Sara: You can go to France and have a wonderful time just savoring the food and absorbing the sights. But when you’ve heard about the love story behind the chateau of Chenonceau, have a sense of how French cooking techniques made their way to the US or know the Oscar Wilde quote, “When good Americans die they go to Paris”—well, the experience is immeasurably richer and more profound.
We took two historical walking tours in Paris that helped us see the Marais and the Quartier Latin with new eyes (with Chris at Paris Walks). But it’s three books, all written by Americans, that have really made my trip.
My Life in France, by Julia Child: A must for foodies. The famous cookbook author writes colorfully about her time in France in the 1940s and 50s with her husband, a time when she found her calling as a chef and teacher. I accidentally learned from the book why birds are sold in the market with their heads and feet on, and what the brass plaque above our table at Taillevent was for. If you don’t read it, at least rent the film Julie & Julia. Feel free to fast-forward all the Julie parts.
Paris to the Moon, by Adam Gopnik: The New Yorker writer recounts his experiences in the 1990s, when he moved his family to Paris. It’s wry and funny, full of insights about Christmas, childbirth, and French schools.
Traveling through History in France, by Ina Caro: When I first handed it to Drew, he said this book seemed “boring.” And it does look dull, with a brownish cover and ho-hum title. But Caro takes you through on a rollicking tour of France, from south to north, from Roman times to Louis the XIV. She brings each place to life with stories, recounting how the wily Count of Anjou, Foulque Nerra, built towers across the Loire in the Middle Ages, or how Henry II gave Chenonceau to his beautiful Diane de Poitiers (and his wife confiscated it after his death). It will make you love history again—or maybe even for the first time.
Drew. Because Sara would sit and read each book and sigh every five to ten minutes and talk about how wonderful they all are, I initially resisted these books. Chicks love Paris. When our friend Michelle stopped by, she and Sara talked about each of these books. So as far as I could discern, when chicks are in Paris, they love reading about Paris imagining that they are in Paris even though they are already in Paris.
All I read for the first half of the trip were RSS feeds about personal effectiveness. Lame I know, and I was probably the only visitor to these feeds originating from within the entire nation of France, as everybody here is so laid back. So when Sara began reading to me from Caro’s Traveling, I found it to be a welcome respite. Then I began reading Gopnik, and I liked that too. Me like books now, me like words.
