Christmas Anthologies

'Tis the season to be reading and I know I have not been giving any reading suggestions for Christmas as of yet. It's because I am only reading at a snail's pace and have been reading too many books simultaneously. One of them is Fill My Stocking, by Alan Titchmarsh. Who was in the news recently, but I digress. I struck me that, like for most seasonal reads I have now, my Christmas reads are mostly anthologies. They're not really demanding, this one isn't anyway, but they put you right in the Christmas spirit. The cover is quite cute too.

La bûche Lulu

J'ai piqué cette photo sur la page Facebook de la Chocolaterie Lulu. Je sais qu'ils font des bûches de Noël depuis au moins 2015, mais je n'ai pas encore eu la chance d'y goûter. Même lors de nos deux séjours durant les Fêtes depuis que l'on a petit loup, en 2017 et 2019, je n'ai pas pensé à saisir l'opportunité. Et je m'en mords les doigts. La bûche, c'est pour moi LE dessert de Noël.

Early Christmas Roast

Last weekend, we had a family gathering on my wife's side. So her parents, her brother and sister, their respective partners and our nephew and niece were all there. We had lunch in a pub and it counted as a Christmastime gathering, so we had a Christmas menu. As my eife is vegetarian, I took this opportunity to have a traditional English Christmas meal. Not exactly like the ones of my childhood, but close enough: turkey, gravy, pigs in blankets and roasted potatoes.And some vegs, including Brussellssprouts, which for some reason is considered a treat in this country. All the same, I enjoyed it. First Christmas meal of the season.

Le Parc l'hiver

 Ma cousine Amy l'artiste photographe m'a envoyé cette photo du Parc des Laurentides. Je la partage, parce que c'est beau et hivernal. Noël a vraiment l'air de Noël par chez nous.

Christmas at the National Railway Museum

 'Tis the season to be... errr... railwaying? Anyway, I love trains every time of year, but I associate them with Christmas a lot, because this. My Christmas is never whole without trains playing a role in it. So I was happy to see on the Facebook page  of the National Railway Museum in York that they have a whole range of Christmas themed things in their shop that would make very good presents to yours truly. This jumper, for instance. So yeah, it is on my list.

Les rennes du Père Noël

 Nous sommes allés à un marché de Noël il y a quelques jours. Nous avons eu du plaisir, malgré la pluie et le vent. Il y avait bien des attractions, dont, bien entendu, des rennes. Enfin, je dis des rennes, je veux bien entendu dire les vrais de vrais rennes du Père Noël. Ils sont peut-être encore jeunes pour tirer le traîneau, mais ils sont bien quand même. J'imagine qu'il y a un apprentissage pour ce genre de travail: ils doivent non seulement tirer un engin lourd, mais en plus, ils doivent s'envoler avec. J'ai pris quelques photos, loin d'être parfaites, mais celle-ci n'est pas mal, quoiqu'un peu floue.

Christmas Books Guide

 Among all the things I have yet to do before Christmas comes, is pick up this freebie. I try to get my hands on it every time I see it, just to see what books I could add to my to be read list. We went to the local bookshop yesterday, Sadly I didn't see it. Maybe they were all gone, maybe I didn't look hard enough. Be that as it may, I hope to find one before long.

La Saint-Nicolas (et Saint Nicolas)

C'est la Saint-Nicolas aujourd'hui. Au lieu de partager, comme je le fais d'habitude, la célèbre chanson basée sur l'une des légendes associées au saint, je partage une vidéo sortie récemment sur YouTube, qui nous explique son histoire et son association au Père Noël. J'ai bien aimé.

Mozart: Requiem Aeternam

Today, I take a short break from my seasonal Christmas post to commemorate am anniversary: the death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. As per a musical tradition among Mozart's lovers around the world, I will listen to his Requiem. I am also sharing it on this blog. It's been 233 years and I'm still grieving.

Bûche de Noël

 Ma mère a fait sa première (sa seule?) bûche de Noël et m'a envoyé une photo. Pour moi, c'est LE dessert de Noël. Elle est différente chaque année, avec des variations. Cette année, ce sont les sapins de Noël dessus. Trois pour ses trois petits-enfants?

