A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum

**oddoneout** · 26-02-25, 15:26

Originally posted by vinteuil View Post

... and remember -

https://fr.pinterest.com/pin/170785010848058291/

A high chortle count on that board.

**french frank** · 28-02-25, 15:11

Originally posted by vinteuil View Post

... and their babies

Local bistrot has an old French Rizla poster, with a baby puffing away joyously.

And Guinness is good for you. Is there an element of truth in that?

**Serial_Apologist** · 28-02-25, 17:16

Originally posted by french frank View Post

Local bistrot has an old French Rizla poster, with a baby puffing away joyously.

And Guinness is good for you. Is there an element of truth in that?

It used to be claimed that a pint of "true" Guinness, i.e. brewed from the waters of the Liffey, had the equivalent value of a fully nutritious meal, and it was thus colloquially known as "the poor man's stout". Today people would be more likely to say "the stout man's poor"!

**french frank** · 28-02-25, 22:40

Originally posted by french frank View Post

Local bistrot has an old French Rizla poster, with a baby puffing away joyously.

Et voila:

**oddoneout** · 03-04-25, 17:03

As I often do I looked at the charity book table on the way out of the supermarket this morning and noticed an old book which turned out to be Vol 1 of the autobiography of Hector Berlioz. As I'd seen it mentioned elsewhere on the Forum as a good read, and dipping into suggested that might well be the case, I dropped my 50p in the tin and took it home. According to the flyleaf it was a 'Junior Violin Prize' awarded to Beatrice Langdon Davies in 1894. Out of curiosity I looked up the name and found part of a family tree but also, much to my surprise, a reference to a painting of her and her fiance.

01 painting, The amorous game, Hugh Goldwin Riviere’s Garden of Eden, with Footnotes #97

https://zaidan.blog/2023/06/09/01-painting-the-amorous-game-hugh-goldwin-rivieres-garden-of-eden-with-footnotes-97/

Hugh Goldwin Riviere (1869–1956)The Garden of Eden, c. 1901Oil on canvasH 123 x W 94 cmGuildhall Art Gallery The Garden of Eden depicts a young couple walking through Kensington Gardens by Lan…

I am very chuffed at this bit of serendipity, and still have the book to look forward to.

**eighthobstruction** · 03-04-25, 17:10

....smashing, excellent

**vinteuil** · 03-04-25, 17:14

.

... that's lovely, ooo.

I think you just might be able to get vol ii

Autobiography of Hector Berlioz , Member of the Institute of France , from 1803 to 1865 Comprising His Travels in Italy, Russia, Germany and England - Volume 2 ONLY of Two Volumes by Berlioz, Hector: Good Hardcover (1884) | Jaycey Books

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/Autobiography-Hector-Berlioz-Member-Institute-France/30761991403/bd

Hardcover - MacMillan and Co, London - 1884 - Condition: Good - No Jacket - 2nd volume only of a 2 volume set. Hardback in brown covers with gilt titles to spine. No jacket. Moderate wear to cover extremities, with fraying and cloth creasing to head and tail of cover spine. Previous owner name to half title page. Browning to end papers and 2nd interior page front and back, and age toning to interior pages. --- General information: please email for any more information or condition photos. There may be other minor faults not included here, but this description should include all important points and convey accurately the overall conditon of the book(s). We are happy to give a more detailed description (by volume where applicable) on request. Posted next day (Mon-Fri) from the UK. We normally post by Royal Mail 1st class within the UK, but may use a slower service for books over 1kg or multiple orders or a tracked service for higher value orders. We normally post by tracked mail for overseas deliveries, and may request additional postage (at cost) for heavier books (buyers always have the option to cancel the order if we do so). - Autobiography of Hector Berlioz , Member of the Institute of France , from 1803 to 1865 Comprising His Travels in Italy, Russia, Germany and England - Volume 2 ONLY of Two Volumes

**Padraig** · 03-04-25, 19:16

Originally posted by oddoneout View Post

I am very chuffed at this bit of serendipity . . .

Good for you.

**oddoneout** · 03-04-25, 22:40

Originally posted by vinteuil View Post

.

... that's lovely, ooo.

