Not exactly Jessica Fletcher

Jessica Fletcher, Murder She Wrote

This week’s project ~

You know the opening credits of Murder She Wrote, when Jessica is sitting at her desk typing away while the cheerful theme song bops along in the background? I love those opening credits. I never skip that part! By the end of the song, she’s written the final page of the book and has closed the manuscript cover. 

My writing process is… not that. It’s more like having food poisoning. You know it’s in there and it needs to come out - but you have no control over when it happens. All you can do is be in the right place at the right time and hope for the best. That’s my writing process. It ain’t pretty. I wear noise-cancelling headphones and every now and then, when I realise I’ve turned into Quasimodo with a tech neck, I lurch my shoulders back into place and groan.

I’m trying to write six chapters per week - but do NOT be impressed by that number, because my chapters are only a few pages long. Also, it’s a pretty shitty first draft. So when I’m done with this stage of the process, I will have a lot of work to do. But I’m writing again! Hooray for me! 

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Books!

I just finished Anthony Bourdain’s book Kitchen Confidential - WOW, it was so good! He narrates the audio version and I highly recommend it - his voice is commanding and so entertaining. I also finished The Salt Path by Raynor Winn. It was slow-going but cinematic - the movie is on my list to (eventually) watch.

Earlier this week, I went to the Women’s Prize Summer Party which was a fabulous and friendly event - but mostly I stood around looking awkward and tried not to stare at the literary LEGENDS who were in attendance. Seriously, every year this event gets more and more star-studded. I felt like a Huge Nobody - just a 53-year old girl from Indiana who conned her way into a ticket. I took a glass of champagne, put my head down and tried to blend in. Rachel Clark, author of The Story of a Heart, won the prize for Non-Fiction. Yael van der Wouden, author of The SafeKeep, won the prize for Fiction.

Travel / Where I’m at, where I’m going ~

I’m still in London and I’m still looking for a new place to live - it’s not going well. We might end up putting everything in storage and living the nomad lifestyle for a while. Honestly, I’d prefer that option! But it would be hard on other members of the family, so the search continues. 

I’m also prepping for my summer relocation to France. My office is the staging area: boxes of books, a few yoga mats, extra dog food, etc. This time, I’ve decided to make the drive to Lake Annecy in one day. It’s a long slog, but totally do-able. The key: entertainment and nourishment. The only thing worse than airplane food is rest stop food, so I’ll pack a food bag for the road: whole grain/seeded crackers, good cheese, hummus and veggies, fruit and nuts, a stack of PB &Js, air-popped popcorn, some dark chocolate, a thermos of iced water and a thermos of hot water for tea. I’m even bringing a package of Rummo spaghetti and a jar of Belazu Aubergine and Parmesan Pesto for when I arrive late that night and need a hot meal.

Today’s fun project: queue up a bunch of podcasts and buy three extra credits on Audible. The next time you hear from me, I’ll be in France!

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xo, L

Print by Liana Finck 2022, Gifted to me by my daughter. :)

A summer begins

Fidan Nazimqızı

This week’s project ~

I started to work on my next book! The working title is Notes From a Summer on Lake Annecy and it’s something I’ve been noodling on for a while now. It will be another memoir-in-essays and the themes are my usual obsession - identity and transformation with a strong sense of place.

In terms of process - I’m doing something radically different this time around: I’m planning to write from an outline! This is new territory for me as I usually write 70K words and then spend a year/lifetime trying to make sense of what I wrote. This time, I’m going into the writing process with a general sense of a beginning middle and end. I’ve got a list of 45 essays to write, in a very loose order, which will undoubtedly change. But it’s a road map! Also, I love a good list. Here are my notes to self:

1) Protect your writing time.

2) Look at the outline. Pick up where you left off. Keep going.

3) Do NOT edit as you go. Edit in September.

I’ve given myself a short time frame for this draft because I tend to get bored quickly and I want to keep my energy and vibes high. This is either a brilliant idea or completely unrealistic.

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A quick trip to Devon ~

Stonehenge after the rain. ©Laurel Kallenbach

Haldon Belvedere: a triangular castle overlooking the Devon countryside.

This weekend, we took a made a quick overnight trip to Devon to visit some friends. We unexpectedly drove past Stonehenge to get there! The view from the highway was underwhelming. I’d love to go back for a proper look around - maybe on summer solstice? How much pegan fun would that be? Later, when the rain cleared, we went for a proper English walk and stumbled upon the Haldon Belvedere is a triangular castle overlooking the Devon countryside.

