Je suis vraiment content, je dirais même soulagé, que Montréal ne reçoive pas d'équipes lors de la Coupe du Monde 2026.

The Entertainer (Ragtime)

I rewatched The Sting recently. I have a few observations about it. Okay, mainly two. One, what a great movie, I never get bored watching it. I could start it again now and still be entertained. Two, what a great score the film has! Maybe nowadays it's actually more famous than the movie itself. Composed by Scott Joplin in the early XXth century, arranged by Marvin Hamlisch for the movie, it's just so perfectly atmospheric. So anyway, since I was thinking I share too little music on Vraie Fiction these days and since this is in my head a lot, I am sharing today The Entertainer. My brothers and I used to listen to it endlessly playing poker when we were teenagers. True story. But not with real money.

Nos roses

Vous allez me trouver nono, mais je me suis rendu compte il y a quelques jours que nous avions des roses dans notre cour avant. Je croyais qu'elles appartenaient à notre voisine d'à-côté, mais non, ce sont bien nos roses. Il y a quelques années de cela, ma belle-mère avait fait un massacre en règle et méthodique des plantes de notre jardin en avant: trop de mauvaises herbes, trop de plantes qui avaient poussé trop longtemps sans soin. Il ne restait à peu près rien, mais elle a à l'évidence elle a gardé le plant de roses. Tant mieux, car c'est joli.

Autumnal Figure

 These days, it's been way cooler than one would expect this time of year. I don't mind: it feels autumnal and I love autumn. Okay, I sound like a broken record: autumn is my favourite season. So I always keep on display decorations and things that remind me of it. Last year, in late September, I was down and out after getting suddenly unemployed. I rarely if ever do retail therapy, but I did it on that day. I bought this little figure in a local shop. I was actually looking for a present for my wife, saw this, and thought I would buy it for myself, because I was not sure she would enjoy it as much (don't worry, I bought her something else). With its orange cloak and gnomic look, it looks very much autumnal.

Le gâteau aux carottes idéal

Tout d'abord, une triste nouvelle: je ne crois pas qu'on aura une foire au mois de mai, même si on en avait chaque année, sauf lors de la pandémie. J'adorais m'y rendre, c'était vraiment un bel évènement annuel. Enfin bref... J'ai pris cette photo l'an dernier à la foire de mai, justement. J'adore les gâteaux aux carottes. Je ne me rappelle plus du goût, j'imagine qu'il était très bon, mais avouez que pour la présentation, c'est le gâteau aux carottes idéal.

It feels like autumn

We are having a very strange month of May these days: while it started hot, borderline summery, temperatures have suddenly dropped dramatically. So today and from what I can understand the rest of the week, it will be around 15 degrees Celsius, sometimes even lower. I had to put on my warm jumpers today and will do the same tomorrow. If it wasn't for the trees being green and the flowers in bloom, one would believe that we are in autumn. It feels like autumn anyway. I'm glad, as I don't like the heat and I love autumn (as you probably know if you have been following this blog for a while). I am worried things might change soon enough, so I make the best of the here and now.

La Fête des Mères

C'est aujourd'hui la Fête des Mères, enfin ce l'est en Amérique du Nord et ailleurs, pas en Angleterre où je réside. Je l'observe deux fois dans l'année. Mais bon, même si je la célèbre plus en mars, à l'heure anglaise si je puis dire, j'ai quand même pensé à appeler ma mère aujourd'hui, avec petit loup, et lui ai souhaité une joyeuse Fête des Mères. C'est ma bonne action filiale de la journée.

Revisiting Cat's Eye

I blogged last year about the manga series Cat's Eye. More specifically, its anime adaptation, quite popular when I was around ten. It was about three sisters who were also cat burglars, the Cat's Eye(s) of the title, who also owned by day a coffee shop named... Cat's Eye. They were stealing the art works of their long lost father, because they wanted to find him by... stealing his paintings? To complicate matters, one of the girls, the main character, is dating a young police detective determined to capture the mysterious and elusive cat burgling trio. And yes, he doesn't really suspect that his girlfriend is one of them. He is pretty clueless. I was not a big fan, the plot being far too humorous and filled with glaring plot holes. So yes, they made an adaptation which I found on Disney+. So I gave it a watch. It's entertaining enough, but gripping police drama this is not. Even as a caper, you need to seriously suspend your disbelief. Like not notice that the Cats don't wear gloves and accepting that they are impervious to smoke bombs and tear gas, while the police is not. I laughed out loud a few times at how absurd things were. Still, it's entertaining enough and as I grew quite fond of Japanese anime, I will watch it all. Also, I am a sucker for nostalgia, even if I can be critical of a cultural product.

Un écureuil gris

J'ai pris cette p^hoto il y a quelques jours. Un écureuil gris comme il y en a tant d'autres. Hélas, je n'en trouve pas, trouve plus, de roux. Enfant, j'adorais les écureuils, lesquels étaient selon mon souvenir toujours roux. Il y en avait un qui parfois venait sur notre terrain, c'était toujours la grosse affaire que de le voir. L'un de mes petits neveux a une peur bleue des écureuils, parce que l'un d'eux, un gris comme celui-ci bien entendu, a grimpé sur lui lorsqu'il se promenait avec ses parents au Parc urbain à Chicoutimi. J'espère qu'il n'a pas peur de l'écureuil en toutou qu'on lui a acheté.

