Book review of Seven Letters from Paris by Samantha Verant

Seven Letters from Paris Samantha Vérant

My review today is for Seven Letters from Paris: A Memoir by Samantha Vérant, her first memoir and a beautiful love story with heartbreak and happy ever after, that reads more like a fairytale romance than the real life it is.

When life doesn’t go to plan, what girl doesn’t dream of having her own real life ‘Pretty Woman’ fairytale moment? At the end of an unhappy marriage that had left her deep in debt, Samantha finds seven love letters tucked away in the bottom of a storage box. These love letters are 20 years old and despite her never having replied at the time, offer her a glimmer of hope and future happiness. The fact that they were written by a very sexy sounding Frenchman, who as well as being a rocket scientist wasn’t afraid of opening his heart to her, is just a bonus.

This memoir lets us read the letters and follows Samantha and Jean-Luc as they make contact, become very good friends and eventually meet up with a view to working out if they can have a shared future together. They both showed great courage. For Samantha to walk away from an unhappy marriage was like stepping off a cliff into the unknown, and although her new future promised to have Jean-Luc at her side it must still have felt like another cliff! The distance from her home in California to his in Toulouse, his children who had already lost their Mother, the language difficulties and the paperwork, were just some of the obstacles to be faced together. Although their journey was not without heartache and huge risk I can’t help but feel pleased for Samantha that she re-found her prince and now lives in wedded bliss with him in France.

I got to the end and I couldn’t help grinning at the loveliness of it and really feel it should be made into a film. Even Disney couldn’t have written a love story this romantic. But don’t worry; it’s not too gushy, sweet and sickly.

Seven Letters from Paris: A Memoir is published by Sourcebooks and is available in paperback and ebook format. I’m delighted to announce Samantha will be answering my questions for a France et Moi interview this Friday.

Book review of You Had Me at Bonjour by Jennifer Bohnet

I've an extra review today for You Had Me At Bonjour by Jennifer Bohnet, a fun, easy to read book that left me feeling happy. It’s a perfect escapism read.

Jessica needs a gap year. Her marriage is over, her daughter is ready to fly the nest and with the help of her best mate she has made plans to spend a year in Provence. A year when all she has to worry about is herself, well that is her plan.

Written as a diary, which works really well, it’s a form of therapy for Jessica to rid herself of the hurt and anger caused by her ex-husband, and the loneliness she feels when she first arrives. I felt all her raw emotions, I fell in love with her new life in Provence and loved the subtle little snippets of life in France that show the author has lived there and experienced more than just French holidays. The other characters we meet, family, friends and neighbours, add some depth, a chance of romance and also some interesting twists to the plot.

I was sad to leave at the end of the year, but I’m hopeful that Jennifer could pick up Jessica’s story again.

You had me is published by Carina and is available in ebook format. 

It's October already

Hey, has anyone else realised it’s almost the end of the first weekend in October already? Not only was I was not ready for September to start; it now appears to have been and gone in a flash without me realising. Before I know it Christmas will be upon us and 2014 will be history. Does anyone else feel like life speeds up the older you get or is it just me?

My birthday drinks

Looking back, September did happen and I have loads of photos to prove what a busy month it was. Ed was happy to get back to start his last year at secondary school, an important year when he will sit his brevet exams and have to decide where he will go and what he will study at Lycee. Ade was less happy to get back to work in the UK, but to soften the loneliness for me, Mum and Dad were here for a week to celebrate my birthday. 

With all the comings and goings there were lots of airport runs that proved to be good excuses to get out of the village and see some city life. Bordeaux was her usual elegant and warm self, welcoming us back with open arms. We cycled in from the lake on the outskirts of town on the super networks of cycle lanes, picnicked in the shade by the river and enjoyed an afternoon of sightseeing.

