Living in Normandy


Book Description

A stone's throw from Paris and renowned for its temperate climate, Normandy is a French region with something for everyone. Rich in culture, history, nature, and hearty cuisine, it attracts an increasing number of visitors and countless foreign homeowners. Its beauty and charm has seduced great artists and writers such as Monet in Giverny and Victor Hugo in Villequier. Share in the relaxed Norman lifestyle by sauntering along the beach in Deauville, stroll along riverbanks and forests in springtime. Normandy is famed for its gardens, and many are open to visitors, who can stroll the cloistered grounds of a monastery, or watercolor at Giverny. Discover that there is no such thing as a typical Norman home: locals invite us into their half-timbered houses, thatched cottages, or slate-roofed residences. Catch a glimpse at the end of a pathway of a medieval chateau with turrets or a Renaissance manor with mansard windows and balconies. No Normand table is complete without Calvados, Camembert, Cotentin oysters, hard cider, butter, and creme fraiche. Regional artisans still practice traditional Normand crafts, including lacemaking from Alencon, majolica from Vieux Rouen, and the region's famous armoires and clocks. Living in Normandy includes an indispensable guide with an extensive list of the region's best restaurants, hotels, brasseries, bed and breakfasts, as well as stores, boutiques, antique dealers, and tips on where to sample the famous local products.




My French Country Home


Book Description

Entertaining at home in gracious French style. Born from her experience of everyday living in France, Sharon Santoni reveals the gracious, easy French way of entertaining guests at her countryside home, year-round. Personal stories evoke the spirit of the French lifestyle, while gorgeous photos make us feel right at home. Santoni creates lush bouquets from her garden and utilizes resources from surrounding nature to lay gorgeous tables both indoors and outdoors. Venues range from a Sunday morning breakfast on the patio, to a ladies lunch in her lush garden, a formal dinner in her dining room, and a picnic by the river. Santoni also shares 15 favorite recipes utilizing seasonal foods. Find inspiration for your tables throughout the seasons, and discover the simple pleasure of entertaining friends and family. Sharon Santoni writes the popular blog My French Country Home. She is the author of My Stylish French Girlfriends (Gibbs Smith). She resides in Normandy, France.




My Good Life in France


Book Description

Ten years ago, Janine Marsh decided to leave her corporate life behind to fix up a run-down barn in northern France. This is the true story of her rollercoaster ride.




Religious Life in Normandy, 1050-1300


Book Description

Presenting new light on the reality of religious life in Normandy, the author uses ideas about space and gender to examine the social pressures arising from such interaction around four main themes: display, reception and intrusion, enclosure and the family.




Design Mom


Book Description

New York Times best seller Ever since Gabrielle Stanley Blair became a parent, she’s believed that a thoughtfully designed home is one of the greatest gifts we can give our families, and that the objects and decor we choose to surround ourselves with tell our family’s story. In this, her first book, Blair offers a room-by-room guide to keeping things sane, organized, creative, and stylish. She provides advice on getting the most out of even the smallest spaces; simple fixes that make it easy for little ones to help out around the house; ingenious storage solutions for the never-ending stream of kid stuff; rainy-day DIY projects; and much, much more.




Château Life


Book Description

In a busy modern life, meals are often relegated to five- or ten-minute time slots. The French have long been lauded as culinary experts, and the emphasis they place on time spent around the dinner table is yet another secret worth borrowing. Living la vie de château at Château Bosgouet in Normandy, Jane Webster and her Australian family have embraced the traditions of the French table with surprise and delight at each turn, from navigating the market to setting the table to making the most of a vegetable garden, and their adventures are captured here by the sophisticated eye of photographer Robyn Lea.




My Four Seasons in France


Book Description

In this follow up to My Good Life in France, Janine Marsh tells of the delights and dramas of getting to grips with rural life in northern France.




(Not Quite) Mastering the Art of French Living


Book Description

WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER Every year upon arriving in Plobien, the small Breton town where he spends his summers, American writer Mark Greenside picks back up where he left off with his faux-pas–filled Francophile life. Mellowed and humbled, but not daunted (OK, slightly daunted), he faces imminent concerns: What does he cook for a French person? Who has the right-of-way when entering or exiting a roundabout? Where does he pay for a parking ticket? And most dauntingly of all, when can he touch the tomatoes? Despite the two decades that have passed since Greenside’s snap decision to buy a house in Brittany and begin a bi-continental life, the quirks of French living still manage to confound him. Continuing the journey begun in his 2009 memoir about beginning life in France, (Not Quite) Mastering the Art of French Living details Greenside’s daily adventures in his adopted French home, where the simplest tasks are never straightforward but always end in a great story. Through some hits and lots of misses, he learns the rules of engagement, how he gets what he needs—which is not necessarily what he thinks he wants—and how to be grateful and thankful when (especially when) he fails, which is more often than he can believe. Introducing the English-speaking world to the region of Brittany in the tradition of Peter Mayle’s homage to Provence, Mark Greenside’s first book, I’ll Never Be French, continues to be among the bestselling books about the region today. Experienced Francophiles and armchair travelers alike will delight in this new chapter exploring the practical and philosophical questions of French life, vividly brought to life by Greenside’s humor and affection for his community.







The Living Age


Book Description