Fight Write, Round 2

I blog fairly often (and fairly recently) about the book Fight Write, by Carla Hoch. It's a sort of instruction manual for aspiring writers who do thriller, or adventure, or crime fiction, or indeed any genre that requires depiction of fights and violence. It's been great help for my own crime fiction writing. Well, I recently found out that she wrote a second book (sequel?), titled Fight Write, Round Two. Okay, so I have a huge TBR list and just so many shelves, however I think I will buy it, or at least put it on my present list for my next birthday (or maybe Christmas). Section three of this Round Two is about fighting in crime fiction stories, so it's going to be very useful.

Le temps des pissenlits

Ces temps-ci, il y a des pissenlits partout. Sur tous les gazons, sur le bord des rues, dans le voisinage, ailleurs, partout. Et j'avoue que je trouve ça joli. Quand j'étais enfant, je me rappelle que les pissenlits étaient considérés comme des mauvaises herbes. Bien des propriétaires empoisonnaient leur terrain d'herbicides afin de s'en débarrasser. J'avais même un peu appris à les détester, même si j'aimais leur couleur et même si je trouvais absurde de les détruire avec des herbicides. (En plus, on ne pouvait pas marcher sur le terrain une fois l'herbicide dessus, une vraie absurdité). Maintenant, ils ont été réhabilités, parce qu'on sait qu'ils sont très utiles pour la pollinisation. Et puis, comme je l'ai dit, c'est joli, un pissenlit, même si ça a un nom assez vulgaire. Alors quand j'en vois qui sont blancs, je souffle dessus pour qu'ils se répandent.

A herd of deer

 A couple of weeks ago, we went to visit my parents-in-law. The roads we take to get there are surrounded by shrubbery, woodlands and also grazing fields. As we were passing by one of these fields, we saw a herd of deer running through them, jumping over the fences when they needed. They were fast, gracious, and running in total harmony. It only lasted a few seconds, but we were very impressed. We often see deer on the road, sometimes very close to it, sometimes sadly we see a roadside kill. But we never saw a herd before. It really made our day. Since then, Wolfie keeps an eye out for deer, especially when we pass by the grazing fields. I'm not sure if we will be so lucky again, but you never know.

"11 siècles de Normandie"

Ma belle-mère a parfois des contenants cools. Comme cette boîte de biscuits, qui fait un résumé date par date de l'histoire de la Normandie, de sa fondation à nos jours. Avec de jolis dessins aussi. C'est pas mal cool, comme je le disais, on mentionne même les liens entre la Normandie et le Québec (et la ville de Québec). Et les biscuits, me demanderez-vous? Bon, ça fait longtemps que les biscuits originaux ont été mangés. Alors elle l'utilise pour mettre d'autres biscuits et elle montre la boîte pour la visite.

Ye Olde Denim Jacket

My wife has an old, old denim jacket. She seldom wears it anymore: as far as I can tell, only a few days during summertime, when it is warm enough to only need a very light jacket. Of course, only on a dry day, otherwise the jacket is pretty pointless. Anyway, when we got it out again, we discussed about its age. My wife can't remember when she bought it exactly, but she reckon it's not much older than a decade. I, on the other hand, think it dates back from when we started dating, so must be more than twenty years old, at the very least. I remember she was wearing a denim jacket during our first dates and I have a very good memory (I'm not joking, I really have a good memory). Anyway, now I will have to take a look at old pictures to see which one of us is most likely to be correct. Moral of the story: memory is treacherous, but also serious business.

Calenbour celtique (et atroce)

Un calembour atroce commis par mon frère PJ, après qu'il ait vu ce billet. Je paraphrase, parce que je le reproduis de mémoire:

 Question: Au banquet des dieux celtiques, qui a mangé la moelle?

Réponse: Sucellos, parce qu'il a sucé l'os. 

Je sais, je sais, c'est vraiment épouvantable. 

Secret Service

Since the beginning of 2026, or almost, I have been binge watching spy thrillers. It seems to be my new pastime: watch and read spy fiction. And I found one recently in ITV that I wanted to mention here: Secret Service. It's with Gemma Aterton, a former Bond girl who made quite a nice little career since then. She is not my favourite actress, but I like her. She plays Kate Henderson, an MI6 agent in charge of the Russian desk, who finds out that one of the candidates for the position of UK prime minister might be a Russian mole. But she doesn't know which one. It's nothing too original, it has a few plot holes and you need to suspend your disbelief at times, but it's a solid and fairly well written thriller nonetheless. So yes, if you are living in the UK, I suggest you give it a go.

Le nouvel arbre derrière chez nous

Nous avons comme voisins d'en arrière un édifice à bureaux ou, pour être plus exact, le stationnement d'un grand édifice à bureaux. Je crois qu'il n'y a qu'une seule compagnie qui y réside. Enfin bref, l'avantage d'avoir des employés de bureau comme voisins, c'est que c'est tranquille les fins de semaines et le soir. Depuis la pandémie, c'est encore mieux: le stationnement est presque vide à l'année longue. L'ennui avec eux, cependant, c'est que pour raison quelconque ils ont abattu les arbres qui longeaient une partie du stationnement, juste derrière notre jardin. Alors nous étions un peu exposés, ce que je n'aimais pas. Sauf que j'ai remarqué il y a quelques jours ces branches au dessus de notre clôture. Ils en ont planté un nouveau. En espérant qu'il grandisse vite.