 

Picnic in Bordeaux

Sightseeing in Bordeaux

Angouleme offered us some real excitement when we spent the day at the Circuit des Remparts, the annual road race for vintage cars that takes place in the old town, see here for some photos. Limoges however was not so exciting. It is a city we had never been to before, although Ade regularly uses the airport, so when I had to collect him at 9.30am one morning we decided a day trip would be a good idea. Unfortunately the weather was a little wet and although we spent a lovely time in a café catching up, we took no photos and came away feeling it was just a grey city. Maybe we missed the best bits?

The garden and orchard have moved seamlessly from summer to autumn. Yesterday I made my last batch of sweet courgette relish, one of my favourites, the tomatoes are finished and tonight it will be the last homemade pizza to contain perfect rounds of buttery sautéed courgettes for a few months. However when one season ends another begins and I am busy picking walnuts and being just as creative with the squash recipes as I was with the courgettes ones. Grated squash certainly makes a delicious chocolate cake, see here.

2014 Walnut harvest

With the return of a ‘normal’ term time routine, I am also back to taxi-ing Ed to his various after school music lessons and trying to ensure the meetings for things I’m involved in with the village don’t clash. Being on the council is interesting, but it’s proving a challenge to my already poor organisational skills, especially those weeks when there is something on every evening. Thankfully my yoga classes have also started back, giving me a whole morning every week of me time and the luxury of total relaxation. What do you enjoy doing to relax?  

Autumn colours

Book review of The French for Christmas by Fiona Valpy

The French for Christmas by Fiona Valpy

My review today is for a new release The French for Christmas by Fiona Valpy. First, I’ll let you into a little secret, I don’t really ‘do’ Christmas and I certainly never start thinking about it this early in the year. However, I was persuaded to get my Christmas jingle on when I had the chance to review Fiona’s latest novel.

I really enjoyed her first two books The French for Love and The French for Always so despite my scrooge-like demeanour for Christmas I was excited to head back to the Bordeaux vineyards where all three of her books have been set.

In this book we follow Evie at a difficult time; her marriage is failing, her husband is plastered all over the media as his TV career takes off and with Christmas and the first anniversary of the loss of their baby fast approaching she takes refuge in a small hamlet in France. Her plan is to avoid Christmas at all costs.

As suggested by the publisher, I poured a glass of red wine, curled up in a comfy chair and opened my kindle. What I hadn’t expected was to find myself crying before I’d finished my first glass and this wasn’t the only time this book made me cry, but they were good tears if you know what I mean.

The hamlet among the Bordeaux vines that Evie finds herself in is home to only three others, an older couple Mathieu and Eliane and the village doctor, Didier. Evie soon realises she isn’t the only one running away from heartache and little by little through the extended hands of friendship and a shared love of good food, hearts begin to heal and anger and depression to disappear.

As I’ve found in her previous novels Fiona’s writing brings rural France to life. Her knowledge of the changing of the seasons in the vineyards, the importance of the potager, especially for the older generations and local food customs and speciality dishes is spot on. The fact that good food eaten with family and friends plays a major part in this novel shows she knows her subject well. There were enough delicious descriptions to make my tummy rumble as I read.

All three of her novels are stand alone but linked somewhere in the story, a clever touch I really enjoy and that enables me to keep up to date with the characters I fell in love with in the earlier books. I was sad to finish this book and as before have been left wanting more from Fiona.

This is another great and emotional read with Christmas cheer, Christmas spirit and even a stable birth, and is definitely one to ask Santa for, especially as it's only £1.59 for the kindle edition. I think it is also worth noting that Fiona will be donating 10% of all royalties from this novel to Médicins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders). The French for Christmas is published by Bookouture, who kindly sent me a copy to read and review.

To read my review of The French for Love see here and for my review of The French for Always, see here. To read Fiona's France et Moi interview see here.

