Author: staff

John Baxter, author of “We’ll Always Have Paris,” has come out with a new book on France just in time for the holidays which is sure to please those Francophiles on your gift list. A witty cultural and culinary education, Immoveable Feast is the charming, funny, and improbable tale of how a man who was raised on white bread-and didn’t speak a word of French-unexpectedly ended up with the sacred duty of preparing the annual Christmas dinner for a venerable Parisian family. Continue reading “A Paris Christmas”

“I wrote A Revolution in Taste: The Rise of French Cuisine,” says author Susan Pinkard, “because I am fascinated by the intersection of the routines of everyday life with the world of ideas.” This splendid book just out for the holidays looks at one of the world’s most famous cuisines and how it got that way. Continue reading “A Revolution in Taste…”

This new book by Eric Karpeles is a visual companion to Marcel Proust’s monumental twentieth century work  “In Search of Lost Time,” one of the most expansive literary creations ever written. It celebrates the close relationship between the visual and literary arts in Proust’s masterpiece. Author Eric Karpeles has combined his experiences as painter and writer to create a lavishly illustrated book that illuminates the winding corridors of Proust’s labyrinthine masterpiece. Continue reading “Paintings in Proust”

The French have an enormous passion for their food… for cooking it, shopping for it and eating it. This book written by Trish Deseine, who has lived in France for 20 years, is recommended for anyone wishing to pick up a little of that passion. It explores the fabulous edible heritage of France’s countryside, where every village seems to have its speciality. With recipes like navarin, a simple delicate lamb stew perfect for a springtime lunch, to pan bagnat, the famous fishermen’s salade Nicoise sandwich, this guide from one of France’s top cookbook authors brings readers a welcome taste of France.

 

Camuto’s interest in wine turned into a passion when he moved to France and began digging into local soils and cellars. Corkscrewed recounts Camuto’s journey through France’s myriad regions-and how the journey brought about a profound change in everything he believed about wine. Continue reading “Corkscrewed Adventures in the New French Wine Country”

This excellent insiders bilingual guide to Paris’ most luxurious  and branché hotel bars is packed with hidden treasures and perfect for organizing a special rendezvous when you really want to impress. Over fifty mythic hotels listed ranging from the old world elegance of the Bar V at the Hotel Four Seasons George V to the ultra-contemporary trendy Bar Lounge du Murano near Republique to the English style Bar at the Hotel San Régis with its vintage furniture, fire place and winter garden, this is an opportunity (for only 14 Euros) to see how the other half relaxes. ((Parigramme, Gérard Bonos and Marie-Hélène Delettre; photographs: Sylvain Ageorges)

Literary detective David Burke explores the most creative quartiers of the City of Light — the Latin Quarter and the Marais, raffish Montmartre, “Lost Generation” Montparnasse, and others – and tracks down the haunts of dozens of the world’s finest and most colorful writers. Continue reading “Writers in Paris”

This new book  by Sally Price explores the story behind the creation of Paris’ newest museum  devoted to the so called “primitive arts.” The story begins in 1990 when Jacques Chirac, the future president of France and a passionate fan of non-European art, met Jacques Kerchache, a maverick art collector with the lifelong ambition of displaying African sculpture in the holy temple of French culture, the Louvre. Together they began laying plans, and ten years later African fetishes were on view under the same roof as the Mona Lisa. Then, in 2006, amidst a maelstrom of controversy and hype, Chirac presided over the opening of a new museum dedicated to primitive art in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower: the Musée du Quai Branly. Continue reading ““Paris Primitive” by the Seine”

Patricia Wells, long recognized as the leading American authority on French food, and her husband, Walter (former senior editor of the International Herald Tribune), live the life in France that many people have often fantasized about. Now the couple has put together a sort of “scrapbook” of their memories co-writting a new book “We’ve Always Had Paris… and Provence.” (Harper Collins) Continue reading “They’ve always had Paris…”

This delightful book revisits the life and times of one of the world’s great capitals. With photos and short vignettes the author traces Paris’ major events dating from Haussmann rebuilding Paris  to the Belle Epoque to the city’s occupation and liberation to the May 1968 student movement. Continue reading “Historic Photos of Paris”

Colette once said “If I had a son that was about to marry, I would say to him: ‘beware of a young woman that does not like wine, truffles, cheese and music.” So what is a lover of cheese to do? Perhaps do as David Nutt and write a book of poems inspired by the topic.

“It all started,” says Nutt “with the mouse on a cheese icon.  After several years of writing a web  newsletter about traditional French cheese for http://www.fromage.com I came to the conclusion these remarkable French products deserved to enter the world stage in a more romantic light. So I decided to put together a book of poetry that pays homage to 30 of France’s most renowned cheeses.” Continue reading “Tastey poems about cheese”