Mafalda in Montreal

 My blogging friend Debra from She Who Seeks kindly sent me recently this bit of news from Montreal: Mafalda, one of my favourite cartoon characters, will have her own statue in Montreal. It will be the very first non Spanish speaking city to erect one. (Eat your heart out, Paris!) Furthermore, and I think it is important to my readers to know, is that she is finally getting a proper English translation. Because while Mafalda is extremely famous in the hispanic world, being from Argentina and all, and in the francophone world, thanks to... Well, I guess good translators, but I can safely say that the forever six-year-old Argentinian little lady connected with a lot of people from my generation. I blogged about her time and again in French, so I will try to keep it short here. I love Mafalda because she is a humanist, because she is uncompromising, because she questions and challenges the adult world and is never afraid to speak her mind. She has a temper, she is wise beyond her years, yet in the same time she remains sensitive, like a child should be. So yeah, I am so very happy that Montreal is going to have a monument to her. Welcome to my city, little lady.

Le CH

 Je n'osais pas bloguer sur le sujet avant d'avoir la bonne nouvelle, mais les Canadiens de Montréal se rendent en semi-finale de conférence, ce qui me remplit de joie. J'ai suivi ce qui se passait de l'autre côté de l'Atlantique, de loin en loin. Je ne suis plus le hockey comme je le faisais enfant, je ne connais même pas le noms des joueurs. Cela dit, je demeure un fan du CH quand même, alors les succès récents de l'équipe me mettent de bonne humeur. En espérant qu'ils surpassent leur exploit de 2021.

Joliet, Illinois (a crime fiction post)

 From time to time, I rewatch beloved old classic movies, because I love to revisit them and rediscover old things about them. I saw on Netflix that The Sting was available, so I started watching it again. I love, love, love this caper, it made me discover Robert Redford, Paul Newman and... poker (more on the latter in this post). Anyway, I was watching the movie and it struck me that it starts in the city of Joliet, Illinois. And that it might be the only thing I know about Joliet: it's featured in The Sting. Okay, so most of the action is set in the most famous and infamous Chicago, but I like when a work of crime fiction shed light on a lesser known place. Lesser known to someone like me who is not from the US anyway.

Le Salon du livre de... Québec

Tiens, je viens de me rappeler quand j'ai manqué ça, enfin j'ai oublié de le ploguer: le Salon international du livre de Québec, ou SILQ. Preuve que c'est dans la capitale nationale: ils donnent une abbréviation avec le Q à la fin. Et en plus, contrairement à celui du Saglac et des autres au Québec, celui de Québec est "international". Bon, je plaisante, mais je songeais à le ploguer cette année quand j'ai vu je ne sais plus où qu'il avait lieu en avril. J'imagine que ça sera pour l'an prochain: du 7 au 11 avril 2027. Sinon, je n'y ai jamais mis les pieds, mais c'est un beau temps de l'année pour être à Québec. En fait, y a-t-il un temps de l'année où cette ville n'est pas belle?

"Magic Mushroom"(?)

 I found this trinket in the local toy shop, of all places. It's a pencil sharpener and rubber in the shape of a mushroom, so it is named "magic mushroom". I said to my wife: "Some people might be disappointed when they see what kind of magic mushroom it is and get buyer's remorse." Which I think deserves to be a great unknown line. Anyway, while I don't like the taste of mushrooms and I am always wary of wild mushrooms, I love the look of mushrooms, because I associate them with autumn. And, since a pencil sharpener can always come in handy, I bought it for my desk. It adds to the autumn decor.

Au Café Croissant

 En regardant mes vieux billets, je me suis rendu compte, avec un peu de surprise, que je n'ai blogué qu'une seule fois sur le Café Croissant. C'est étrange, parce que pendant des années, le Café Croissant a été le lieu de bien des déjeuners et des brunchs en famille, parfois aussi des dîners (mais moins souvent). À Chicoutimi, ça a été peut-être le premier endroit où on a offert des déjeuners continentaux, avec, ben, des croissants. Je me rappelle que je trouvais l'endroit un hâvre de sophistication, même si c'était plus une cafétéria qu'un café proprement dit. Le Café Croissant existe encore, il a même une page Facebook. Il semble être figé dans le temps, le menu ne semblant pas avoir vraiment changé depuis les années 80 et 90. Ce que je trouve rassurant. Je ne me rapelle pas quand je l'ai visité pour la dernière fois, peut-être aux alentours de 2005? Pour ceux qui habitent ou ont habité à Chicoutimi, ou ont visité le Café Croissant faites-moi part de votre expérience et de vos souvenirs dans les commentaires. J'y reviendrai dans de futurs billets.