The importance of being connected

The importance of being connected

This summer marked our tenth anniversary of living in France and in that time many things have changed. When we arrived, one of the first tasks was to reconnect the telephone line and sign up to a basic dial up Internet service, mainly so we could check emails. Neither of our mobile phones (and back then they were just phones) had a service in the village, so for the first few days we were very cut off from the rest of the world and especially our family we had left behind. Thankfully we didn’t have to struggle with dial up for too long as within a few years broadband arrived in the village, partly due to us running a business here that required the Internet. It is painfully slow broadband at times, but better than dial up and as we are now a family with three mobile phones, three laptops and three iPads the Internet is important and it's very frustrating when it drops the connection. The mobile phone signal still isn’t great and although I survived the first few years without one and still don't have 3G, I couldn't imagine not having one. Now Ed is of an age when he is seeking independence, having a mobile with 3G means we let him go but are able track him when he is out on his bike with his friends. How different to when I was a teen of the Eighties and going out meant real freedom!

To celebrate our tenth anniversary we spent five days in Normandy this summer with Ade’s parents, and like stepping back in time we found ourselves in a rural gite with (shock) no Internet. Out of the five of us I am undoubtedly the one with the biggest online/social media presence and yet I was the only one who remained Internet free for the five whole days. Ed had been in the UK for a month so was delighted to hook back up on his 3G and contact his friends again. Ade managed to pick up his emails whenever he found an Orange Hotspot and my tech’d up in-laws chose to pay for the overseas 3G to stay connected. I missed it, but I survived and didn’t even have too many withdrawal symptoms.

This week it is Ed’s turn to be off line. He has been on a school trip for four days of walking, canoeing, camping and enjoying the outdoors with no phones, iPods or any other gadgets. This didn’t seem to bother him before he left, in fact he was more worried about leaving without a book and I wasn’t sure how he’d cope without having access to his musical instruments. However for some it was more difficult and one mother caused quite a scene at school on Tuesday morning, screaming and swearing at the staff when she was told her daughter couldn’t take her phone with her. It really did get quite heated and one naughty word she used produced a collective intake of breath from those listening in. I’ll admit it has been rather strange for me being at home without Ed and having no updates, but I’m sure he’s having a great time. Last week he was rather poorly so I’m really pleased he was well enough to be able to go and thankful that I haven’t had a phone call from the staff asking me to collect him.

The Internet is wonderful and has become such a big part of our lives, but I'm pleased I can say it is (just) possible to live without it every day. How many days can you go without the Internet?

Book review for Lies Told In Silence by MK Tod

Today I’m taking part in a virtual book tour via France Book Tours for Lies Told In Silence by MK Tod.

Synopsis provided by the author.

In May 1914, Helene Noisette’s father believes war is imminent. Convinced Germany will head straight for Paris, he sends his wife, daughter, mother and younger son to Beaufort, a small village in northern France. But when war erupts a few months later, the German army invades neutral Belgium with the intent of sweeping south towards Paris. And by the end of September, Beaufort is less than twenty miles from the front.

During the years that follow, with the rumbling of guns ever present in the distance, three generations of women come together to cope with deprivation, constant fear and the dreadful impacts of war. In 1917, Helene falls in love with a young Canadian soldier who was wounded in the battle of Vimy Ridge.

But war has a way of separating lovers and families, of twisting promises and dashing hopes, and of turning the naïve and innocent into the jaded and war-weary. As the months pass, Helene is forced to reconcile dreams for the future with harsh reality.

Lies Told in Silence examines love and loss, duty and sacrifice, and the unexpected consequences of lies.

My review.

I really enjoyed Mary’s fist novel Unravelled, so was looking forward to reading Lies Told in Silence, which although not a sequel, is about the same characters Edward and Helene. This book is Helene Noisette’s story from before she met Edward to her later years. I assumed I knew the basic facts from Unravelled and was expecting this book to add the flesh. Well, all I’m prepared to say is expect the unexpected. This book gave me much more than I had imagined.

Helene is a sulky 16 year old in 1914 when her father sends the family away from Paris as he fears war is inevitable. Unbeknown to him at the time, Paris would probably have been a safer place than the village in the north east of France that eventually finds itself on the front line. His mother, wife and daughter form a special close bond during the difficult times they find themselves in and Helene matures to a woman who is more than capable of running a household and making decisions about her own future. It was interesting to read about the war from Helene’s point of view and to see how it changed her and her family.

