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A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle

Mon ami, Jan was surprised I had not read A Year In Provence after she visited our new/old farmhouse in the Kettle Moraine region of southeast Wisconsin. Chronicling the first year which author Peter Mayle and wife Jennie owned and restored a rustic, two hundred year mas (farmhouse) in Provence, you’ll be treated to a colorful and quietly detailed vision of the new homeowner’s trials and joys. Situated at the foot of the Luberon Mountains between the villages of Menerbes and Bonnieux and within the boundaries of a 247,000 acre national park, the property offered the Mayles a bold lifestyle change from their native England. It was both sanctuary and a work in progress on six acres of vineyards.

From crowded, clogged roads in summer, with hilarious descriptions of French driving technique, to depictions of wine-enfused games of boules, to a detailed account of a Grande Course de Chevres (Great Goat Race) through the streets of Bonnieux.

So apropos to my view of the typical NYE scene, the author begins his tale,

“The year began with lunch. We have always found that New Year’s Eve, with its eleventh-hour excesses and doomed resolutions, is a dismal occasion for all the forced jollity and midnight toasts and kisses. And so, when we heard that over in the vilage of Lacoste, a few miles away, the proprietor of Le Simiane was offering a six course lunch with pink champagne to his amiable clientele, it seemed like a much more cheerful way to start the next twelve months.”

Food & Restaurants

Lacoste – Le Simiane, New Year’s Eve lunch
Lambesc in a converted mill with an 80 year old female chef
Auberge de la Loube – an ancient Mairie, Buoux
Deux Garcons, Aix
Old Station Cafe, Bonnieux
Bistro du Paradou, Massane
Markets in Cavaillon, Apt, Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and Coustellet
Food guide: Gault-Millau, L’expert gourmand

Vineyards/Caves

Gigondas and Beaumes-de-Venise
Chateauneuf-du-Pape
Vacqueyras

People

Faustin, the neighbor/farmer
Antoine Massot, the old mountain man
Monsieur Menicucci, the plumber
Ramon, the plasterer
Bernard,The pisciniste (pool man)

The Year’s highlights

January: The Mistral – winter winds, Frozen water pipes;
February: The kitchen is gutted, the cold continues;
March: Planting new vines, Truffle hunting;
April: Cherry blossoms and the house guests arrive;
May: Cycling in the countryside;
June: More house guests;
July: a trip to Saint-Tropez;
August: Grande Course de Chevres;
September: Tourists leave, Hunting Season begins, Grape harvest;
October: Les Champignons
November: Chevaliers’ dinner in Burgundy, a visit to an olive oil mill -Cooperative Oleicole de la Vallee des Baux, Maussane
December: The wiles of the wife, the ways of the worker and the job gets done!

And so the Mayle’s year closes and I fret that I may be approaching the same feelings as I look around our place.

“There comes a time in the restoration of an old house when the desire to see it finished threatens all of those noble aesthetic intentions to see it finished properly.”

Bonne Année mes amis!

The Paris Wife

by Paula McLain
This author has the ability to draw us into the sweetly sad story of Hadley & Ernest from Chapter One. Elizabeth Hadley Richardson was the first love and first wife of Ernest Hemingway. She was, in truth, The Paris Wife. Real, not overworked dialogue between two people can’t be very easy, and Ms. McLain brings it to life with a smoothness that many historical fiction writers don’t accomplish. Schruns, Pamplona and the Riviera are a few of the stylishly chic backdrops where this couple worked and played. This account of the now famous couple’s travels and circle of artistic friends is fascinating!

By the way readers, I’m in my official “French Phase”, and so this was absolument parfait! (I wish I hadn’t had to use Google translate just there ; ) Stay tuned for “A Year in Provence”.

