Bonjour Mercredi! I have been extra obsessed with French things lately so I have a full post of things to share. Book The new book by Antoine Laurain, The Portrait, came out last Tuesday. It’s the most recent published in English but was actually his first book in France. It is a very short book at 128 pages but I feel like it is just the right length for the story. I’m publishing the review tomorrow so check back if…
A Paris Year is part of the OMGThereAreSoManyNewParis/FrenchBooksBeingReleasedThisYear extravaganza. I did, ultimately, very much enjoy this book, but I have a lot of problems with it. My main one is that it is not quite what it is described as. Here’s a portion of the description: “Part memoir and part visual journey through the streets of modern-day Paris, France, A Paris Year chronicles, day by day, one woman’s French sojourn in the world’s most beautiful city.” Firstly, there are not…
Before planning for this trip, I didn’t even realize you could go up into the Sacre Coeur. After having a light lunch of soup around the corner, we went up the millions of steps to the top. We were rewarded with darling gargoyles and spectacular views. The weather was pretty gross for most of the trip but cleared up for a little while while we were up there. It was neat to learn that sixteen nuns live in one of…
Down Among the Sticks and Bones is a follow-up to Every Heart a Doorway, the first in the Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire. Every Heart a Doorway takes place at Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, a school for kids who have returned after visiting another world and it is as hauntingly beautiful as you could imagine. We learn in this book that there are two such homes in North America: one for kids who want to forget and…
Happy Summer! Today in Paris there will be a solstice music festival. Hey! I was there three years ago today! And seven! Can I go back yet? Sorry to be a broken record, but I’m sitting here freezing in a hoodie and staring longingly at my pool while they have some pretty nice weather this week. Book Here’s the latest new French presale that I know of. Cècile Delarue of French and Parfait has a new cookbook coming out next…
The Little French Bistro follows Marianne, a 60-year-old German woman who tries to commit suicide while on holiday in Paris with her husband. She has lived in an oppressive household with him the entire time they’ve been married -40 years- and she has never stood up to him. He refused to allow her to have a job, drive a car, or play the accordion. After surviving jumping off a bridge, she finds herself on the coast of Brittany after being…
We got to see so many more things on this trip than we were able to on previous trips to Paris. It was my third trip, Joe’s second, and our first time on our own without a tour group. We took a bike tour, my third and his second again, and this one was “Off the Beaten Path.” New sights included the Church of Saint-Sulpice, the church that was started in 1646 and never quite finished; beautiful Parisian doors; all kinds…
Instead of the usual Wednesday Whimsy post, I’m going to go ahead and get the worst photos of the Paris trip over with. Not all of them are awful, but you just can’t do much for indoor winter dinner photos, even in Paris. Well, I suppose someone could figure it out, but I’d rather eat. From the food tour of Montmartre that we did with Clotilde: Lunch at Le Petit Cler: Ladurée adventures: Lunch at Les Philosophes: Various Breakfast in…
Oh, ouch. Gauntlet. What a disappointment, especially after how much I LOVED Arena. In the future, 2050-something, the most popular sport in the world is being a professional virtual reality video game player. The players are celebrities and are only as strong in-game as they are in real life. In Gauntlet, Kali Ling has purchased her team, Defiance, to become owner to make life better for her team mates. The first 60% of this book (and I know that because…
Bonjour and happy Wednesday. The above photo of éclairs is from L’éclair de Génie on Montmartre. On Friday I will be posting a recap of the food portion of our trip to Paris and these beauties will be included. Books In anticipation of The Portrait being released at the end of June, I thought it fitting to share another book by Antoine Laurain. The Red Notebook is one of my absolute favorite books of all time- I like to describe it…