France et Moi with author Karen Wheeler

Welcome to 'France et Moi' where this week I am talking to author Karen Wheeler about what France means to her.

Karen Wheeler is the author of three books about her life in France, including Tout Soul: The Pursuit of Happiness in Rural France . Her latest book The Marie Antoinette Diet: Eat Cake and Still Lose Weight is currently available from Amazon as an e-book. She can be found at ToutSweet.net and on Twitter as @mimipompom1 You can read my review of her first book, Tout Sweet: Hanging Up my High Heels for a New Life in France here. 


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’?

Karen: The sunsets, peeling paint (I love to see a house in need of renovation), smiling sunflowers and unspoilt countryside.

2) What is your first memory of a trip to France?

Karen: Being blown away by the grandeur of the Palace of Versailles on a school trip, aged 14. As a kid, I was desperate to learn French.

3) When you first moved to France what was the best thing about being immersed in French life and the scariest thing?

Karen: I love all the clichés – the smell of sugar and dough as you pass the boulangerie; a cluster of French flags fluttering outside the mairie. The scariest thing was not knowing anyone when I arrived.

4) Do you have any embarrassing language mishaps you are happy to share?

Karen: I once asked my plumber to send me a postman (facteur) rather than a bill (facture). I’m sure there have been more embarrassing things than that but I don’t recall them.

5) I have to ask you about French women, what do you think makes them different to us and gives them that je ne sais quoi?

Karen: I think they have a savoir-faire, particularly when it comes to food and entertaining, that is very hard to emulate – you either have it or you don’t.

6) In your new book The Marie Antoinette Diet: Eat Cake and Still Lose Weight , you promise we can learn from the French, loose weight and eat our cake. Without giving away too much is there a top tip you can share here?

Karen: I’ll give you a few : eat soup for dinner, ideally a bone broth (there is an 18th-century recipe in my book) as it is good for the bones, digestion and your overall health and energy levels. Eat butter rather than low-fat spreads or margarines; and if you’re going to eat cake, eat it early in the day and make sure it is homemade. 

FVD: sounds like the perfect diet for me then, Fat Free Cherry Cake and Courgette soup here I come.

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?

Karen: A café creme. Or a Perrier with a dash of strawberry syrup. To be honest there isn’t much else you can order at my local French café.

8) France has many different cheeses, a silly question, but which French cheese are you? A hard and mature Tome, a soft, fresh and lively goat cheese, the creamy and rich Camembert or maybe the salty and serious Roquefort?

Karen: Can I be a butter instead? I’m not really into fromage but I do love all the artisanal butters out here. I’d like to be an Echire butter. According to one website, it is ‘top quality, best in class, ... divine.’ Who wouldn’t want to be described like that?

9) Can you describe your perfect French apero for us - the drink, the nibbles, the location and the company?

Karen: Soupe de champagne and homemade chicken liver paté on Poilane bread in my courtyard garden (pic attached). The company would be a mix of French and British friends, and of course the love of my life – my little dog Biff.

10) Do you have any current projects you would like to tell my readers about?

Karen: I’m writing the fourth book in the Tout series, Sweet Encore, and after that I have an idea for a novel that I’m very excited about and cannot wait to get started on. 

Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions about France and you.

Guest post from Susie Kelly

Having read, enjoyed and reviewed Susie Kelly’s book The Valley Of Heaven And Hell - Cycling In The Shadow Of Marie Antoinette where she cycles from Versailles, east through Paris and along the Marne Valley, following the route taken by Marie Antoinette, see here, I thought it would be nice to ask her to do a Paris related guest post as part of Paris week. I was delighted she agreed, and here it is, over to you Susie.