I think you just might be able to get vol ii

Autobiography of Hector Berlioz , Member of the Institute of France , from 1803 to 1865 Comprising His Travels in Italy, Russia, Germany and England - Volume 2 ONLY of Two Volumes by Berlioz, Hector: Good Hardcover (1884) | Jaycey Books

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/Autobiography-Hector-Berlioz-Member-Institute-France/30761991403/bd

Hardcover - MacMillan and Co, London - 1884 - Condition: Good - No Jacket - 2nd volume only of a 2 volume set. Hardback in brown covers with gilt titles to spine. No jacket. Moderate wear to cover extremities, with fraying and cloth creasing to head and tail of cover spine. Previous owner name to half title page. Browning to end papers and 2nd interior page front and back, and age toning to interior pages. --- General information: please email for any more information or condition photos. There may be other minor faults not included here, but this description should include all important points and convey accurately the overall conditon of the book(s). We are happy to give a more detailed description (by volume where applicable) on request. Posted next day (Mon-Fri) from the UK. We normally post by Royal Mail 1st class within the UK, but may use a slower service for books over 1kg or multiple orders or a tracked service for higher value orders. We normally post by tracked mail for overseas deliveries, and may request additional postage (at cost) for heavier books (buyers always have the option to cancel the order if we do so). - Autobiography of Hector Berlioz , Member of the Institute of France , from 1803 to 1865 Comprising His Travels in Italy, Russia, Germany and England - Volume 2 ONLY of Two Volumes

Thank you for the suggestion, I've taken the plunge and ordered it - online shopping isn't something I do so I'm hoping it all turns out OK.

**oddoneout** · 05-04-25, 10:46

Hector Berlioz autobiography saga...
Hold on to your hats folks - it gets better!The book has just arrived and not only is it in good condition(and arrived sooner than I expected) but it's the other part of the prize awarded to Beatrice! I'm still trying to get my head round the chances of that happening. I just wanted a second volume similar to the one I already had, and I didn't ask for details of the inscription before I ordered it as I just wanted the book, I wasn't hunting the missing one of the original pair.
So, very many thanks to vinteuil for spotting the book, and I'm so glad I took the plunge and went for it. I will be letting the seller know.

**vinteuil** · 05-04-25, 10:49

That makes me very happy

**Nick Armstrong** · 05-04-25, 12:50

Originally posted by oddoneout View Post

Hector Berlioz autobiography saga...
Hold on to your hats folks

Wonderful story

It reminds me of the one recounted by a woman on a radio programme about coincidence - she had spent her childhood in London in the 1930s but had been sent to live with relatives in Canada when the war started, where she had spent the rest of her life after the family home was destroyed in the Blitz. Fast-forward to the ‘80s or ‘90s and she visited London for the first time since her departure. She was casually browsing the second-hand book stalls that used to cluster on the South Bank under Waterloo Bridge, and spotted an old picture book she remembered from childhood. On opening it she was dumbfounded to discover that it was her own copy of the book - she saw her own childish signature on the flyleaf… It had obviously survived the bombing of their home, where she had had to leave it, and gone into circulation ever since.

Again, what are the odds?!

Your saga has added resonance for me as the scene in the painting you discovered is very local and familiar. Basically the house in which I live and am typing this is a couple of streets behind those buildings you dimly see at the top of the picture, on the far side of the Bayswater Road with its carriages…

**eighthobstruction** · 05-04-25, 13:32

**Serial_Apologist** · 05-04-25, 17:28

Back in my teens I was given the Beyond the Fringe LP by a distant relative. At some point, probably during a move, it went missing. Then years later a copy turned up at a jumble sale just down the road from where I now am, and I bought it. Something about the damaged appearance of the cover and where the needle jumps tells me this has to be the very copy I lost, all those years ago.

**Serial_Apologist** · 05-04-25, 17:41

This morning, as I was about to leave to do some shopping, the small child belonging to the nice couple in Flat 14 intercepted me in the garden to show me something she had found. "What is it?" I asked. She very carefully put the tiny object on the palm of my hand - a rose thorn. "Ah", told her, "You must be vary careful with those: they come from the roses and can be very painful and cause inflammations if I forget to wear gloves when I'm pruning them". "Oh", she said. "Give your mummy and daddy my love" I told her, wheeling the bike away; "Mummy and Daddy are doing massage", she replied!

Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings...

A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum

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