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Friday, November 13, 2009

French by Heart

Posted by pece at 4:11 AM

It is my firm belief if you walk into a Parisien boulangerie, you really could be walking into any boulangerie in France...
No matter how elegant the exterior...
Inside they are all the same, with the same testy vendeuse...
And the same pain au chocolat
OK maybe they are a tad better in Paris...
The same chausson au pomme and croissants...

The same palmiers...

And Lordie! Not to forget the baguettes!!!

Did you know the French government decides the price of a baguette or a croissant and it's the same all over France? Who knew?

So where am I going with this today..? Maybe you didn't notice but on the bus ride up to Boston I had my new book with me. It never leaves my side these days...

I discovered Rebecca Ramsey's French By Heart on someone's sidebar and I dropped by Amazon to read a few pages. I was immediately enthralled and continue to be.

Say you live in South Carolina, but have always dreamt of living in France...
Your husband comes home one night (he works for Michelin and travels a lot) and announces that you ACTUALLY are going to move to France for a few years!
YAHOO

That's right, you and your toddler, your 7-year old and your 9-year old AND the cat are all moving to France! To Clermont-Ferrand, 4 hours south of Paris in the Auvergne. Well really a small village nearby.

The kids will be attending French schools, you will be going to the local bank, and you will be going to the local boulangerie...

And you will have neighbors with a "lace curtain" mentality - i.e. they will keep an eye on your every move and correct you when you don't mow the lawn right or a kid's ball falls on their property etc.

This is a absolutely delightful book about Rebecca's family in France and the challanges and adjustments they faced living day to day.

I forgot to change trains Wednesday and rode 4 more stops with a big smile on my face before I noticed, I was so caught up in the Ramsey's adventures.

I'm only allowed to read French By Heart on the train. I want to make it last. Just 39 chapters to savor.

The point I want to make besides READ THIS BOOK, is even if you travel for a short vacation, there are challanges. Aside from all the local glories of Paris or where ever, you still have to figure out how to stand on line and buy a baguette without the vendeuse yelling at you and a whole slew of other minutia.

Travel reminds me of that line from T.S. Elliot,

"Do I dare to eat a peach..."

I'm sometimes afraid to go in a place in Paris and sometimes I don't because I'm intimidated. Rebecca takes those quotidian tasks and makes them into the most delightful stories. And she gives you courage too.
BONJOUR & MERCI REBECCA!!

Rebeccca has a blog. Please visit.

Is there some bit of French minutia that drives you nuts?

Do tell...

 

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