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My Summer Reading List ~

My Summer Reading List!

Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton

Isola by Allegra Goodman

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

Heartwood by Amity Gaige

The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Cordova

I Seek a Kind Person Julian Borger

If You Love It, Let it Kill You by Hannah Pittard

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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Until next week!

xo, L

Instead of depression

Artist Philip Geiger

Instead of Depression

try calling it hibernation.

Imagine the darkness is a cave

in which you will be nurtured

by doing absolutely nothing.

Hibernating animals don’t even dream.

It’s okay if you can’t imagine

Spring. Sleep through the alarm

of the world. Name your hopelessness

a quiet hollow, a place you go

to heal, a den you dug,

Sweetheart, instead

of a grave.

- ANDREA GIBSON

Letting go and moving on

Photograph by Bettman-Corbis

This week’s project -

My youngest daughter graduated from high school! Our days were filled with ceremonies, celebrations, dinner parties, cocktails. We were celebrating her, for sure. But you know what? I’m also proud of me. I birthed two babies, kept them alive and got them through high school. Congratulations to me!

Apart from journaling, there was very little time this week to work on my creative projects. But I did start brainstorming my next book… The working title is The Lake House Project. The idea is still forming in my mind and I can’t yet put it into words. But I think it will have a strong visual component as well as written words. Sophia’s agreed to be my photographer and art director! Should be fun.

Artist: Luc Lavenseau

Travel: Where I’m at, where I’m going - 

We’re moving! The owner of our London home wants to sell and we don’t want to buy - so we have until September 30 to move out. I’ve looked out dozens of houses and apartments here in London, but I just can’t get excited about any of them. Both kids will be in the US for university, so we could literally live almost anywhere.

What I really want to do is travel around the world and be a nomad for a while… But what about work? Is that realistic? We are brainstorming options…

In the meantime, I’m going through the house room-by-room and deciding what to keep, what to donate and what to throw away. And Oh My God I Love This Process So Much! B asked me if I needed help going through the things in the attic and I was like YES MAN, TALK DIRTY TO ME! LET’S GO! We spent all day up there and then donated two carloads of stuff to our local charity shop. And then I took a carload of junk to the Refuse and Recycling Center. Is there anything more therapeutic? I FREAKING LOVE IT. Nothing is safe from my purging! I’m a woman on a mission.

HENRY’S book cover is fuzzy like a peach and I can’t stop petting it. 

Books: What I’m reading -

I’m still making my way through Tiananmen Square by Lai Wen. I haven’t made up my mind about this book. I’m told the ending is phenomenal, so I’m sticking with it.

I’ve got two other reading obsessions at the moment. The first is I’m searching for great stories by exquisite food writers. A few months ago, I read The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl (which I loved) and I just finished Butter by Asako Yuzuki (which I liked). Next up is How to Eat a Peach by Diana Henry and then Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain.

I’ve also fallen down a rabbit hole researching visual memoirs. I might have made up that genre, but here’s what it means to me: Books where the images carry as much narrative weight as the words. Books like the perennial favourite Film for Her by Orion Carloto or It by Alexa Chung. Or even Sara Berman’s Closet by Maira Kalman or Elena: A Hand Made Life by Miriam Gold. 

I know these two categories of books seem wildly different, but they are both feeding my next project!

Where I walk my dog. :) The River Thames, Chiswick to Hammersmith. Artist: Arabella Harcourt-Cooze

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Until next week!

Xo, L

p.s. Here’s a great Parisian Cafe playlist.

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Look what I made!

Look what I made! It’s a cookbook inspired by my travels and organised by cuisine.

This week’s project -

I finally - finally! - finished the edits on my recipe collection and sent it to the printers! Turns out, collecting all the recipes and photos was the easy part. Formatting them into a professional looking book was supremely tedious. In case you're curious (and a process nerd like me): I used Google Drive to organize the content, Canva to create and format the book, and Bookvault to print.

The cover photo was taken by my daughter when she was in first grade and I was still young and beautiful. Apart from that one photo, I don’t own many of the photos in this book, so I can’t sell it or even distribute it as a promotional gift. But that’s okay! That was never my goal. My goal was to learn how to professionally print a photo-heavy book. Now that I know how to do that, I think the next project will be something I can share publicly.