When she meets Edward, a Canadian soldier injured at Vimy Ridge, love arrives in her life and changes things forever. The letters they write to each other during the war are desperate and full of emotion and their snatched moments together wild and exciting. This is a real love story with passion and pain in equal measure. This book came alive from the pages, I felt her heart break and the dull ache of disappointment you feel when someone lets you down and I felt the anger when she discovered the lies that had been told. Lies that had repercussions for many lives over many years.

This book is a powerful emotional read that I recommend to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and I’ll be really happy if Mary has more to write.

About the author

M.K. Tod writes historical fiction featuring WWI and WWII.

Her debut novel, UNRAVELLED, was selected as Indie Editor’s Choice by the Historical Novel Society.

In addition to her writing, Mary maintains the blog www.awriterofhistory.com  where she talks about reading and writing historical fiction.

She has also conducted two well-regarded historical fiction reader surveys and in her spare time reviews books for the Historical Novel Society.

M.K. Tod is delighted to hear from readers at mktod at bell dot net. You can also find her on Facebook, Goodreads and Twitter.

http://francebooktours.com/2014/06/16/m-k-tod-on-tour-lies-told-in-silence/

Circuit des Remparts Angouleme 2014

Circuit des Remparts

Here are some photos from our day out at the 75th Circuit des Remparts in Angouleme. We dropped Mum and Dad at the station, as they are off to Bordeaux for a few days, left the car in the outskirts and cycled up the hill to the ramparts. After battling the crowds we squeezed into a cafe for a late morning coffee, found somewhere to park the bikes and set off to explore our first ever visit to race day at the Circuit des Remparts. We didn't have grandstand tickets, but there was still plenty to see, hear and smell and we spent a lovely afternoon wandering around in what can only be described as petrol head heaven.

Up close at the pit lane access 

A sneaky peek at the racing on the circuit

Renault Alpines

An Alvis collection

Rileys and an MG

Jaguar

Funky seats

This dinky vintage bike also caught our eye

Book review of Saving Our Skins by Caro Feely

My review today is for Saving Our Skins: Building a Vineyard Dream in France by Caro Feely, her second memoir about family life on an organic vineyard in Saussignac, Dordogne and one of my favourite reads this summer.

Saving Our Skins

Following on from Grape Expectations: A Family's Vineyard Adventure in France her first book about the early years setting up their organic vineyard, (see my review here) this is another great memoir written from the heart. With regulations, bureaucracy, weather and other things sent to try the patience of a saint, life isn’t always easy for Caro and her husband Sean who often seem to be living on the edge and following the fine line between coping and disaster. However, little by little they start to see the signs that their hard work and determination (which they seem to have in bucketfuls) is paying off. It is an uncomfortable read in places, but sharing the bad as well as the good meant I felt their excitement when there were things to celebrate. There is no doubt they have established a name for themselves in the industry and winning the wine tourism awards was a fantastic achievement.

Caro’s passion for their organic lifestyle meant this book was not only entertaining but informative too. If you are in anyway concerned or interested in the safety and quality of the food you eat and going organic, this book will enlighten and educate, without preaching. She certainly made me sit up, take note and left me determined to make a few changes little and often about what goes into my shopping basket. According to Caro, vintners in France are heavier users of toxic chemicals than the farmers and many of the products they use recommend staying out of the vineyard for 48 hours after usage. This really grabbed at my attention and more so when she explains that grapes are not washed before being crushed and made into wine. The first farmer in France to have his illness officially linked to the use of pesticides and chemicals was a winegrower who coincidently lived in Ruffec, only twenty kilometres from where I live. He died of his leukaemia. Caro also talks about the apple farmer in her village who openly admits to NEVER eating his own fruit because of the chemicals he uses on them.

