Eileen and Marty are Americans who dreamed of living in France. They bought a 400 year old farmhouse with a charming layout, purchasing it online. I am not that brave.
They begin renovating the old house to their taste, making it the home they always wished for. Oh, it’s full of issues here and there such as a bursting water heater that destroys all their furniture and carpets, electricity issues where it just goes out completely if more than two applicances are plugged in and of course a small language problem.
I’ll hand it to them, they did learn enough French to get by in restaurants and shopping, talking to neighbors and such. I always felt if we became ex-pats we would absolutely need to learn the language of the county.
There is French conversation sprinkled throughout the book and an interactive glossary embedded in the book. If your Kindle isn’t on airplane mode you can click on the French word and see the translations.
The book has many recipes, courtesy of Sara their chef daughter.
Goat Cheese souffle
Mussels with Almonds
Roasted Figs with Goat Cheese, wrapped in Pancetta
Tomato Peach Salad
Duck Burgers and Onion Jam
Besides the hiccups of rennovations and adjusting to a different culture, it seemed enough time was spent explaining how Marty “unwittingly” flirted with the carpet installer, Jaqueline, and how Eileen left him for a few weeks. This was clearly a major event in their lives/marriage. By the way, Jaqueline is described as looking like Marion Cotillard’s younger sexier sister. I had wondered if Marty and Eileen still lived between California and France.
There is yummy food inspiration mentioned in the book, especially the roasted figs. Instead I went with a French chef and recipe from Jacques Pépin. Here is Fettucine with summer vegetables. (previously posted this recipe on my defunct food blog).