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Books: What I’m reading -

I started and finished James by Percival Everett in three days flat, because it’s that good. It’s a re-telling of Huck Finn, but told from the perspective of James - but it’s so much more than that. It’s a literary page-turner: a book you can’t put down, but that is also so compelling that it should also be taught in schools. I loved it.

On the lighter side - I’m almost finished with The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson which is super fun and should be made into a TV series asap. Think: between Veronica Mars meets Agatha Christie.

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My local bookstore, as illustrated by Matthew Wright

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Some link love -

• You’re most repeated thought becomes your reality. I don’t normally listen to Jay Shetty’s podcast, but this episode has some gems.

• Paris recommendations to consider by Shelby Chambers. (My own Paris List is much shorter!)

• Women’s Prize Events are coming up! This is always a great way to kick off summer.

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xo, L

3 Ways to Experience Literary London

The London Library

1 - Book Talks

You could spend every evening of the week at a literary talk somewhere in the city—if only you knew where to look. Luckily, Literary Listings London does the work for you. This weekly newsletter curates upcoming author events, readings, and conversations across London’s bookish haunts.

2 - Book Walks

London Literary Tours is exactly what it sounds like— walking tours for people who care about books and the ghosts of writers past. The two hosts - Cindy and Mike - are incredibly knowledgeable and entertaining. You will be whisked away to a different time and place. I loved the Bloomsbury tour so much, that I’m tempted to take another one later this year. Current options include walks inspired by Virginia Woolf and Oscar Wilde.

3 - Book Paradise

There’s no place like The London Library. Founded in 1841 and still privately run, it’s where Virginia Woolf, Charles Dickens and countless other writers borrowed books and wrote prose. The red-carpeted staircases and labyrinthine stacks feel like a portal to another century. You can’t just walk in—you have to join—but if you love books, it’s the best investment in inspiration you’ll ever make.

My List for London

From swimming to sipping spritzes by the shore — here’s my personal list of things to do, see, eat, and enjoy around Lake Annecy.

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Two long city walks:

1 - The Southbank Walk - start at Westminster and walk across the Westminster Bridge. Walk along the river towards The London Eye (kids love it, and there are nice views). Keep walking and you'll pass more bridges, restaurants, art galleries, theatres, etc. You'll eventually end up in front of the Tate Modern. You can't miss it - giant smoke stack. It's an awesome inside space - pop in for free to take a look. Then cross the millennium bridge which will spit you out in front of St Paul's Cathedral.

That whole thing will take you 45 minutes to walk if you never stopped. I like it because it ticks a lot of tourist buckets: westminster abbey, parliment, big ben, the river, the southbank promenade, the tate and st paul's.

2 - Borough Market area - Borough Market is the Pike Place of London. :) Check open times before you head out. Places nearby to walk to: Shakespeare's Globe (they do a great tour), the Shard, London Bridge and Tower of London.

Favourite parks:
Hyde Park - largest park in central London - you can walk, bike, boat, etc.
Primrose Hill - (central) smaller, but pretty views and in charming neighbourhood
Hampstead Heath - (north central) huge and beautiful and/but you will definitely run into Ricky Gervais
Richmond Park - (south west London) enormous, tons of deer, great for biking

Favourite neighbourhoods for strolling, shopping, eating:
Covent Garden, Mayfair, Marylebone

Want to see a show?

Favourite museums:
The Tate Modern
The V&A
Natural History Museum (which is very close to the V&A)
The British Museum

Restaurants:
There are too many excellent places to list! If you find yourself in a particular neighbourhood, let me know and I'll find some faves.

My List for Lake Annecy

My list for Lake Annecy — where to swim, hike, shop, and eat in one of the most beautiful corners of France.

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Activities on Water

Every village on the east side (best side!) of the lake has a public beach with a bar, a restaurant and a beach volleyball court. Talloires has a diving board. Menthon has a water slide. Veyrier has live music most weekends through July and August.

Jean-Louis is our guy for waterskiing and wake-surfing. He also rents paddle boats, stand up paddle boards, etc.

Wherever you are on the lake you will find opportunities for:

• swimming, floating, shell collecting

• stand-up paddleboarding / paddle boating

• pier jumping / cliff jumping

• water skiing / wake surfing / kite-surfing

Compagnie des Bateaux acts as a local ferry and also offers breakfast and dinner cruises. (I’ve never done this, so I can’t vouch for it, but they’ve been around for ages.)