Organic Charente vineyards

Reading Caro’s book really set the cat among the pigeons and led me to search out alternative products. In doing so, to celebrate our tenth anniversary of moving to France Ade found himself accompanying me to Cognac for the open day at a local(ish) organic vineyard. We took part in their treasure hunt, a four-kilometre trek around the vineyards searching for hidden questions about wine production and then enjoyed a tasting session. Thankfully having read this book I was able to answer a few more of the questions than I would otherwise have done. Something life in France has taught me is that less is more and learning to live by this means I am now happy to spend a little bit more on a locally produced organic wine even if it means drinking a little less. I also feel happy that by making small changes each week to what goes into my shopping basket, I’m not only making good choices for my family but also doing my bit to support the organic farmers like Caro and Sean.

Saving Our Skins: Building a Vineyard Dream in France and Grape Expectations: A Family's Vineyard Adventure in France are published by Summersdale (who sent me a copy to read and review) and are available in ebook and paperback format. Links to Amazon are below.

To find our more about Sean and Caro’s vineyard, their selection of wine and events see here. To read her France et Moi interview with me see here.

You can read my reviews of Caro’s memoirs here:

Grape Expectations

Saving Our Skins

Vineyard Confessions (previously known as Glass Half Full)

My France et Moi interview

Amazon purchase links for Caro’s memoirs can be found here:

Grape Expectations

Saving Our Skins

Vineyard Confessions 

Cultivating Change

Saving Sophia  

Book review for I Looked For The One My Heart Loves by Dominique Marny

Today I am taking part in a virtual book tour via France Book Tours for I Looked for the One My Heart Loves: A Novel by Dominique Marny.

Synopsis ­- provided by the publisher

Anne and Alexis are separated by war as children and reunited later by destiny. A powerful and dramatic love story that spans decades in spite of its seeming impossibility.

Anne, 9, and Alexis, 11, grow up together in the Montmartre area of Paris. While she has a major crush on him, he merely sees her as his friend’s little sister. After WWII begins, the two are separated as their families flee Paris to avoid the German occupation. When they say goodbye, Alexis promises to always protect Anne.

Anne holds on to this promise for years as she constantly thinks of Alexis, wondering where he may be. Anne grows up, finds works in an art gallery, and marries a kind, devoted man with whom she has two children. But her heart still belongs to Alexis and she never stops looking for him. Their paths cross fatefully one day in Brussels many years after they were separated.

Alexis, living in Canada and soon to be moving to San Francisco, has a family of his own; a wife in constant depression and a son. Despite their responsibilities to family and the geographical distance that keeps them apart, Anne and Alexis find a way to love one another, secretly yet passionately.

But after all this time, will they ever manage to be truly together, completely?

My review

I found this to be a dark and dramatic love story and while I didn’t always agree with their decisions and actions, it was a compelling storyline that never failed to make me want to read more.

I liked the character of Anne and enjoyed her childs-eye view of the outbreak of war and the occupation years in Paris. The fear and frustrations of a child on the brink of womanhood trying to understand an adult war came across really well. A young boy’s promise on the eve of the Paris exodus lit a flame in her heart that she was unable to extinguish, despite him never returning and even after learning to enjoy being loved by her husband and family. I felt it was a shame she couldn’t let go of her past and by hanging on she was never fully happy with her life, something her husband seemed to appreciate. A nice touch was that as time passed it was also through Anne’s eyes that we saw other major events like the Paris student riots in the sixties and the Americans landing on the moon.

Alexis was a mysterious character at the beginning of the book. We never saw much of him and when we did he didn’t offer much information, all of which added to his intrigue. Not finding each other again wouldn’t be much of a story, so I just knew he would reappear, but I never had any idea what the outcome of each meet would be, or what their future would hold. There is happiness and exhilaration for the two of them, but secrecy, frustration, sadness and pain too, and can there ever really be a happy ending for a situation like this? Well, I will say the end of the book was a real surprise to me.

About the author

Dominique Marny was raised in a family that loves art, literature, adventure and travels.

In addition to being a novelist, she is a playwright, screenwriter, and writes for various magazines.

No September, not yet.