White Fang by Jack London

I grabbed this book as I was about to go out of town with nothing to read. My father had read Jack London and I tend to like wilderness adventure tales, so that’s all it took. If Mr. London does not have you hooked in the first 3 chapters, I’d be surprised~ I. The Trail of Meat; II. The She-Wolf; III. The Hunger Cry. Two men, and six dogs, sledding across the Arctic, transporting a corpse in a coffin, when daylight comes and goes in a brief 6 hours. Oh, and they only have 3 cartridges for the rifles. A lot can go wrong quickly~

London then gently transitions into part anthropomorphic narrator and finds a way to bring us into the world of Kiche the she-wolf whom the native Indians had once tamed. She bears White Fang, her only offspring to survive that spring’s litter, and he takes us along on first hunts, first terrors, and many encounters with humans, or “man-gods” as London calls them.

You won’t look at your own sweet pup in the same way~

Mark reviews (and lives), ‘We Wanted A Farm’ by M.G. Kains

A first hand account of a couple starting a garden in the city, then renting a home in the suburbs, and finally taking the plunge to buy their own farm. Originally published in 1941, some of the prices obviously seem quite dated.

Kaines has good recommendations for seed varieties which should be heirloom quality in the present day, as well as good tips on how to prepare your soil and how not to buy manure from a local farmer! Good tips on pruning perennial fruits and vegetables for max yield, how to mail order and store plants for the coming season.

His food was so fresh and of high quality that visitors from the city became a problem which was solved by a well placed sign on his driveway.

Intro on how to use dynamite – I’m not going there even if we could buy it today!
Funny comments on his hired help which were the cause for more work than help!

After reading this I now see that farming is a year round activity with plenty of hard work, but the bounty of fresh food brings pleasure year round.

Just finished…Treasure Island

Enjoyed reading my first Robert Lewis Stevenson novel, Treasure Island. What a bright, lively story! Nothing overworked or old-fashioned- which I confess I half expected. The classics are classics for a reason. I was hooked immediately when old sea captain, Billy Bones mysteriously takes up residence in the seaside inn Jim Hawkin’s family runs. He rants, he raves, he drinks rum, and he’s gripped with fear of The Black Spot! The pirating and adventures soon move out to sea! Long John Silver is alive – and both terrible and irresistible to young Jim Hawkins. A fine, fantastic yarn, “And you may lay to that!”, as Long John would say! Do I like it even more because it is a story with a map? Of course!

Just finished….the curios incident

After finishing the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, I had one of those experiences where you suddenly encounter a topic everywhere you turn! Friends Lori and Janet both told me of their experiences with autistic students and family, and I it was as if this book had opened my eyes to what they were saying. You’ve got to love reading when it carries into your own everyday world! The author, Mark Haddon writes as if a 16 year old autistic boy named Christopher was writing the story. Fascinating perspective of what the world is like to someone who can’t relate to the expression on the human face, but can solve quadratic equations in his head. It’s a smart, quick read!

from Dee…for a New Year

I enjoyed Shanghai Sisters as well. Also read Lisa See’s books Peony in Love and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. All page turners! I just finished Left Neglected by Lisa Genova. Something made me pick up this book. After having gone through a very difficult year with my niece’s accident, this story paralleled her recovery and was, in a way, a very enlightening and hopeful tale about family and priorities. Sigh, so many excellent books, so little time!

Lori and Larson and “just” finished…

Enjoy this wonderful entry highlighting three recommendations from Lori!

Erik Larson. I really love his writing. He incorporates history in readable stories. I always read history in black and white (in my head), these books give color and life to historic events.
“In the Garden of Beasts” is set in the months before World War II, in Berlin. William E. Todd (born in Clayton, NC) moves his family to Berlin to become America’s first Ambassador to Hitler’s Germany. Excellent book and relevant in these times of intolerance.

“The Devil in the White City”* Murder and madness set in Chicago. The history of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 and a madman who murders young women. Scary, but I couldn’t put it down. I loved the history of the architects of the fair. *a major film currently in production starring Leo DiCaprio, to be released in 2013.

Just finished “Shanghai Sisters” by Lisa See. Great story set in the years before WW II to the 1960’s. Two sisters and how they escape China, and build a new family with strangers in California. Makes me wish I had a sister!

Lori