Epic Train Trips of the World

 I hope you can forgive me to blog yet again about trains. Maybe I am experiencing wanderlust, but of a specific kind, maybe it is just that since my last train trip, I have developed an appetite for it, as well as a realisation that I don't travel by train often enough. Anyway, be that as it may, my wife knows my tastes, so she bought me for my birthday Epic Train Trips of the World. She knows my tastes. My birthday often end up train related in some way. It is a beautiful book, with beautiful pictures and it really makes me want to experience all these journeys. I might never be able to, nevertheless it gives me inspiration for future holidays.

Trois alpacas

J'ai déjà blogué il n'y a pas longtemps sur un élevage d'alpacas près d'un pub, dans un coin perdu de la campagne anglaise. Ils avaient été le clou de la soirée pour mon fils. J'ai pris cette autre photo, où l'on voit les trois alpacas. Je crois qu'il y en avait trois ou quatre, comme les trois mousquetaires (qui étaient aussi quatre).

Train Tea Mug

Everyone has a favourite mug. Tea or coffee mug, in my case it's a tea mug. And I sometimes used it to drink milk too, although never with tea. Tea is never, ever drunk with milk in it, it spoils the flavour and weakens it. So this is my favourite tea mug. I blogged about it before. I'm presenting its other side today. My wife bought it for me in the online shop of the National Railway Museum in York. It brings together two of my favourite things: tea and trains. And it states that I am no second class tea maker.

Premier Strudel

Lors de la première soirée de notre séjour à Salsbourg, nous avons participé à une visite guidée de la résidence des Von Trap dans La mélodie du bonheur, avec performances des airs de la comédie musicale. Nous avons aussi eu droit, en guise de repas, à notre premier strudel de notre séjour. Strudels aux pommes, bien entendu. C'était bon, bien que frugal.

Types of Readers

 I found this picture a couple of weeks ago, on one of the Facebook pages I follow. A list and definition of the types of readers there are. I found it interesting, true in many ways, although I don't think one belongs to just one type. I am very much a Book Collector for instance: buying books is almost a compulsion. But I am also a Loyalist to some authors and novels, as well as a Chaotic Reader, as I have read more than one book at once. I used to be a Tracker, but not so much anymore. And a Mood Reader, sometimes. Anyway, tell me what you think of this list. What type of reader are you, if any?

Les Santons de Charlevoix

Je suis en retard dans les nouvelles, mais j'apprends via la page Facebook dess Santons de Charlevoix, qu'ils ont un nouveau site. Ou alors c'est le site qu'ils avaient avant, dans tous les cas celui-ci est renippé et beaucoup plus moderne. Un de ces quatre, il faudra vraiment que j'en achète quelques uns.

Karambit (Signature Weapon)

 Okay, so I am trying to get my Signature Weapons series going, so I am blogging another one of them. I am thus blogging about the karambit, which from what I understands originates from Indonesia, but can be found around all of Southeast Asia and elsewhere. So it is again quite an exotic blade I am blogging about. I discovered it thanks Fight Write, by Carla Hoch, the book that inspired me to blog this very series on signature weapons. It even has its own entry in the book. The knife is meant to resemble a tiger's claw, at least according to folklore. It is a small, curved weapon that looks quite nasty: sharp, easily concealed, etc. It can be used as a tool, but also as a weapon. Personally, I think it looks far more like a weapon, and a nasty one at that, than a tool. In a crime fiction context, I think it would probably suit a villain more, given its rather devious capacities. Anyway, tell he what you think.

Fête du Travail (en France)

Un détail que j'avais presque oublié pour aujourd'hui, mais que mon employeur m'a rappelé hier: c'est la Fête du Travail en France. Ce qui veut dire que c'est un congé férié, ce qui veut dire que j'ai été en congé, même si ce n'est pas un congé férié ici. J'ai donc une fin de smeaine de quatre jours, puisque le premier lundi de mai est un lundi de congé en Angleterre. Comme je suis à contrat et à temps partiel, le congé d'aujourd'hui ne fait pas vraiment mon affaire: je ne suis pas payé pour les jours de congé. Mais bon, on ne boudera pas son plaisir, ça fait une longue fin de semaine et ça fait plaisir d'être en congé un vendredi. Et puis, c'est pas comme si je suis au chômage.

May Day (and a book)

We are May Day today, which as a date is pretty self-explanatory. To mark the first day of the month, I am sharing a picture I already shared in 2024, taken from What to Look For in Spring, one of Wolfie's books. As my son grows up (way too fast for my taste), he is less interested about these books aimed at younger kids than I am. So I reread them regularly. In this instance, every spring. You could say that I don't use a calendar to mark the passage of time, but books, since I read seasonally. Anyway, notice in the text the mention of maypoles. I have been looking for them for at least a decade. No luck so far.

Une perdriole...

Nous sommes le premier jour de mai, c'est donc le temps de partager cette chanson, qui parle notamment du premier jour de mai (et des autres). Vous l'avez entendue déjà sur ce blogue, elle revient de temps à autre, au mois de mai. La photo de la perdrix, je l'ai déjà partagée aussi, ne m'en voulez pas, je croyais avoir plus de photos de perdrioles que ça. C'est un oiseau que j'associe surtout à l'automne, mais au mois de mai aussi, à cause de cette chanson.

Walpurgisnacht!

