“Paris is always a good idea,” Julia Ormond famously noted in the 1995 film version of Sabrina. Like many Americans enamored with la belle France, I tend to agree, as does American journalist and author Elizabeth Bard.
More than 10 years ago, Bard had a lunch date with a handsome Frenchman in Paris and never went home. That story is chronicled in her first memoir, Lunch in Paris, which I read several years ago and loved. So I was delighted to hear that Bard was releasing a second memoir, Picnic in Provence. As its title suggests, this book follows Bard, her French husband Gwendal and their infant son Alexandre as they leave Paris behind for a quieter life in the Provençal village of Céreste.
I love a good memoir—especially one featuring food, travel, or both. So I’ve read my fair share of true-life tales set in France. I’ve come to expect some of their common elements: rhapsodies about the food, the difficulty of putting down roots in a new community. (Anyone who has read Peter Mayle will expect the home-renovation subplot that crops up at one point.) But Bard’s memoir, while full of gentle humor (and luscious food descriptions), goes deeper.
I’m sharing my (glowing) review of Picnic in Provence at Great New Books today. Please join me over there to read the full review – and share your favorite French and/or foodie memoirs!
I write quarterly reviews for Great New Books. You can read all my recs over on the GNB site.
cakes, tea and dreams 
That book looks delightful!