You can also privately hire boats for transfers to/from Annecy or simply for cruising.

Activities on Land

For walks/hikes, use All Trails to find a hike of suitable length/difficulty. An easy/gorgeous route is Roc de Chere. Hiking to the Cascade D’Angon will leave you winded but it’s totally worth it. A great longer hike is the Mont Veyrier - Mont Baron loop. You can cut the trail in half by driving half way up the mountain. From the top you can can see Mont Blanc on one side and a panorama of Lake Annecy on the other. Truly spectacular.

Bike rentals are everywhere and easy to find, but if you’re a cycler, you may want to check out Nomad in Talloires. Biking around the entire lake takes between 2 and 5 hours depending on how many times you stop for a swim and a smoothie. And by smoothie, I mean Aperol Spritz.

Canyoning is an incredible experience. It’s not for the faint of heart, but I highly recommend it!

There’s a tennis club in every village that are open to the public. Just stop by and ask how to reserve a court.

Activities in the Air

Parapenting isn’t nearly as death-defying as it seems! Try it and you’ll be hooked. We always use Adrenaline Parapent in Menthon/Talloires.

Accrobranche (ropes course) is usually a family favourite. There’s a place in hills above Talloires, but we prefer Aravis Parc d’Adventures in Thônes. There are various levels - so if you are a weenie like me you can skip the black-belt level routes and stay closer to the ground.

Via Ferrata - This is a love-it-or-hate-it activity. Dan took the girls and thought he would love it. He was wrong! He thought he was going to die and still shudders when describing it. The girls loved it and want to do it again.

Summer Camps for Kids

We’ve been coming to Lake Annecy since the girls were little and I always put them in some sort of summer camp (stage d’été). Their favourites were: Pony Camp in Thônes, Tennis Camp in Annecy-le-Vieux and Dance Camp at Centre Artys. The soccer camp that my youngest went to is no longer running, but FC Annecy now hosts summer camps and they look great!

Shopping

Talloires has a bi-weekly arts and crafts market where you can find locally made products ranging from soaps to lamps.

Annecy has a brocante fair on the last saturday of every month.

Also in Annecy: Try the little shops along Rue de l'Île… Yes, they can be touristy and hit-or-miss, but I always get lucky. I found a gorgeous Indian block print dress that I lived in all spring. And there’s a chapellerie (hat store) which is always popular with out-of-town guests. There’s a great Vinyl and Coffee shop just out of the old town. Murmur is a nice gift shop with locally made jewellery, decor, journals and more. And of course, I always ALWAYS love a trip to Monoprix. It’s like a French Target! I especially love their pyjamas.

Skip the mall in Annecy (called the Centre Commercial)- it’s nothing special. Instead walk to Galleries Lafayette. There are several boutiques and local pop-ups that circle the department store - plus a few good casual eating spots and a climbing gym!

If outdoor gear is your thing, you’ll find most major brands in Annecy or neighboring Epagny. If luxury brands are your thing, drive to Geneva.

Restaurants

My favourites seem to change seasonally and yearly. I’m currently enjoying:

• Le Pecheur: This is our local spot and a perennial favourite. It’s right on the lake, and you can watch the sunset while you wait for the waitresses to finish flirting and come serve you. They have loads of tables and the atmosphere is always fun and lively. Never disappoints. They don’t have a website or phone number though, so just turn up and wait. 10 Av. General Doyen, Veyrier-du-Lac

• Haven: An excellent Ausie brunch place in Annecy.

• Auberge du Lyonnais: On the canal in Annecy. Make reservations - good for a nice night out.

• Chez Ingalls: A traditional French restaurant bizarrely inspired by Little House on the Prairie. It’s super weird but surprisingly elegant and the food is pretty good! We asked our server why the restaurant was themed on this random American TV Show and she said (I’m translating) “Because there used to be a chicken farm nearby.” Which is a ridiculous answer for so many reasons, but let’s go with this one: I grew up LOVING Little House on the Prairie and I’ve read all the books and watched every single episode of the TV series, including the all the specials. But if we played the word association game and you said Chicken Farm, I would never in one million years say Little House on the Prairie. And yet somehow in the middle of the French alps, there’s a restaurant that serves a Nelly Burger and has a wine cellar that’s called Le Cave de Charles.