 Beware, beware all! For tonight is Walpurgis Night, a night where witches, ghosts and devils roam the earth. And yes, it is very much like Halloween, but without pumpkins and at the end of April. If you are lucky, you might even get a chill akin to the one you can feel in the best autumn. Be that as it may, Walpurgis Night is one of the important dates in my calendar, the starting point of my countdown to the countdown to Halloween, if you will. So I intend to read horror stories tonight, if I can. I might even start writing a scary story myself, featuring a witch or more. Oh, and if you are wondering about this witch, it's a magnet a friend has on her fridge. I couldn't help but take a picture of it.

Le taureau et le vin rouge

Quand j'étais étudiant à Montréal, dans les années 90, j'achetais souvent du vin cheap. Pas du vin de dépanneur, du vin de la SAQ, mais du vin de la SAQ cheap, sauf dans les occasions spéciales. Et souvent, j'achetais selon l'apparence de la bouteille ou de l'étiquette. J'ai donc bu du Sangre de Toro assez souvent, même si c'était dans mon souvenir assez mauvais. Parce qu'il y avait attaché la la bouteille par un ruban un petit taureau en plastique. J'en ai gardé au moins un, sur lequel j'ai blogué en avril 2013. J'ai appris plus tard qu'il n'y a plus de taureau qui vient avec la bouteille. Il semble même que les figurines se vendent sur ebay à un prix prohibitif. Je ne voudrais jamais vendre ce taureau, il me rappelle trop une époque de ma vie.

Eurostar Journeys

 I took this picture last year at the National Railway Museum in York. I am sharing it today as it suits the topic. My wife and I (well, her mostly) are planning our enxt holiday and we were considering Paris. I am not too keen on it, having been there so often in the past, but Wolfie would love to see the city. There is one thing however that I would be looking for, should we settle for Paris: traveling via the Eurostar. It's been long overdue. All train travels are exciting to me, but there is something about going under the sea like this, in the comfort of a train. The Eurostar is a holiday experience in itself.

Soufflé au citron

 Des fois mon père (ou ma mère) cuisine des desserts et m'envoie des photos dudit dessert. Ainsi donc, il a fait un soufflé au citron il y a quelques jours et m'a envoyé cette photo. Je suis moins friand des desserts au citron d'habitude, sauf durant l'été, ou sauf quand j'ai une rage de tarte aux citrons (peut-être plus par nostalgie que pour le goût). Cela dit, celui-ci, j'en prendrais bien, une soirée où il fait chaud et pour manger un dessert léger.

Tomahawk (Signature Weapon)

 Here is another post in my new Signature Weapons series, about weapons that ought to be seen in crime fiction, either used by the heroes or villains, as a signature weapon. So today I want to blog about the tomahawk. Not the missile, but the Native American axe. As a child, I grew kinda obsessed by it when I saw Disney's Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier. I thought it just looked so cool. So I made it one of my characters' signature weapon in some of our games. My parents had bought a few wooden toys, if I remember well. Now, the tomahawk still exists, although it is more often used as a tool than a weapon. Some look like plain hatchets, some look like they have been forged near Mount Doom. Be that as it may, I am ware that a tomahawo might not be the most practical weapon, even in close quarters. All the same, I would like to see it in a modern crime fiction setting as a signature weapon.

Romans rebaptisés

 Bon, amusons-nous un peu avec de l'humour trouvé par hasard dans les internets. Je suis tombé sur ce meme en 2023, je ne crois pas l'avoir partagé sur Vraie Fiction depuis. Je le fais donc aujourd'hui. J'ai bien ri en voyant les nouveaux titres. Surtout celui des Misérables. Je n'ai lu que deux des romans sur la liste, je vous invite à deviner lesquels. Sinon, dites-moi dans les commentaires quel est le titre qui vous fait le plus rire, ou celui que vous trouvez le plus approprié.

Upcoming Return: 87th Precinct

It has been a while since I read something from Ed McBain's 87th Precinct crime fiction series. So I decided to get back to my old 2025 plan of reading the novels in order, among the ones I have yet to read. I bought not one two 87th Precinct books, among them The Con Man, which is next on my reading list. I know I have a rather large TBR list already, but I'm really in the mood for some McBain and like I said, this has been long overdue. It's one of the earlier entries of the series, its fourth book in fact. So yeah, I should be back to Isola soon.

"Bounty", version Pères trappistes

J'apprends via la page Facebook des Pères trappistes qu'ils ont maintenant (en avaient-ils avant?) de la noix de coco enrobée de chocolat. Bref, ils ont leur propre version de la Bounty. J'ai toujours aimé la Bounty, j'espère pouvoir essayer cette version gentrifiée et régionale (rérionale?) un jour.

The Waiting Game (A Birthday Memory)

As it is often the case, my last birthday and recent celebration made me think of the birthdays of my past, from a long time ago. The birthdays of yesteryear, if you will. When I was a child, we I  often celebrated our birthdays the weekend before or after it, generally the weekend after. We had a small celebration on the date itself, but the big party was at the weekend. We invited family, especially our cousins. That was before the internet, before the overbearing presence of screens, before the multiple television channels. After breakfast and the morning cartoons, my brothers and I waited for the guests to come. But we were not bored. We played a sort of waiting game, hiding behind the living room sofa by the window, often with toy guns, as if we were secret agents, smugglers or mercenary soldiers in a secret hideout, waiting for our contacts or allies to show up. We used to peak out, checking through the window that was facing the street, checking every car driving by. The excitement and anticipation of this "Waiting Game" were just as entertaining as the party itself. In fact, it's a ritual I now remember more than many birthday parties we hosted.

