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| Rosie's Little Café on the Riviera by Jennifer Bohnet |
Welcome to ‘France et Moi’ where this week, to coincide with the release of her latest novel, I am talking to author Jennifer Bohnet about what France means to her.
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| Jennifer Bohnet |
Jennifer is English but has lived in France for the past 17 years. After 11 years down
on the Cote d’Azur where her husband Richard was a guardien for a villa, they moved from the
Mediterranean coast to a small quirky cottage in Finistere, Brittany. This was a bit of a culture
shock to
say the least! When she is not writing she loves reading, cooking and having friends around for lunch -
lunches that follow the French tradition of lasting for several hours. Rosie’s
Little Cafe on the Riviera is her tenth book and she is thrilled @HQDigital are issuing it in paperback in
conjunction with Sainsburys.
Firstly, I think France is a special place and it is famed
for many things including its cheese, wine and diverse holiday locations plus,
dare I say it strikes and dog poo littered streets. What do you think makes
France so very unique and ‘French’?
Jennifer:
Their
attitude to life makes a huge difference I think. Their mantra still tends to
be ‘work to live’ rather than ‘live to work’. I love the properties too that
all seem to have the ‘patina of a bygone age’ - all that peeling paint and
genteel air of neglect! I do agree with you though about the dog poo littered
streets!
2) What is your first memory of a trip to France?
Jennifer:
Being met
at Nice airport by our son and daughter-in-law and being driven along the coast
to Antibes. Not only was it my first trip to France, I’d never been abroad
before and I saw everything with the heightened vision of a new traveller. I
had no idea then that just five years later I would be cycling down the west
coast to make the Cote d’Azur my home for the next eleven years.
3) You have written novels set in many locations in France,
from Brittany to the South of France, but do you have a favourite holiday
location in France?
Jennifer:
Antibes.
It has everything you could want on a holiday.
4) How does France inspire your writing?
Jennifer:
There is
just something about the diversity of France - both in its geography and its
people. Down south it’s a very cosmopolitan population constantly changing,
while up here in Brittany it’s still very much an agricultural community with
its roots in family life. Both intrigue me.
5) You have lived in France for many years now, but when you
first arrived in France what was the best thing about being immersed in French
life and the scariest thing?
Jennifer:
The
scariest thing was arriving in France with two bikes, a tent and a dog in a
trailer behind Richard’s bike and no real idea of what we were doing! France sort of scooped us up and
showed us a whole new way of life that we could embrace if we were brave
enough.
6) Do you have any embarrassing language mishaps you are
happy to share?
Jennifer:
Cannes
has a wonderful stall in its daily market selling local artisan food produce
and shortly after we arrived down south, I made the classic mistake of asking
for dried fruit without preservative! (In French for those who are not aware
preservatives are condoms.) I was mortified!
7) Imagine you are sitting outside a French café at 10.00am
on a sunny morning watching the world go by, what do you order from the waiter?
Jennifer:
At that
hour in summer I’d have a black coffee, any other time of the year it would be
a hot chocolate - an hour later it would have to a glass of rosé.
8) France has many different cheeses, a silly question, but
which French cheese are you?
Jennifer:
Oh
definitely a creamy rich Camembert - that and Brie are my absolute favourites.
9) Every region in France has it’s own culinary specialty, do
you have a favourite regional dish?
Jennifer:
Not
really, but I do love tapenade something I was introduced to down south. It’s a
mix of olives, capers, garlic, anchovy, basil, lemon juice and olive oil.
Spread on slices of baguette at it
makes a quick, easy and delicious aperitif. (When I make it I do leave the
anchovy out though!)
10) Best French tipple, and yes I know there are many to
choose from?
Jennifer:
A nice
cold glass of Pinot Gris takes some beating - although if money was no object
it would be a cold glass of a good champagne every time!
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| Rosie's Little Café on the Riviera by Jennifer Bohnet |
Finally, your latest novel Rosie’s Little Café on the Riviera
was published yesterday, can you tell us a little bit about it?
Jennifer:
It's a
summer of taking chances for three different women down on the exotic French
Riviera.
Rosie is opening her dream cafe and intends to spend the
summer turning it into a success -
only to find life tossing some unexpected events and people onto the
menu.
Then there's GeeGee who uses the cafe as her summer office -
but this year she’s facing a summer of no money and no home.
Recently widowed Erica runs a gift shop with a difference
that she has been neglecting since the death of her husband. This summer,
together with her young daughter Cammie, she needs to find a way of moving on
with her life.
What none of them expects is a summer romance.
Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions about
France and you, I really enjoyed meeting Rosie and spending the summer on the Riviera with
her. I will be posting my review here next week.
Jennifer:
Thank you
for inviting me Jacqui.
Rosie’s Little Café on the Riviera is available in paperback
and ebook format, links to Amazon can be found below.
Here are the links to my reviews of some of her other novels. All of them are worth packing in your suitcase for this years summer holiday.
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