Groceries

Honestly, I usually eat at home because you can make a world class meal with some local cheese and produce. All you really need to know is: go to a fromagerie for your cheese, go to a boulangerie for your bread and go to a live market for your produce. Stop by the local supermarket for everything else. I could write a whole book about grocery shopping in France, but I’ll leave it there for now!

Where to Stay

• For years, we used VRBO and stayed in many wonderful places at various price points. I recommend staying on the east side of the lake: Veyrier-du-Lac, Menthon St Bernard or Talloires.

• My favourite hotel in the area: Le Palace De Menthon. We call it the Wes Anderson Hotel and you can see why! Even if you aren’t staying there, it’s a great place to have an apéro (pre-dinner drink and nibbles).

My List for Prague

My favorite spots in Prague — where to eat, stay, listen to jazz, and wander through history.

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Restaurants

U Zlate Studne - Great restaurant with terrace overlooking Prague (Castle side of river). Need a reservation.

Kampa Park Restaurant - Castle side, on the water. Need a reservation.

Apparently best cocktails in town are at Bugsy’s Bar -
Pařížská 1068/10, 110 00 Staré Město, Czechia

Our home away from home - The Globe Bookstore & Coffeehouse

Our neighborhood pub - U Parlamentu, Valentinská 52, 110 00 Staré Město - local, not fancy!

Vegetarian czech food? It exists! Maitrea in Old Town

Lots of great sites, a few not to miss:

• Jewish quarter and cemetery

• The Castle 

• Old town square 

• The Mucha Museum: https://mucha.eu/

• National Memorial to the Heroes Of the Heydrich terror. If interested in WWII, it’s worth a quick visit and a read of the story of “Anthropoid”. (There’s a film about it from a few years ago called Anthropoid and a great book about it called HHhH by a French author Laurent Binet). 

Jazz Clubs

The Jazz Dock https://www.jazzdock.cz/en

U Malého Glena https://malyglen.cz/en/pages

Hotels

Hotel Paris (in Prague)
https://www.hotel-paris.cz/en/

The Mozart
https://www.themozart.com/

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Clubs for young people

Lucerna https://musicbar.cz/en/ 

Duplex: https://www.duplex.cz/ 

Karlovy Lazne:https://www.karlovylazne.cz/

My List for New York City

My current list for New York City — favorite restaurants, museums, and off-Broadway theatres that make the city endlessly inspiring (and delicious).

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Restaurants on my list to try:

• Via Carota, West Village

• Soda Club, East Village

• Loring Place, Greenwich Village

• Shuka, Soho

Restaurants I love

• Planta Queen, NoMad

• Spicy Moon, West Village

• ABCV, Union Square

• Eataly, Madison Square Park

• Ofrenda for Happy Hour, West Village

• Joe’s Pizza, Union Square

• Karakutta Ramen, West Village

• Balthazar, Soho

• Maman, Greenwich Village

• Little Itally III, South of Union Square

• Top Thai, West Village

Favourite Museums

• The Tenement Museum

• The Whitney, for the views, then walk the Highline.

• The Met

• The Moma

• The Natural History Museum

Off Broadway Theatres

• The Public

• 59E59

• HERE Arts Center, Tribeca

• New York Theatre Workshop

• Cherry Lane Theatre

• Signature Theatre

• Playwrights Horizons

Off-Broadway (Musicals)

• Joe’s Pub (at The Public)

• New World Stages

• The York Theatre Company

• Second Stage Theater

• Theatre Row

• The Vineyard Theatre

My List for Paris

My running list for Paris — favorite bistros, museums, and jazz clubs, plus new spots I can’t wait to try. From crepes in the Marais to brunch by the Jardin du Luxembourg.

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A few favourite restaurants:

Les Philosophes, my favourite local bistro, Marais

Miznon - vegetarian Israeli street food, Marais

Le 404 - Moroccan, in the 3rd

MaoDumpling - in the 3rd. order the eggplant

Big Love Trattoria - in the 3rd

Breizh Café - proper crêpes from Brittany, multiple locations

La Taverne De ZHAO, best noodles ever, multiple locations

The Terrace at Galleries Lafayette, casual rooftop dining, in the 9th

Treize au Jardin, amazing brunch/lunch, in the 6th, next to the park

On my list to check out:

Tekés Restaurant - Incredible!

Fellows - pasta!

Peppe Paris - best pizza in Paris?

