Mark Heers, who entertains us at Travel Wonders, came in close behind Connie with FOUR correct answers.

Now read on, and you can slap yourself on the forehead and say, “I should have known that!”

WHO??
Still sticking with the windows and doors theme — kinda. I was going to tell a little story about each of these places, but instead I decided to torment you. Who do you think lived in each of these places? You could read about all of these people some time in the last 3 years at A Traveler’s Library. (Sorry, I’m fresh out of prizes after that gigantic January Giveaway. It’s all for the glory of competing with other readers.) And just to keep you honest, I’m not letting you see comments with guesses/answers until next Monday.

He lived in exile on an island for a while, too. No, not Napoleon, but you're right that it is in France. A writer who loved Paris, and particularly a cathedral.

When Ken and I spent a week in Paris, we wanted to see all the major sites, of course, but I also had a hankering to visit where some famous writers and artists had lived.  I did not do as many as I had hoped, but was very happy to visit the one-time home of Victor Hugo. The 2nd floor apartment, situated in Place des Voges, which dates back to 1605, is a short distance from the Bastille metro station.  The 19th century living quarters have been restored and turned into a museum. Among the highlights–ornate furniture designed by Hugo himself, a gorgeous Chinese room, and the room where the writer died. (Some of the other rooms are recreations from other homes he lived in.) Read about Victor Hugo.

Yep, that's me in the window, but I"m not the famous person who lived here.

Impressionist Painter Claude Monet derived great satisfaction from his gardens, which he himself planned. And of course his most famous series of paintings, The Water Lilies, was painted right here as he looked at his water lily pond.  The home is in the tiny, picturesque town of Giverney, and nowadays, you can also visit an Impressionist Museum. This place is a photographers dream.  The window I’m peeking out of is Monet’s bedroom. Mara Gorman wrote a guest post here about a children’s book about Monet’s Gardens.

Trick question because although he designed it, he may not have actually ever lived in it. Called a Chateau but looks like a castle to me.

Chateau le Galliard was designed by Richard I of England and Normandy. He earned his nickname of Richard the Lionheart for his ferocious battles during the Crusades.  When we left Giverney, we were heading for Rouen, intending to end the day at Honfleurs, on the coast. But in one of those lovely serendipities that strikes sometimes while traveling, a friend had given us a very old book with a picture of the ruins of Richard the Lionheart’s castle ruins just a bit north of Giverney. The ruins looked very romantic and I had read and written about several books on Richard, so I said, “Let’s just take a look, on our way.” WELL! The ruins are now partially restored so you can see the glorious form of the original castle; the setting is stunning—although it takes a small hike to get to the hilltop location; and we could have spent a whole day there. As it was, we missed Rouen, but were delighted with our out-of-the-way find, and enthusiastically recommend it to travelers.

Same place as the one above. If he DID live there, this would have been the view. A well-known river. The river is the Seine, although you probably think of this Crusader as being English.

Read more about Richard the Lionheart in a book review at A Traveler’s Library.

Architectural hints: Portico and "eyebrow" rescued from older houses in Ohio. Indian god over door indicates his earlier travels and a novel and movie he wrote. I've written about the author/farmer who lived here.

Unless you are a devoted and careful reader of A Traveler’s Library, or attracted to little known fiction of the early 20th century, you probably did not recognize the home of Louis Bromfield, a Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist. I visited his experimental farm, Malabar, in Ohio when I took a press trip to Mansfield. The architecture of the farm house, which he mostly designed himself, blends French (from his years living in France) with preservation of historic Ohio River properties, and a nod to India, where he also lived in an area called Malabar. I wrote a guest post at Attainable Sustainable about Malabar Farm, and a book review here.

If you can identify the flowers, that will help.

I was a bit surprised that more people did not recognize the Texas white house of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Those are Texas’ state flowers, the bluebonnet in the foreground, and of course Lady Bird Johnson was known for her campaign to preserve and plant wildflowers in public places. The house is near Fredericksburg, Texas, which I visited on a press trip. I felt that I understood Johnson a whole lot better after seeing his spread here in Texas hill country overlooking the Pedernales River. Here is a slide show from Lyndon Johnson’s homes.

Most people mispronounce the name of the New England town this house is located in.

Connie was the only reader who named John Adams (his son John Quincy Adams would have counted, too, although this house is before his time) Mark  got the town right–it is Quincy, Massachusetts, near Boston.  The proper pronunciation makes the “c” sound like a “z” rather than hard as in the fruit, quince. John Adams was born here, and he and Abigail lived in a fancier house they built later on the same property.  (which is also open for tours) Adams is one of my favorite figures from American history, so it was a delight to visit his farm in Quincy.  But the biggest delight was the private library built on the property by John Quincy Adams. It gave me a big case of building lust, and made me think I should learn more about book-loving President John Quincy Adams. Here’s a bit about Boston and Adams.

This is my entry in Travel Photo Thursday.  To see photos from around the world, go to Budget Travelers’ Sandbox.  All photos are my property and I request that you not reuse them without express permission.  Thanks.

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Book: White Truffles in Winter (a novel) by N. M. Kelby

This fictionalized biography of the great French chef, Auguste Escoffier– White Truffles in Winter  – is delicious, scandalous, lascivious, luscious…

The writing is lush. The author, N. M. Kelby,  paints the portrait of a man obsessed with luscious food and delicious women.  But not just any food–Escoffier prefers dishes prepared with special ingredients. And not just any women.  He marries and has children with a poet–Delphine Daffis, but they live apart for decades during which he carries on a love affair with actress Sarah Bernhardt. He sees her when she is not busy bedding various heads of state and other prominent citizens.  At the end, Auguste and Delphine come back together in Monte Carlo and that is where the book starts, as it tells the story of his life in flashbacks and contemplates his life. Underneath the romance and the food, White Truffles in Winter  explores living well,  aging, memory, and how to adequately show love.