Des livres et des roses

Je suis un peu tard à donner la nouvelle, mais bon, mieux vaut tard que jamais. J'ai donc appris sur la page Facebook des Bouquinistes qu'ils offrent une rose avec chaque achat de livre, pour célébrer La Journée mondiale du livre et du droit d'auteur... qui était le 23 avril. La rose est disponible jusqu'à épuisement des stocks. Je doute qu'il en reste, mais je voulais souligner que c'était une charmante initiative. Ah oui, ils ont aussi de nouveaux marque-pages. Il faudra que je m'en prenne quelques-uns.

D&Dr: Downtime

 This picture is (as far as I know) of Dave Dorman, taken from the Dungeon Master's Guide of the second edition of laying Dungeons & Dragons. I always loved it. Anyway, comes a time in a D&Dr campaign when you don't play much. You have been running it for a while, had a few big adventures, the characters have progressed, got stronger, more powerful, and you feel like you are out of ideas. It often happens round this time of year, from my experience anyway. It is therefore time for downtime, and brainstorm your player(s) for inspiration. Any story suggestions from my readers are of course welcome.

Le temps du Kanuk léger

Il fait plus doux ces temps-ci, il devrait même faire dans les 20 degrés, quoique pas très haut. J'ai regardé, et la tmepérature ne devrait pas changer, alors il est temps de troquer mon manteau d'hiver pour mon manteau d'été. Je dis manteau d'hiver, mais c'est un manteau de printemps Kanuk. Ici c'est assez chaud pour durer l'automne, l'hiver et le printemps. J'ai un manteau d'été Kanuk, acheté il y a plus de dix ans, que je mets de mai à octobre environ. Avec le harfang des neiges inimitable.

Knobkerrie (Signature Weapon)

 This post is one of my new Signature Weapons series, where I reflect (or ramble) about specific weapons and their potential use as signature weapons for characters, heroes or villains, in genre stories, especially crime fiction. So yes, I blogged before about the knobkerrie, this South African walking stick that can easily be used (and often is) as a blunt weapon. It has the advantage of being kind of inconspicuous, since it can easily be concealed in plain sight as, well, a walking stick. You know my love for South Africa and South African crime fiction. I am surprised that I have never yet seen a knobkerrie in any of the works of fiction from there I saw, at least not as a weapon. I think it would be a great signature weapon. It's already been used by the hero of this horror gamebook series, but it's a fairly obscure series, and a very old one. I think it's time the knobkerrie makes a comeback for a proper modern crime thriller.

McAuslan fait du whisky

 Ma mère m'a envoyé cet article de la grosse Presse. Une nouvelle dont j'avais fait l'annonce en 2021: la Brasserie McAuslan fait maintenant son whisky. Faudra que je l'essaie lors de mon retour au Québec. Je vais faire quand même une confession ici: lors de mon dernier séjour au pays natal, j'avais trouvé que leurs bières étaient rendues difficiles à trouver et sommes toutes décevantes. J'avais d'ailleurs blogué sur le sujet. Alors j'espère que leur aventure de distilleurs sera heureuse et que l'ensemble de leurs produits retrouveront leur lustre d'antan. Dans tous les cas, bien sûr que je vais goûter à leur whisky et deux fois plutôt qu'une.

George and the Dragon

Happy Saint George's Day everyone! Saint George is of course patron saint of England, even though he was not English and never set foot here. He is also and especially famous for slaying a dragon, which makes it all the more interesting for those, like me, who love old legends and monsters. Anyway, him being patron saint of England means that a lot of pubs here are named George and Dragon. It gave them a nice name, if nothing else. I took this picture in one, the George and Dragon in Marlow. I could make it a yearly tradition: put a picture of a pub called George and Dragon every 23rd of April. Preferably a different pub every time. This is a nice image, the dragon looks bat-like and demomic, interestingly enough.

Le gâteau de mes 49 ans

J'ai pensé partager de mon gâteau de fête d'il y a deux jours. Je l'ai cuisiné. Faire des gâteaux est une entreprise hasardeuse pour moi: j'en ai raté plus souvent qu'à mon tour. Même celui-ci est abîmé à sa base et il penche d'un côté, comme la Tour de Pise. Mais vous ne le croiriez pas à le voir, j'ai caché avec le glaçage. Bon, petit loup l'a décoré, c'est lui qui a mis les Smarties dessus. Le glaçage est à l'érable, parce que j'ai eu l'idée de ramener de l'essence d'érable de mon dernier séjour au Québec. Je trouve que ça lui donne une touche toute québécoise. Dans tous les cas, je suis assez content du résultat. 