Christmas with Brio

 We put up the Christmas tree this weekend. Yesterday, Wolfie decided that he needed to build the Christmas village at its foot, which means adding Brio's tracks, trains and other Xmas accessories from the previous Advent calendars we bought our son in the past years. Sadly, he didn't want any this year, he just wanted one with chocolates in it. Then I saw that they made a limited edition this year, which looks gorgeous, and full of new accessories. I could have cried. My son does not know what he's missing sometimes. Because yes, I am totally not self-interested and absolutely not thinking about having it for myself.

La neige

 Photo envoyée par mon père de la neige au Saguenay. J'espère qu'ils auront un Noël blanc.

First Mulled Wine

One of the things I did to put myself in the Christmas spirit this weekend was have my very first mulled wine of the season. Because 'tis the season to be drinking. Nothing too fancy, it looked pretty bare in fact, no orange, no elegant cup or mug. But it tasted good. There was a local Christmas fayre and a stand that was selling it, I had to have one, which I shared with my wife. Mulled wine is one of the few alcohols she genuinely loves. So yeah, it warmed us up while Wolfie was queing to see Santa.

Observations sur les calendriers de l'Avent

J'ai vu ce calendrier de l'Avent à M&S, mais je ne l'ai pas acheté, hélas. Ma femme en avait déjà acheté d'autres, un pour chaque membre de la famille. Avec des chocolats, bien entendu. Cela dit, j'aimerais parfois en avoir avec d'autres choses. Comme, mettons, un polar, comme l'an dernier. Je discutais de cela avec mon frère PJ hier: nous nous rappelions comment nous avons commencé à avoir des calendriers de l'Avent. C'était dans les années 80, quand ils recommençaient à être populaires. À l'école, nous en avions des religieux, mais nos parents en avaient acheté qui avaient des bébelles en plastique cheap à chaque jour. Et un chocolat à un moment donné, qui était lui aussi dégueulasse. Ces calendriers ont fait place à ceux plus connus maintenant. Mais ce que j'aime dans celui-ci, c'est la couverture festive et élégante. Et puis, c'est cute un ours à Noël. J'espère que je reverrai Spencer l'Avent prochain.

Choose Bookshops This Christmas

Today is the first day of December, so it's officially Advent, Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat and 'tis the season to be reading. So I would like to ask you all to purchase the books you will buy as presents for your loved ones or yourself in bookshops, preferably local ones. I took this image from ted by Books Are My Bag, which promotes this every year here. I think they hit the mark with that one, big time. I should myself make a few seasonal reading suggestions in the following days and weeks.

La Marche des Rois

De bon matin j'ai rencontré le train
De trois grands Rois qui allaient en voyage,
De bon matin j'ai rencontré le train
De trois grands Rois dessus le grand chemin.

Nous sommes le premier jour de l'Avent, c'est une tradition sur ce blogue de mettre sur ce blogue une version La marche des rois. Sans doute mon cantique préféré.

Aquila on Vikings

There's something aout being a parent I did not expect: it means that Wolfie receives more and better mail than me. So yeah, the postman came a few days ago and lo and behold, there was one big envelope in the mail: December's issue of Aquila, the magazine of "big ideas for inquisitive kids". This month's topic is... Vikings. In case you hadn't noticed looking at the gorgeous cover. Also, incidentally, or maybe it's fate, Wolfie's new obsession, because it's their topic at school. I associate Norse mythology with Christmas, because, well, this is pretty much where all its imagery and tropes come from anyway. So this issue is all the more fitting. Wolfie is already reading it eagerly.

La neige au Saguenay

Mon père m'a envoyé des photos de la neige qui est tombée au Saguenay. C'est vraiment l'hiver...

The Marlow Christmas/Winter Bookmark

As you may know, I sort of collect bookmarks. I collect books too, of course. But anyway, I love buying or finding bookmarks (as they are often free) for different occasions and use them for different occasions too. So last time we went to Marlow, a picturesque little town, I found this seasonal bookmark, which I bought immediately. It's rare to see a single English town that looks that snowy during Christmastime, but if there was snow over Marlow, it would very likely look like this. It just puts you in the mood for the season. I haven't decided yet of the first book I will use it on (your suggestions are welcome). But all the same, I have a cool new bookmark for Christmas.

Les stocks de beignes

Petite annonce: mes parents ont fait des beignes pour les Fêtes. Je ne sais pas combien de recettes, mais ça devrait faire des heureux dans ma famille. Les beignes, c'est le dessert de Noël chez nous.