Mozart for Easter (Et incarnatus est)

 Happy Easter everyone! As usual, I share some music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I shared his Et incarnatus est from his Great Mass in C Minor more than once, but it's just so fitting for today. Performed here by French soprano Julie Fuchs (Wolfie's favourite, because he finds her cute). And to accompany this post, a picture I took in Vienna. If you think it's not Easter-y enough, well, I think Mozart is always Easter-y enough, because it's his music I listen to at Easter and because he was the Christ of music.

Ours polaire viennois?

 Photo prise au Zoo de Vienne lors de nos vacances l'an dernier. Je ne tenais pas tant à y aller (au zoo je veux dire). Mais ce fût quand même agréable. Et puis c'est toujours plaisant de voir (notamment) des ours polaires, tant qu'ils ne puissent pas vous atteindre. Je trouve toujours ça un peu surréaliste de voir un animal polaire dans un zoo européen. Je ne sais pas trop pourquoi.

Vienna, city of espionnage

 You may remember back on the 25th of February, I had made the project of starting a number of posts here about cities and places associated with espionage, in fiction and/or in history. Well, I haven't forgotten it and today is the fitst post of I hope a new series. The first city I wanted to blog about came as a no brainer: I am talking of course of Vienna. Because it is not only the City of Music, it could easily qualify as the City of Espionage, and way before the Cold War. Of course it was one of those places at the center of the conflict between East and West, but it has always been the convergence point for both worlds, both Europes so to speak. Also, I suspect that due to its picturesque look, many spies would rather meet there than anywhere else in the world. For the writer, it makes for a great backdrop for a gripping drama, the beauty of Vienna a sharp contrast to the ruthless game of cloaks and daggers being played. Should you visit it, keep that in mind. I know I will next time.

Volaille et lapin

J'ai pris cette photo à  Vienne, au Belvedere.Un tableau de Franz Werner Tamm (ou von Tamm). Je l'aime beaucoup, je ne sais pas trop pourquoi. Le tableau s'appelle "Volaille et lapin". J'imagine que j'aime les tableaux qui ont des couleurs très naturelles.

Samovar

I took this picture in Vienna at the hotel we were staying. It is of course a samovar, and so samovar this is the word of the day. They had it in the dining room for breakfast. It is, as far as I can remember, the very first samovar I ever saw. Certainly the first proper samovar I ever used. I was so grateful to find out that they do tea properly in Austria. Well, at least in one place in Austria anyway. And making tea with this made me feel all posh and fancy, like a true gentleman. It's also very exotic. Anyway, I must have drunk three cuppas every morning, just for the sheer pleasure of using this samovar. But the tea was nice too.

Tamino and Pamina

First and foremost: happy Valentine's Day everyone! I am not the biggest fan, to be honest, because when you are single today, it is depressing and when you are in a couple, it is stressful. All the same, let's celebrate, with first  picture I took in Vienna. You may recognise Prince Tamino and Princess Pamina from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. AKA The Magic Flute. We stumbled upon this monument at complete random. I thought it captured beautifully their relationship. Of course, I could not celebrate today without Mozart's music. There's another reason why I wanted to share the picture: for me, their relationship perfectly embodies what true, lasting love should be. So here is their duet, or a part of their one duet in the opera, sung by my favourite Mozartian soprano Golda Schultz (don't tell the others) and tenor Ben Bliss. Mozart can be cynical about relationships, but not here. Yet he remains I think truthful: for love to work, it has to be teamwork.

Princesse/Impératrice Sissi

Il y a une personne en Autriche qui, sans être aussi célébrée par les touristes que le p'tit gars de Salsbourg (on Autrichien préféré, bien entendu), est quand même une attraction. Je parle de l'Impératrice Élisabeth de Wittelsbach. Aussi connue sous le nom de Princesse Sissi. Enfant, j'ai comme bien du monde connu Sissi grâce aux films avec Romy Schneiger. Des bluettes édulcorées, je crois, des romcoms pseudo-historiques, mais ça faisait des soirées de fin d'été assez plaisantes et ça désennuyait un peu. En plus, ça nous donnait un petit vernis d'histoire. Enfin bref, j'ai pris cette photo à Vienne, me demandant combien de touristes la princesse attire. Elle ou le portrait qu'en a donné Romy Schneider. Mais bon, elle peut bien avoir ses fans, elle ne doit certainement pas en avoir autant que Wolferl.

Autruches en Autriche

 Vous vous rappelez peut-être d'un calembour atroce que j'ai commis en août 2025. En fait non, c'est une confusion agaçante que j'avais entendue étant enfant: un camarade de classe qui disait autruche au lieu d'Autriche. Or, lors de notre séjour à Vienne, j'ai vu ce tableau au Belvedere. des autruches en Autriche. Je n'ai pas pu résister et j'ai donc pris cette photo. Outre cela, le tableau et la dorure autour, ça fait quand même joli. Mais j'ai surtout pris la photo pour le calembour atroce.

Komodo Dragon

This may come as a surprise to you, given the last few days, but we didn't go to Austria only as a musical pilgrimage. I was looking at the pictures of our trip and we saw many other things. In Vienna, I was dragged at the Haus de Meeres (their aquarium) and I managed to fulfill an old childhood dream: see a real Komodo dragons, in the flesh. You may remember from this post from 2023 that I had a fascination for them. Well, I can tick that off my bucket list. Although I am looking forward to the next time I see these scary critters. Famous last words, I know.

