I found this memoirs about living in Paris through GoodReads. I do love the site, and it gives me numerous book recommendations every time I am there.
I have read several books on France and lived in Rhone-Alps one glorious spring and summer in 2010. If i had unlimited financially resources, France would definitely would be one of the countries I’d install myself. On the books about France, a number have been memoirs of living in Paris. This is at least my fifth nonfiction book about Paris.
The book is about a family of two sabbatical professors and their children. The author writes the book mostly in paragraph snippets and vignettes. I was not too keen on this format as it feels there is a lack of narrative. Though there is something quaint about it as it it s written snapshots in a the family photo album. The more I read it though, the more I got into this style as James like many expats in France describe the interesting little moments. I was soon sighing about my own memories of France and Paris. There was continuity in the stories about her children, her husband’s friend Florent, and the author’s food and fashion life.
There are a number of travel tips within the memoirs as it often happens and a couple of good cooking and fashion tips. I really grew to like this memoirs more than I thought. I recommend it to other readers with a fascination for memoirs and Paris. I still think the best Paris memoirs is Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik which I was blessed to take with me to Paris the first time I went. Both recommended.
Read February 8-9th 2013.