picnic in provence a memoir with recipes

Under the spell of the house and its unique history, in less time than it takes to flip a crepe, Elizabeth and Gwendal decide to move-lock, stock and Le Creuset-to the French countryside. A chance encounter leads them to the wartime home of a famous poet, a tale of a buried manuscript and a garden full of heirloom roses. On a last romantic jaunt before the baby arrives, the couple take a trip to the tiny Provencal village of Céreste. Now, with a baby on the way and the world's flakiest croissant around the corner, Elizabeth is sure she's found her 'forever place.' But life has other plans.

Ten years ago, New Yorker Elizabeth Bard followed a handsome Frenchman up a spiral staircase to a love nest in the heart of Paris. There are no photos in the book but one can call up one of several Internet sites showing scenes of Cereste, including a couple of their storefront and surrounding 'Scaramouche, artisan glacier.' It might prove helpful in understanding the setting for their venture.The bestselling author of Lunch in Paris takes us on another delicious journey, this time to the heart of Provence. Recipes keyed to the topic generally discussed in a chapter are found at its end and there is a handy index to all of them at the conclusion. Her descriptions of raising their youngster, coping with the eccentricities of life in a small town, making friends and wondering what life holds for her and her family are intimate and chatty. The trials and tribulations of setting this up are found in the latter part of this interesting account of the rural French way of life.

Now comes Elizabeth Bard, an American writer who has fashioned a combination memoir of life in storied Provence in southern France with a generous helping of recipes using mostly ingredients one would find in that part of the world.īard and her husband, Gwendal, tired of the life in Paris where they lived for 10 years, decided to relocate 600 kilometres to the southern village of Cereste with their infant son.Īfter getting acclimatized and used to a more sedentary French life than they experienced in Paris, they embarked on a business venture - an ice cream shop. For many years, the American chef was a leading authority on the art of preparing French cuisine. Picnic in Provence: A Memoir With Recipesīy Elizabeth Bard (Little, Brown and Company, 384 pages, $29 hardcover)

Picnic in provence a memoir with recipes