Book Description
This book is divided into three parts: Brittany, Paris, and the South of France. A separate section is devoted to some delicious recipes because how can you talk or write about France without fully appreciating its food? The book is partly auto biographical, based on my years growing up in Paris and those wonderful summers at our Brittany home. They are collections of experiences and stories as an adult looking back on those years in France. There are also stories based in part on my research, knowledge, and richness of one particular region or another, as well as the overlay of family history and anecdotes that I recalled hearing from my parents as a child. It is undeniably a wonderful and sentimental journey in France. If you ae a “foodie” at heart, you’ll love some of my stories. Join me in a wonderful six-part “foodie” trip along France’s Atlantic Coast, where we start with a visit to the Opal Coast and the well-known resort of Le Touquet, where my father spent his youthful summers in the late 1920s. Then join me for a most unforgettable dinner in Dinard, a popular holiday destination on my beautiful and deeply familiar Côte d' Émeraude in Brittany. Finally, we will end up in the quite unique and picturesque seaport town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, nestled in the Basque country. The six-part trip is filled with delicious and memorable local dishes. The food alone will have you packing your bags and leaving for France. Trust me! Part one includes several stories about Brittany, many of which will surely appeal to “foodies.” Brittany has played a major part in my life, both as a child when we bought the house, I was seven years old. Rough floors, a malfunctioning fireplace, dampness abounded, a small gas-powered stove, no refrigerator and an outhouse. We would go to bed with multiple blankets and a hot water bottle to ward off the incredibly damp sheets. Those days at the house in the country provided me with rich content for many of my stories. Importantly, in my stories, I have tried to convey what our Brittany was like as we lived in the French countryside that had not significantly changed since the 1940’s. Part two, I recount my childhood having grown up in Paris, the leafy suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine a stone’s throw from the city limits and the 16e arrondissement where we attended school. We lived in a newly built, spacious apartment. We had all the room to make trouble. Paris in the late 1950’s and early 1960s had the Algerian conflict as a backdrop and the OAS planted bombs in theaters and cafes. The trials and tribulations of a young American, particularly my challenges in surviving the French school system. I never got really “got it” despite their best efforts to drive it home, whatever the cost or the pain. I was more than glad to leave school and I retained, for many years, a deep sense of discomfort well into my adult life. Many years later, I happened to have a most incredible dinner at the Café Bergamote, a cozy little resto’ nestled on the Left Bank at 8, rue Montfaucon in the 6th arrondissement. Join me for dinner, please. In part three, I take a slow, leisurely journey towards the coast eventually reaching the Mediterranean. I recount a most memorable dinner in a little restaurant tucked away in the 12th Century fortified village of Rivesaltes in the Languedoc Roussillon region, truly spectacular and wonderfully enjoyable is all I can say and all with a charming host and hostess. Moving generally southward, join me at a table “Chez M'man” a tasty Bouchon Lyonnais, if ever there was one, and located very near the charming Place Bellecour on the rue des Maronniers. Typical foods on the menu include andouille (grilled chitterlings sausage), tripe (pig or cow’s stomach), or boudin noir (blood sausage). Other more recognizable dishes include chicken liver salad, Cerverlas (raw pork sausages), and Quenelles (flour, egg, and cream dumplings.) May I suggest one or two wonderful Beaujolais for your dining pleasure?
