Urban Vignettes

I've snapped some photos from a weekend of dancing and touring in Montréal...bon voyage!

Red and blue

Urban layers

 Namesake store not to go undocumented

 Asymmetrical balance

 Stop the press!

 Scrollwork

 Fancy clock

What an inviting nook!

 Trompe l'oeil

Patchwork building 

Stubborn

 Pastel cheer

 Spot the flags?

 Art Nouveau

 Refreshingly aquamarine

Petite palmy patio

 Lush

 Exquisite stone and brackets and blooms

 Classical

Art Deco

Merveilleux!

Sans Reproche

I am amazed by the intricate details of this antique book. It is a Value Village find, Sans Reproche by Edmond Coz, circa 1913, although the Art Nouveau styling leads me to presume it's actually from the late 1800s.

Look at the stunning black and red cover art, with the misregistration of the black outlines over gold floral. That star pattern below the title gives me fabric collection coordinate ideas. Plus the book has gilded pages.

The flyleaf inscription even boasts this elegant handwriting! I feel like every time I turn the page of an antique book I am flinging open another door to clues of social and stylistic history--what a treasure hunt.

The Soldier's Service Dictionary

This pocket-sized dictionary is 100 years old. It was printed in 1917 by Funk & Wagnalls Company in New York. Then it was presumably used in WWI, and about 70 years later my mom picked it up at a book sale. I wonder if in between it was picked up and used in WWII.

The interior translates common military terms into French for practical use by the "Belgian, British, and French armies." It even translates geographical terms in a pictographic way.

Quite the fascinating read!

October Garden

I love gardens in October. The bees become dazed, and the twigs get crispy, but there are still a few defiantly peachy roses hidden in the brambles. Frost wilts the nasturtiums but makes the apples sweeter.

An American in Paris

 An American in Paris is a fun musical full of exuberant song and dance set to an exclusively Gershwin score. It stars the dynamic dancer, singer, actor, and choreographer Gene Kelly alongside impressively flexible Leslie Caron, who has a contagious ear-to-ear smile.

 The 17 minute ballet at the end of the film is the real stunner, as it brings to life the art of Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir, Utrillo, Rousseau, and Dufy in rhythm and vivacious sets and costumes.

 This storefront is so delightfully masculine, as was Gene Kelly's style of dance.

Notice all the vibrant stripes used against the simple leaf shapes.

 Gene Kelly even transforms into Toulouse-Lautrec's Chocolat in a hilariously wiggly dance!

 It is a riot of colour.

Magnifique!

Thrifted Books

Here we have a lovely selection of literature, all $0.50 each from garage sales!

Jusqu'à Nos Jours is a Canadian French textbook of selected French authors' short stories. Yay for keeping up the French usage, plus the cover is a surface pattern design dream!

The Mayor of Casterbridge, a classic by Thomas Hardy, has been on my reading list since I read Far from the Madding Crowd. Also, the cover art is stunning!

L.M. Montgomery is the Queen of Heartwarming Descriptions and my favourite author. The Road to Yesterday is a compilation of some of her short stories, and this page at the front offers some highly suggested reading!