I have the Orient Express

 Well, not quite. I mean I don't haave share in the company (because yes, you can still travel on it), or own a wagon of the Orient Express, but you remember the Orient Express jigsaw puzzle? I have been obsessing about for a few years now. Well, my wife bought it for me for Christmas. 1000 pieces, this may be beyond my skills, but I will sure try to do it.

The Orient Express Puzzle

You know I love trains, old steam trains and luxury trains, so of course I love the  Orient Express. Since the first time I saw it, some two years ago, I keep seeing it again in posh local shops and it keeps taunting me. I don't even like puzzles all that much, but this one has class. I have it on my present lists for Christmas this year, maybe for my birthday next. In any case, I think it looks very stylish.

The Dracula Puzzle

I an not a fan of jigsaw puzzles per se, that said I can enjoy doing one if the image on it talks to me. So I saw this one during my last visit in a Waterstones. I did not buy it: we already have many, many, many jigsaw puzzles and we seldom play with them, even though Wolfie likes them a lot. But I regret it and I just might buy it one day, just to have a Halloween-themed game to play during the countdown and because Dracula is, as you probably all know by now, my favourite horror novel. The puzzle shows quite a few key events of the book, albeit it has been tainted by the popular image of Dracula (the black and red cape for instance). All the same, I think it looks gloriously eerie and it deserves a place here among our games.

The Orient Express Puzzle

During my Christmas shopping last year, I went to a local gifts shop. I was happy to find the jogsaw puzzle of the Orient Express I once saw in the local bookshop. I didn't buy it, because I was busy buying presents to others, but I put it on my list for the future. Maybe I will receive it on my birthday.

Casse-tête des Fêtes

Bon, petit billet pour simplement dire que mes parents ont terminé le casse-tête de Noël. C'est une nouvelle tradition familiale, ils en font un à chaque année. Celui-ci était paraît-il très difficile.

Death on the Istanbul Express

The things one can find in the local library. Because you don't have to borrow books, you can also borrow (or buy?) jogsaw puzzles. And murder parties. And murder parties that are also jigsaw puzzles. So I saw this last time we visited it. Death on the Istanbul Express. A whodunit where, from what I understand, you need also to complete the puzzle to obtain some extra clues, or something. I used to love murder parties, but I never done anything like this. Although I do remember seeing such mix of puzzles and murder parties in the past, I believe it was back in the nineties, when murder parties were all the rage. I got curious about it, but I don't think I will ever play it. I used to love murder parties and would love to get back into it again, but I just don't think I have the patience to complete a 1000 piece jigsaw. However, I'm curious if any of you ever played this jigsaw/murder party, or indeed any other.

Le casse-tête dans la bibliothèque

À la bibliothèque locale, il n'y a pas que des bouquins, il y a aussi des casse-têtes. Il y avait celui-ci, représentant une nature morte, entamé (est-ce le bon terme?) au quart. Wolfie l'a vu tout de suite et a commencé à essayer de le faire. Il est attiré par les puzzles, même ceux de mille pièces, ça tient de la famille. Il n'a pas eu beaucoup eu le temps de s'y consacrer, n'a pas pu le compléter, ou découvrir la pièce manquante. Nous avions un après-midi chargé. Cela dit, il a bien aimé quand même les quelques instants passés dessus. Et ça lui a donné le goût d'en acheter un dans une boutique de charité quelques minutes plus tard.

Titanic Games

There are a lot of things I learned on Titanic Belfast, a museum we visited with great interest. Wolfie most of all, as he is fascinated by the Titanic.In the last section of the experience, we discovered that there are games based on the ill-fated ship. Among them a puzzle and some board games. The puzzle looks very nice, so I will try to find it. But the board game is what truly caught my attention. We have too many board games already and too little time to play them, but all the same, I want to find this one, or another. What I find interesting about using the Titanic as a setting is that it adds a dramatic element to the game play. I think Wolfie and I might enjoy it a lot.

The Age of Steam (puzzles)

 We went downtown yesterday and we stopped in a charity shop. We don't always buy things there, but I must say we often do. My wife found this jigsaw puzzle box, four jigsaw puzzles in one, each one about a team train. With a CD in it, for some reason, becuse if you are going to build a puzzle with a train on it, you might as well have some sound to it. So we had a conversation that went like this:

Veggie Carrie: "Maybe we should buy this, it's only three pounds." 

Me: "It would make the two men in this household very happy, but it comes with a CD. I mean we don't have a CD player anymore." 

Veggie Carrie: "Well... there's the car." 

Me: "You want us to listen to steam train sounds in the car instead of music? I mean, I won't mind, Wolfie won't mind either but... wouldn't that be your worst nightmare coming true?" 

Veggie Carrie (suddenly horrified): "Oh... no!"

 

 So there you have it. I think what I said about listening to the CD in the car deserves to be a great unknown line. It made us laugh and I got some sharp looks from other customers for that reason. And wee still bought the box in the end.

The Orient Express (jigsaw)

 A couple of weeks ago, I saw this jigsaw puzzle as part of the window dressing of our local bookshop. Because bookshops don't only sell books, sometimes they sell other cool stuff, such as games, such as this gorgeous, gorgeous puzzle. So anyway, I love all things trains, especially old steam trains and no train can be cooler and more glamorous than the Orient Express. Well, okay, maybe one train matches it, but not many. I am not very good with jigsaw puzzles and this one is 1000 pieces, yet I suggested it to my wife as a Christmas present. I did not get it. But my birthday is in April, so who know what might happen then. Be that as it may, just because it's the Orient Express, I would love to have it.