Pickled Eggs

We went to a pub last weekend, for a celebration on my wife's side of the family. Two in one, actually: her cousin's birthday and her cousin's wedding. Reception was held in a country pub. I was happily surprised to see that they had pickled eggs, something I hadn't seen in decades. I used to enjoy them a lot as a kid, they made for an easy lunch. Eaten as a snack with a beer on the side, they're even better. Last time I had some was about fifteen years ago, in a local pub that has since changed ownership and completely revamped itself into something more modern. You can guess that the pickled eggs went the way of the dodo eggs there. So long story short, I was so glad to find a pub that still serves them. Of course I had to do the full experience, so I ordered one with a beer. My wife was grossed out. But it really tasted delicious, just like I remembered. And you, ever tried pickled eggs? What do you think of them? Tell me in the comments.

Les alpacas

 Nous sommes allés à une réunion familiale du côté de ma femme (bien entendu), une de ses cousines fêtait son anniversaire ainsi que son mariage. La réception était dans un pub au milieu de nulle part, mais plein de charme, avec pas loin un élevage d'alpacas (ou alpagas, mais je n'utilise jamais le terme "alpaga"). C'est la première chose que Wolfie a voulu voir, les alpacas, dès notre arrivée. Ils n'étaient pas trop timides, ils doivent recevoir pas mal de visiteurs, j'ai donc pu prendre quelques photos.

Still in my forties (for now...)

 Happy birthday to, well, me. I am 49 today. I am not getting any younger, but I am okay. Like I said to my wife last week, at least I'm still in my forties, for now at least. But yes, it goes way too fast. And at least I know my son and my wife have prepared something special for me. They always have something exciting prepared for me, a few really cool presents, something to make me forget that I am only one year away from being fifty and that times flies really quickly. It gets faster as you get older. Thankfully, I'm a father. It also makes it more bearable, because in the end, every celebration we do in this family revolves pretty much around Wolfie.

Marquise, si mon visage, etc, etc.

Bon ben, c'est ma fête aujourd'hui, j'ai 49 ans (aaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!). Tradition sur le blogue, je partage les Stances à Marquise, version chantée par Georges Brassens. Mes traits un peu vieux se font de plus en plus nombreux et de plus en plus tout court. "Un peu" commence à être franchement un euphémisme. Dans trois ans, j'aurai le même âge que Pierre Corneille quand il a écrit le poème. Il me reste encore du temps, mais il file.

Spies at Wimpy

As you may know, I am currently reading William Boyd's Gabriel's Moon. It's a spy thriller set in the sixties. And there is a little detail that may seem trivial, but that I find quite interesting: Gabriel Dax, the main character of the novel, has a girlfriend who works at... Wimpy. I know Wimpy. I have been to Wimpy repeatedly. I love Wimpy, maybe my favourite gentrified fast food chain. And I find it interesting that in a genre that is still associated heavily with glamour and exotism, there is in this spy novel a protagonist who also has a burger restaurants chain as part of his reality. And a girlfriend who smells of smells of burgers and chips when she gets home. It makes the whole world of Gabriel's Moon more relatable. Moral of the story: Next time I go to Wimpy, I will take a good look at the staff and the customers. You never know...

Question existentielle (404)

Une question existentielle qui me taraude depuis le changement d'heure. Pour moi, la réponse est simple, mais je me demande ce qu'en pense mon lectorat:

-Préférez-vous les aurores ou les crépuscules? 

 Et ne me répondez pas le midi...

"Into The Wild" Mug

 I blogged last Monday about the closure of our local Mountain Warehouse. Which is making me very sad. I buy lots of things there, even though I am not one for outdoor activities. But they have some many nice and/or useful things. Such as their enamel mugs. I buy them for Wolfie and for me, my wife isn't quite so fond of them. Not for hot drinks, because then the metal catches the heat and you end up burning your fingers. No, I only use them for cold drinks. The good thing about them is that they don't break easily. And they often have cool images on them. This is so far my favourite. I find it ironic, as like I said I don't go into the wild all that much. Barely at all, in fact. I don't go deep in the forest or on camping, where I guess this mug would be really useful. All the same, you look at this image and it's as if you're there.

Les Libraires (avril-mai)

Petite nouvelle pour les amateurs de lecture: j'ai appris sur la page Facebook des Bouquinistes que l'édition avril-mai du magazine Les libraires est maintenant disponible. Avec une jolie couverture. C'est gratuit, allez en chercher un. Quand je m'arrête dans une librairie, je prends tout ce que je peux de gratos: marque-pages, pamphlets et, ben, ça.

Rooibos (Four O'Clock)

 During my last time in Québec, I discovered the tea brand Four O'Clock. I guess they picked up the name to sound more British. Fun fact: I seldom drink tea around four o'clock. I don't think many people here make it a regular thing either, not like the ritual you see in movies. But I digress. I always like to try new teas. Although, to be honest (and precise), I did not drink any of their tea brews per se. Instead I bought a box of their rooibos. I love rooibos, because you can actually drink it in the afternoon, say four o'clock, and you don't have trouble to sleep later. And it taste almost like black tea.  Oh, and it is South African and my wife's father is South African, so yeah, what's not to love.