“Although we have lived in la France profonde for seventeen years, we only visited Paris for the first time three years ago. 
Did it live up to our expectations? No, not really. 
It surpassed them. Every corner offered a new and beautiful view. 
It was something of a whistle-stop tour, as we had less than two days to spend. One place I particularly wanted to see was the Conciergerie, and the entrance ticket included a visit to La Sainte Chapelle just a few metres away. I'll be completely honest, I'm not religious, I'd never heard of it and I imagined a dim and musty little place that would warrant five minutes of my time. The only reason I went there was because I had paid for the ticket.
The little Gothic chapel was commissioned in the 13th century by pious King Louis IX to house what he believed to be Christ's crown of thorns and a relic from the cross, bought for an extortionate price from the Byzantine emperor. 
If "Gothic" conjures up a picture of grim austerity, there is nothing of that in this enchanting church. It’s Aladdin's cave and Blackbeard's treasure chest all in one. La Sainte Chapelle is the most exquisite building I have ever seen. Breathtakingly, heart-achingly, overwhelmingly, tear-jerkingly magnificent. My jaw had never spontaneously fallen open before. Until then I had thought that "open-mouthed wonderment" was an exaggeration. 
On the lower floor the vaulted blue ceilings decorated with golden heavenly bodies resemble the night sky. The supporting pillars are painted in voluptuous colours - rich red adorned with golden Castilian castles and midnight blue with golden fleurs de lys. Standing in this glorious church is a truly sensuous experience. It's so beautiful that you feel you want to break off little pieces and eat them.
When it still served as a royal church, the lesser social classes worshipped in this lower chapel, while the floor above was reserved for royalty. It was worth the momentary panic of claustrophobia to climb the narrow stone spiral staircase, because it leads into a radiant jewel-box of brilliant hues. The high walls of the chapel are formed by intricate stained glass windows separated from each other by the most slender of columns, giving the impression that the entire wall is built of one vast pane of bejewelled glass. Sunlight poured through these windows and projected lakes of coloured lozenges that danced on the floor, creating a living kaleidoscope. I could have happily sat there all day.
Earlier when we had visited Versailles, I was slightly repelled by the opulence of the palace, and yet here I was enchanted by the flamboyance of this church. In trying to rationalise these feelings I arrived at the conclusion that while Versailles is a testament to one man's power and self-glorification, La Sainte Chapelle is the expression of one man's love for his god and that is what, for me, makes all the difference. While I don't share Louis IX's beliefs, I can certainly recognise and appreciation his devotion to them."

Thank you Susie, somewhere I haven’t visited, but will add to the list for next time. Susie forgot her camera, but to see some images just click here. If you would like to read more from Susie and her exploits in and around Paris (by bike) I can recommend The Valley Of Heaven And Hell - Cycling In The Shadow Of Marie Antoinette available online at Amazon.

The Valley of Heaven and Hell, by Susie Kelly

For today’s bookworm Wednesday here is my review of  The Valley Of Heaven And Hell - Cycling In The Shadow Of Marie Antoinette by Susie Kelly.

Oh Susie!  What have you done?

I walked with you and your blisters as you wandered from La Rochelle to Geneva in Best Foot Forward - A 500-Mile Walk Through Hidden France , often tired, cold, wet and hungry. This time you have taken off for three weeks on a bike in ‘The Valley of Heaven and Hell’ despite admitting to not being a natural cyclist. It seems a little crazy and I have to ask why?

Ah, I see, Terry wanted an adventure and the Marie Antoinette route was quite interesting, following her final footsteps from Versailles to the east, along the Marne Valley. I suppose it was nice not to go it alone, and you did get a new bike with the added bonus of some electric assistance and a baking tray, but honestly, cycling in Paris, what were you thinking? I love Paris and I love cycling too, but I’m not sure I’m brave enough to mix the two together.  

On a reader entertainment level it was brilliant. Your descriptions of your red faced, Lycra clad reflection had me chuckling and I sympathised with you watching Terry disappearing as I too am often left way behind when out cycling with my husband. The camping was a surprise though, I didn’t think I’d be reading about more ill equipped nights spent cold and uncomfortable under canvas, you fool. Although I was pleased to read you did at least get a few nights of luxury in the odd hotel this time. I also have to thank you, for as well as the laughs you also educated me. Marie Antoinette was not someone I knew very much about, but your journey and your writings brought her story to life. It is not often a book entertains as well as informs and I’m glad I now know there is so much more to her than the misattributed quote “Let them eat cake”. Thank you Susie.
You can read my reviews of Susie's other books by clicking on the links below.
Best Foot Forward
Travels With Tinkerbelle
Swallows and Robins