Majestic Mozart

Well, it is still Mozart Week, so I am sharing more of his music. And a statue of Mozart himself: the one you can find in Vienna. It is often surrrounded by tourists, who just take pictures of it because, well, Mozart is a huge part of Vienna and Austria, maybe its most famous composers. And I was there as a pilgrim, a proper worshipper in fact. That said, like many other portraits and monuments to the man, I find this one strange at many levels. He looks atypically regal and Greco-Roman godly here. Maybe a tad Messianic too. As much as I'm a sucker for the monuments paying homage to him, I can't help but find them incomplete. There's a lot of Amadeus in this statue, but very little of Wolfgang, even less of Wolferl. There's no mischief. Anyway, this post would not be complete without a bit of music, here an aria from from Le Nozze di Figaro. Sung by Rod Gilfry. Tell me what you think of the music and the statue.

The Birthday of Amadeus

As you probably know by now, today is the birthday of of Wolfgang Johannes Chrysostome Amadeus Mozart, the heart of Mozart Week. I commemorate it a picture with his most famous (although not his most accurate) portrait, which I took in Vienna. I am also sharing a bit of his music, the Concerto for Flute, Harp and Orchestra. I thought I would give you a break from opera. And that a birthday needed something joyful and youthful.

Un hôtel à Vienne

 Photo d'un restaurant et d'un hôtel à Vienne. Je partage la photo rien que parce que.

Halloween in Vienna

For today's countdown to Halloween post I come back to my very first post of the month, when I shared the picture of a display window in Vienna. Because the display was gorgeous, for one, also because I was so glad to see that Halloween is getting traction on the continent. Austria is a great place to celebrate Halloween, I thought, but I also always thought Austria and Vienna especially are great places for old fashioned horror stories. It has been in the past, of course, I know of at least one anyway. Because of the architecture, the history, the atmosphere (not to mention the music), the city deserves its own critters and iconic supernatural villains. When I was in Vienna, I could not help but imagine what I could do with the setting, imagining malevolent presences and hapless victims. What do you think? And do you know of any horror stories, old or new, set in Vienna?

Dracula climbing up a wall

 For today's countdown to Halloween post, a bit more about Count Dracula. Again. Be warned: I am obsessed about the novel (if you haven't noticed) and every Halloween I blog about it. This year, expect to see even more, because I read a lot of Bram Stoker and I want to share my discoveries. Anyway, I saw this in Vienna, from this ferris wheel. Which of course reminds me of a scene in the novel, when the count climbs down the walls of his castle. Climbs down head first and at night, but I suspect the display was inspired by the novel anyway. Fitting, as Stoker had initially wanted to have what would become Dracula set in Austria. Anyway, it looks very cool and scary.

Countdown to Halloween

 We are the first of October, which is, of course, the official starting date for the countdown to Halloween. I took this picture in Vienna. A proper display dating back from August., with elements of macabre and also looking very autumnal. This is the favourite window display I have seen in years. And it is proof that Halloween is getting popular everywhere. On a side note, Austria is a perfect setting for Halloween and horror stories. Speaking of horror stories, a lot of my countdown to Halloween posts will be about horror stories in some way. In any case, happy countdown!

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.

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.

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.

Figarohaus

My father sent me a few weeks ago pictures dating back from our family trip in Austria, during the 200th nniversary of the death of Mozart. We visited a lot of towns and cities, among them Vienna. This is where he took this picture. I am not sure if it is the same as the Mozarthaus, only with a different name, but from my father's memory this is where Mozart composed Le Nozze di Figaro. I must confess I don't remember seeing the Figarohaus of the Mozarthaus, or whatever its official name is, but I do remember quite a few things about that trip, especially the music, the concerts and the operas we went to. I will blog more about our time in Austria it in the future. I also think a post about Vienna would not be quite completed without a bit of music, and that it would be fitting to share something from Le Nozze di Figaro, an aria sung by Luca Pisaroni.

Des viennoiseries pour déjeuner

Cette photo a été prise dans un pub un dimanche, elle a peu assez peu à voir avec le sujet de mon billet, mais bref, je cherchais une photo pour aller avec et puis elle est assez jolie. Ma famme a pris ça après un repas au pub en guise dessert: un café (mocha ou cappucino) et avec le biscuit qui est plus une brioche qui va avec. Ca ressemble assez à ce que je mange pour déjeuner chaque matin quand je suis au travail: une viennoiserie (brioche, biscuit, croissant ou gâteau). Sauf que je ne bois pas de café. Je ne suis pas vraiment du genre à manger du sucré pour déjeuner, sauf parfois des croissants quand j'ai le goût d'en manger, mais depuis que je travaille là où je travaille je ne fais plus dans le déjeuner fort en protéïnes quand ce n'est pas la fin de semaine. Ce n'est pas exactement santé, surtout que je le mange en travaillant, mais j'ai besoin de l'endorphine pour passer au travers de ma journée et puis le sucre de la viennoiserie ça me donne un boost d'énergie quand j'en ai le plus besoin. Je me fais des petits déjeuners continentaux donc, sauf pour le café, parce qu'il n'est bon qu'en Italie. Morale de l'histoire: y'en a pas.