Feuille de chêne

J'ai pris cette photo il y a quelques semaines. Une feuille de chêne, comme il y en a tant d'autres sur le sol, quoique moins souvent ces temps-ci qu'en automne. Mais ce qui m'a frappé quand je l'ai prise, ce qui a fait que j'ai voulu la partager sur le blogue, c'est justement que c'est un arbre que l'on voit très souvent ici, alors on ne le remarque pas. Mais ces feuilles, je ne les voyais pas tomber quand j'étais plus jeune, dans la région du monde où j'ai grandi. En tout cas je ne les ai jamais remarqués.

Sherlock Holmes in London

Today, I am blogging again about this edition of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The first edition I read of the novel and the very first Sherlock Holmes novel I read. As it was aimed at younger readers, it was accompanied by many pictures, really nice ones. We sometimes forget that a substantial amount of time of the plot is spent in London, where Holmes and Watson first see the villain of the story, although only from afar. The antagonist is also disguised under a heavy fake beard, so his identity remains a mystery at this point. It makes for a suspenseful chase in the city, which concludes with the Holmes being bested (by his own admission) by his unknown adversary. This image renders very well the tension and gives to the scene and the setting a neat aura of menace.

"Le pouvoir des mots" (Salon du livre)

Il y a quelques mois, sur la page Facebook du Salon du Livre du Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean, j'apprenais l'existence d'un concours pour jeunes auteurs. J'aurais dû le découvrir plus tôt: les inscriptions se terminaient le 20 janvier 2026. Pas pour y participer, mais pour en faire la publicité. J'ai moi-même participé et gagné un concours de jeunes auteurs organisé par le Salon du livre. Inflation oblige, je n'avais pas gagné 25 000$ de livres, mais une somme beaucoup plus modeste. Quand même, j'avais pu garnir ma bibliothèque. C'est ce à quoi j'ai pensé en voyant cette image.

Yawara (Signature Weapon)

This post is part of my Signature Weapons series, which I only officially started this year. Although there were a few older posts that could be considered officiously part of the series, such as this one. Anyway, so I am reading at a slow pace Fight Write, by Carla Hoch, to help me depict fights and violence in my own crime fiction writing. And the book made me discover one exotic weapon from Japan, called the yawara, or yawara stick. It looks like nothing, it is as it says a short stick, a blunt instrument that is barely bigger than the palm of your hand. Yet apparently it can be quite effective and is even used by Japanese police forces. I checked a few videos on YouTube and I must say I am a bit skeptical. Sometimes people praise a thing only because it is exotic and think the world of a weapon simply because it's use by martial artists in the Far East. But since Japanese police officers use it, it must have some utility. In any case, it's a simple device and from what I understand fairly easy to make weapon, so I might add it to some of my character's arsenal. Heroes or villains? I'm not sure yet. So yawara is the word of the day, as well as today's signature weapon. If you have used one, or seen one (if you visited Japan, for instance), please let me know in the comments.

Rosettes au chocolat des Pères trappistes

 Une fête débarrasse le plancher assez vite, une fois terminée: si nous avons encore des chocolats de Pâques à terminer, les épiceries et les commerces ne vendent même plus les stocks de chocolat pascal à rabais. Et selon ce que je vois sur la page Facebook des Pères trappistes, ils ont changé d'état d'esprit aussi, se concentrant sur la vente de rosettes: aux atocas, aux bleuets, au chocolat noir, au chocolat blanc, etc. Des rosettes au chocolat pour les temps morts avant la saison des bleuets. On est quand même gâtés au Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, côté sucreries.

Time to grow a pumpkin patch?

 I found this meme a few days ago in one of the Halloween pages I follow. Now is the time to grow pumpkins, apparently. I am not so sure I should: last time I did was catastrophic, the slugs ate them all, no matter what I tried to keep them away. It broke my heart, it really did, and crushed my hopes of becoming a half-decent gardener. That said, I love this meme because it reminds me I am not so far away from spooky season. I just need to be patient.

Mafalda s'en vient

 Grâce notamment à la la page Facebook officielle de Mafalda, je peux suivre au moins un peu l'arrivée (encore lointaine) de la série télévisée sur Netflix. Bon, c'est encore très fragmentaire, mais nous avons quand même eu droit à un trailer, qui est vraiment plus un teaser, parce que c'est vraiment très court. Je n'ai pu trouver de sous-titres nulle part, ni en français ni en anglais, mais j'ai trouvé quelque part sur YouTube un doublage (grâce à l'intelligence artificielle?) en anglais. Dans tous les cas, je vous partage ce nouveau teaser, en espérant qu'il y en aura d'autres. 

Wanderlust (word of the day)

As you may know, I have started reading William Boyd's Gabriel's Moon. So far it is a solid spy thriller set in the sixties. And it made me discover a term, which I have seen before, but never paid attention to it: wanderlust. It is our word of the day. It means "a strong desire to wander, to travel and explore the world". I have ambivalent feelings about it: I do experience it sometimes and I suspect it is because of wanderlust that I ended up in England. Wanderlust made me an expat, if you will. Anyway, I am not complaining and whether you experience wanderlust or not, it's a feeling that comes in handy when your are writing an adventure novel or... a spy thriller. And reading a spy thriller, or indeed any other novel where the protagnist travels, might make you feel wanderlust yourself. Anyway, that's the word of the day and my take on it. What do you think about wanderlust? Did you ever experience it?