Le casse-tête chez mes parents

 

 Mes parents ont terminé le casse-tête de Noël. Un tableau hivernal nostalgique. Ici nous n'avons pas terminé le nôtre.

Notre casse-tête de Noël

Un peu par hasard, j'ai commencé une tradition dans la famille. Depuis que j'ai acheté un casse-tête à mon frère PJ en 2019, mes parents font un casse-tête chaque année durant les Fêtes. La tradition se poursuit ici aussi. J'ai acheté un casse-tête à ma femme l'an dernier, un peu par hasard, sans savoir si elle allait aimer ça ou non. En fait, elle a un intérêt moyen pour les puzzles. Mais petit loup, lui, a décidé qu'il aimait vraiment ça. Alors l'an dernier, il a fait le casse-tête acheté pour sa mère. Puis il l'a fait encore cette année. Avec un peu d'aide de papa et maman, mais pas tant que ça.

Snakes, Ladders and... Monkeys

I know I blogged on the same topic not long ago, but there are times when a topic comes back very quickly just because. You know my long time interest for Snakes and Ladders, even though it is not the most challenging board game. Something about snakes makes it kind of atmospheric and cool. I always loved it. So anyway we went to see Wolfie's family on his mother's side last weekend. And the grandparents had prepared this game of Snakes and Ladders. It's a very special one, as it is also a jigsaw puzzle (you can see it if you look closely). it also features cheeky monkeys on it. Which changes nothing to the game per se, but it makes it cute. And the snakes don't look too nasty either. So there you have it; two games into one and some monkeys on top of it.

Casse-tête cosmique

 Petit loup adore les puzzles. C'est un intérêt qu'il a depuis longtemps, mais depuis que j'en ai acheté un pour sa mère à Noël, il l'a pour ainsi dire redécouvert. Alors donc,  comme il est en relâche cette semaine et que nous n'allons nulle part, je lui ai suggéré de s'essayer sur un nouveau casse-tête. Sa mère lui a acheté celui-ci, que Wolfie a choisi lui même. J'imagine que l'image de science-fiction avec les couleurs l'a intéressé. 200 morceaux, pour les enfants de huit ans et plus. Mon fils n'en a que six. Il l'a terminé en deux jours, tout seul ou presque. Je suis très fier de lui.

Le casse-tête des Fêtes, 2022

Nouvelle tradition familiale depuis l'année dernière: mes parents font un casse-tête pour Noël, avec mes frères s'ils sont là. Ils en ont fait un l'an dernier, un puzzle que j'avais acheté pour mon frère PJ. Qui a récédivé cette année avec un nouveau casse-tête, plus compliqué à faire. Mes parents l'ont terminé hier. Nous tentons de créer la tradition ici aussi. Je crois que l'on devrait avoir un casse-tête pour chaque saison, voire chaque célébration.

Jigsaw Puzzle Tag

 In preparation for our upcoming holidays, I recently ordered (and received) new tags for our luggages. The old oness were getting, well, old. And these are colourful, so they are easily identifiable. Each one has a different motif on it. I let Wolfie decide which one should go to why and he decided that I should have the one with the jigsaw puzzle. I'm not sure why. My wife is far more into jigsaw puzzles than me. All the same, it's a cute tag.

Train Station 3D Puzzle

As I mentioned in my previous post, yesterday our family went to Hobbycraft. It was not our intention, but there was a Hobbycraft shop where we went and we decided to pop in. We bought a few things for Wolfie, although I try not to buy him too many toys when it is not his birthday. So I got him some cheap bits and bots, even though he wanted everything in the shop. Everything but this 3D jigsaw puzzle of a train station. Reduced price. A bargain. It caught my eyes. I love trains and because of this I easily indulge Wolfie when it comes to train related toys and games. Beside, while we have plenty of train sets, we don't have so many train stations (okay so we still have a few). But he looked at it and he didn't pay attention one bit. Oh well, maybe for his sixth birthday. He might get interested about it then.

Le casse-tête de Noël

À Noël 2019, j'ai acheté à mon frère PJ ce casse-tête en cadeau. 1000 pièces, un détail. Je l'ai choisi parce qu'il faisait vraiment Noël. PJ aimait bien faire des puzzles lorsqu'il était jeune, alors j'ai pensé que ça serait une belle tradition à renouveler et réinventer. Mes parents et lui, ainsi que mon autre frère Andrew et sa blonde s'y sont mis et ont réussi à le faire en deux ou trois jours. Je crois que même le neveu d'un an s'est mis de la partie. Wolfie également: lors de nos séances Facetime il donnait des conseils à ses grand-parents et ses oncles lorsqu'il identifiait un morceau. Je crois qu'on le refera l'année prochaine et celles d'après, avec ce casse-tête ou un autre. Une nouvelle tradition familiale, en somme.

Un casse-tête exotique aux multiples facettes

Je télécharge une nouvelle photo prise au York Castle Museum. Le musée avait un bon nombre de jouets datant de toutes les époques et ce casse-tête m'a fasciné. Bon, ce n'est pas un casse-tête très élaboré: des blocs forment une image. Ou en fait des images: des éléphants d'Asie au travail, une caravane de chameaux (oi de dromadaires) et sans doute autre chose sur les autres faces des cubes. L'amateur de casse-têtes dans la famille, c'est PJ, enfin c'était l'amateur quand nous étions enfants. Moi, j'aimais les casse-têtes complétés, quand on pouvait voir l'image. Et celles-ci sont assez cool. On n'en faisait déjà plus dans mon enfance, des choses de ce genre.

Ah oui, et il y a un vieux toutou panda dans le coin. Objet assez intéressant également.