Museums, etc:

Musée de Montmatre

Mémorial de la Shoah

Pinault Collection

Musée d’Orsay

Louvre

Jardin des Plantes

Musée Rodin

Musée Picasso

Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève

Entertainment:

Le Caveau de la Huchette

Chez Papa Jazz Club

Moulin Rouge

Paradis Latin

My List for Provence

A personal list of my favorite places in Provence — from golden hilltop villages and seaside cafés to artist retreats and books that capture the spirit of the region.

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VILLAGES / SMALL CITIES

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence – Van Gogh’s Provence
A lively market town with great food, art, and history. The market is on Wednesday morning. Van Gogh painted many masterpieces here while staying at Saint-Paul de Mausole Monastery, which you can visit. Consider driving (15 mins) to Les Baux-de-Provence, medieval castle ruins and an art show at Carrières de Lumières.

Gordes – The Iconic Hilltop Village
A golden-stone village perched on a hill, with cobbled streets and sweeping valley views. The market is on Tuesday morning. Don’t miss the nearby Abbaye de Sénanque and its famous lavender fields. 

Lourmarin – Chic & Artsy
One of the most stylish villages in Provence, with boutique shops, art galleries, and a Renaissance château. Lourmarin’s Friday market  is one of the best in the region, featuring local cheeses, olives, fresh produce, lavender products, handmade pottery, and Provençal fabrics. It’s the perfect place to pick up souvenirs!

L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue – The Venice of Provence + Antiques/Brocant
A charming town with canals, antique shops, flea markets, and a fantastic Sunday market. A great mix of Provençal charm and shopping. 

Cassis – Seaside Charm & White Wine
A quaint fishing village, perfect for seafood, boat tours to the Calanques National Park, and sipping local cassis white wine. This place will feel different from all the other places on your tour because it’s on the waterfront. Gorgeous seaside town - minimally, go down to the port, have lunch in a cafe and poke around the shops. If you can swing a tour of Des Calanques, do it! If not, you can always take a 2-hour boat tour around the bay (tickets available at the port, just walk up.)

Aix-en-Provence – The Elegant Heart of Provence
The cultural and artistic hub of Provence, with beautiful boulevards, fountains, markets, and Paul Cézanne’s legacy. A perfect mix of city sophistication and Provençal charm. 

Gallifet Art Gallery and Restaurant  have lunch in the courtyard! (A friend of a friend owns this place! But I'm not being biased - it’s delightful.)

And of course, you must visit the Atelier de Cezanne.

ARTIST RETREATS

NG Art Creative 

This place looks stunning. (20 minutes drive from St Remy)

La Muse Retreat

Not technically in Provence - it’s about  3.5 hours drive from Aix - but including it here just in case it suits.

La Belugue 

Artists Retreat In September (off peak season).

Workshops in France

Artists Retreat In September (off peak season).

LITERARY INSPIRATION

MEMOIR / CREATIVE NONFICTION

My Life in France by Julia Child: An absolute classic—Julia Child’s memoir of her years in Paris and the birth of her love for French cooking.

Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard: A charming memoir about falling in love in Paris, with incredible recipes woven throughout.

Picnic in Provence: A Memoir with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard: Sequel to Lunch in Paris—moves from Paris to a small village in Provence.

Paris Letters by Janice MacLeod: One woman's journey from the fast lane to a slow stroll in Paris.

How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are by Caroline de Maigret: A fun, irreverent guide to Parisian life, fashion, and attitude.

The Olive Farm by Carol Drinkwater: The first in a trilogy about an actress who buys an olive farm in Provence and transforms it into a new life.

At Home in France: Eating and Cooking with the French by Ann Mah: A culinary memoir of life in France, food traditions, and learning to cook like a local.

A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle: A classic! Peter and his wife move to a small village, renovate a 200 year old house and try to blend in.

NOVELS 

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah: A gripping historical fiction novel about two sisters resisting the Nazi occupation in rural France and Paris.

The Paris Wife by Paula McClain: A captivating historical novel about Hadley Richardson, Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, and their whirlwind life in 1920s Paris.

Suite Française by Irene Nemirovsky: A haunting, unfinished masterpiece depicting the lives of Parisians and rural villagers during the Nazi occupation of France.

The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro: A young woman inherits a mysterious perfume legacy in Paris.

Ram Dass

We’re all just walking each other home.

The Bhagavad Gita

You are entitled to your labour. You are not entitled to the fruits of your labour.