No, I’m just not ready for September, for La Rentrée (back to school), for the shorter days and cooler nights, for autumn or for our lovely summer to end, especially as the weather is giving cloudless skies and warm, sunny days again.

We have been out and about as much as possible this summer, despite August being an unsettled month and a lot cooler than we have ever known it in the ten years we have lived here. I appreciate I have been a bad blogger, but there just aren’t enough hours in my day, sorry. The weeding, ironing and housework are also suffering from neglect, but family time together was our main reason for making the move to France and this summer we’ve made sure we have taken the time to explore more of the French countryside, often with our bikes. With Ed back to school tomorrow there will be plenty of time for dusting and writing. My head is full of words and my notebook full of half written posts almost ready to be shared.

My freezers are filling nicely with healthy homemade food to keep my spirits up this winter. My jams and chutney supplies are stacking up, but keeping on top of the freshly picked produce has almost been a full time job, especially as I hate to waste any of it. The tomatoes were hit with the dreaded blight, but quick action meant that we still have a good quantity of ripening fruits; the pears have been an amazing crop both in quantity, quality and flavour, we have had more beans than ever and the courgettes and squashes are superb. The one upside to disappointing August weather has been the lack of watering required in the potager, although the weeds too have benefited from the warm, wet conditions.

The Marais Poitevin

Picnic time

To celebrate the end of the summer holidays we spent a day in the Marais Poitevin yesterday. We have been returning to this tranquil gem since 2005 and whether on foot, by bike or by barque are never disappointed. Yesterday we hired a barque to explore the waterways around Arcais for an hour and a half, stopping to picnic along the way, before taking to the bikes for a 20km ride. Now Ed is a teenager and taller than me I sat like a queen at the front of the boat and let the boys do the rowing. With the arrival of September we are just out of season so we pretty much had the place to ourselves, which is no bad thing. Taking a boat out with Ade is a bit like a military operation and Ed and I have been drilled in how to row in an efficient manner and keep a steady pace. When the waterways are busy with families going around in circles (an unacceptable manoeuvre for our boat) and causing hold ups, it can get a little stressful on board. Halfway through the bike ride we stopped for a beer in a pretty riverside location complete with artwork and a chatty Poitevin mule in the field. Once back at the car we treated ourselves to an ice cream before heading home. It really was one of those great days out that for just over 30€ had ticked so many boxes; picnic, boat trip, bike ride, beer stop, ice cream, beautiful scenery, great weather, wildlife and family fun in the fresh air. I’m already looking forward to the October school holidays.

A barque from Arcais on the Marais Poitevin

Riverside artwork Marais Poitevin

Poitevin Mule

A simple and delicious recipe for courgettes

Courgette (zucchini) cream

It is that time of year when those of us who are growing courgettes (zucchini) are struggling to keep up with the supply, not that you will hear me complaining. I have spent many happy hours in the kitchen (hence the lack of blog posts) slicing, dicing and grating courgettes into quiches and soups for lunches, caviar for aperos, risotto and curries for dinners, cakes for desserts and chutneys and relish to store. This week, however, I have found the most simple and tasty way to cook them ever. I give you courgette cream.

Roasted and ready to freeze

Wash and dice your courgettes.

Add to a roasting tin, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil.

Roast until soft, but don’t over do it. I find about thirty minutes in a moderate oven is perfect.

Leave to cool.

Purée with a hand blender.

Your courgette cream is now ready to use or to freeze for winter use. I freeze in ice cube trays and then bag up the cubes. Until you try it you will not believe how creamy it is, honestly.

This recipe works just as well with green or yellow courgettes and any type of squash. For a spicy alternative, add ground curry spices or chilli powder to the oiled courgettes before roasting.

For a delicious dip I mixed a couple of teaspoons of pesto with a couple of tablespoons of courgette cream and natural yoghurt. A perfect dip to enhance our current glut of cucumbers from the garden. I am also just a little bit too excited at the thought of adding a handful of cubes to my pasta sauces, casseroles and stews this winter. Vivre le courgette!