In the past couple of years, I have become more and more excited by travel and food writing - this may have resulted from our honeymoon (and first ever trip) to Europe. Since we have not yet made it overseas again, I will have to transport myself abroad via the writing of others. The following books are all about France, and include a short summary...along with my two cents.
The Sweet Life in Paris: A Recipe for Living in the World's Most Delicious City
by David Lebovitz
Author
David Lebovitz writes of how, after working as a pastry chef and cookbook author for almost two decades, he finally moves to the city he had thought of again and again over the years - Paris. He quickly realizes, however, that the quick, everyday errands he ran in the States are quite difficult in the City of Lights, and that the way he interacted with (and even dressed for) Parisians would take some getting used to. Yet Lebovitz also highlights the beautiful baking-supply shops, the array of decadent chocolates he has to choose from, and even provides sweet and savory recipes, along with the addresses of various shops and suppliers.
This book made me laugh out loud throughout, and if you like David Sedaris' humor, you will love Lebovitz. For anyone in love with Paris, on their way to Paris, or who simply loves to escape to faraway places (and get a good laugh in transit),
The Sweet Life in Paris is the perfect read. If you haven't already, check out Lebovitz' cookbooks - I have personally tried out
Room for Dessert and
Ripe for Dessert (both had delicious recipes and beautiful photographs), and can only assume his others are amazing as well.
A Year in Provence
by Peter Mayle
British author Peter Mayle chronicles he and his wife's first year of living in Provence, at the base of the Luberon Mountains. He literally starts at the beginning, with New Years in January, and how they dealt with the horribly fierce winter wind, the Mistral. With each month, Mayle details the weather, the food, and the frustrating (and entertaining) time he had working with the team of builders he hired to remodel his 200-year-old farmhouse.
For some time now, I have been wanting to read this book, and couldn't have picked a better time to do it. I just recently finished it, and it was the perfect book to pick up during hot, lazy summer days - light, funny, and easily a work that, while reading, I could just picture myself in the author's shoes/farmhouse. Mayle has several other books that I need to check out, including
Encore Provence: New Adventures in the South of France, French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew, and his newest work,
The Vintage Caper.