Modern Monte Carlo

Auguste Escoffier himself narrates most of the novel and after hearing him enthuse about the poetry and sacredness of food, we begin to believe wholeheartedly in the power and the glory of a properly prepared meal. Today we credit Escoffier with inventing modern restaurant kitchen methods (dividing the work among specialized stations) and serving styles (as menus à la carte).

He wooed women with his cooking, he wrote cookbooks, and when he needed some luxurious extras, he ordered them on the hotel account and cooked the books. The details of this novel, set in Paris, London and Monte Carlo are not literally correct, but it reflects the basic outline of Escoffier’s life. As the author says, “The elegant savage found in these pages is who we all are when we address the plate.  The magician, the priest, the dreamer, the artist–it is our most hungry self.”

The “King of chefs and chef to kings”  moved from a Paris restaurant to the  Savoy in London and with his friend César Ritz, started the Carlton in London and Ritz Hotel in Paris, thus beginning the Ritz-Carlton tradition. Escoffier also headed the kitchen preparations for the Titanic and drew up the menus, but fortunately for him, let his crew sail without him.

Hotel Ritz, Paris, today

The delight of this novel lies in the dialogue and actions that are consistently believable no matter how remote the life of Mme. and M. Escoffier may be from our own reality.  Occasionally he touches down to earth–with memories of the horrible days of starvation during World War I, which the author intimates were the basis for his obsessions with food.  And with the recipe for Fried Chicken.  Don’t get me wrong, White Truffles is not a cookbook.  However Kelby describes many of Escoffier’s creations in such detail that you could recreate them in your kitchen (if only you had a few truffles on hand).

Auguste explains that fried chicken blends Scottish and African traditions. He learned to make it from Rufus Estes, a famous American black chef of the day who worked for Sarah Bernhardt .  Sarah calls Auguste’s  version, “Magic.” How different in spirit is his version from Paula Deen (who has her own problems these days.)( NOTE: I belatedly discovered that Kelby herself has something to say on the subject of Deen at her blog” At Escoffier’s Table)

Back to the fried chicken, Escoffier says:

Cut some boiled fowl into slices and marinate them in very good olive oil, the juice of a lemon and a handful of herbs fresh from the garden.  I enjoy tarragon, for a hint of licorice; lemon thyme, to bring forward the citrus note; and the slightest bit of lavender.  The fowl should marinate for at least three hours.  Flour. Fry. Garnish with fried parsley.

The cooking advice is not always so straightforward.  In explaining another poultry dish, Escoffier says, “…find a good-sized pullet.  You must be very careful with the size of the fatted chicen…You will know it when you see it.  Your heart will leap.”  This “good-sized pullet” is for a dish that “will require the maître d’hôtel, three waiters (at the very least) and a portable stovetop.”

The author has absorbed and reflects Escoffier’s fascination with everything about food.  ”Food is never as simple as one thinks it is.  It is much more dangerous–seducing completely,” he says. In the  novel’s description of settings–in this bygone era that only the super rich might come close to experiencing in the 21st century–the words are also electric.  When Escoffier goes to Belle Île to meet Sarah Bernhardt (ah, yes, the same wonderful island visited in  P.O. Box Love ) :

“…he could see what a painter en plein aire would see, what Monet had seen as he desperately held his canvas so that the insistent wind would not hurl his easel into the sea–the blue with shutters of green, all set in sharp relief against the bones of jagged steep cliffs, the gray-green sea and the coal smoke sky.  The colors were so intense he nearly wept.”

The publishers, W. W. Norton and Company, have equaled the lushness of N. M. Kelby’s writing with fine scrolling graphics at chapter heads, a sensuous cover picture and a jacket cover that feels as soft and smooth as skin.

One last food reference from White Truffles in Winter. As he feeds a “perfect scallop” to Delphine early in their marriage:

“Close your eyes,” he had said to her. “food demands complete submission.” “Do you taste the sea?”

Delphine did. Not just the salt of the sea but the very air of the moment that the shell was pulled from the sand. “A storm, perhaps. There is a dark edge to the sweetness of the meat.  What do you taste?”

“The hand of God”

Reading Escoffier:

Ma Cuisine A cookbook for people who already know how to cook, despite being titled for the housewife. No cooking temperatures and times, for example.

Auguste Escoffier: Memories of My Life This is his version of his life and it is the book he is writing during the novel, White Truffles in Winter.

Disclaimers: Links from book titles to Amazon are for your convenience, but they are affiliate links, which means that anything you buy while you are there earns a bit for A Traveler’s Library. Please do help us out that way! Thanks.  The photos here come from Flickr with Creative Commons license and you can learn more by clicking on each photo.

And what are your own feelings about food? Have you had experiences where food transported you–where it became much more than simple fuel for the body?

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Destinations: Milan, New York City and Brittany in France

Book: P.O. Box Love: A Novel of Letters (originally 2009, but NEW in English– February 2012) by Paola Calvetti

I reviewed this delicious new romance in e-book format, and as I read P.O. Box Love, I used the bookmark function on my Sony reader to mark favorite passages (there were so many!) and to make a list of people for whom I want to buy the book (there were so many!) If you get the impression that I am recommending this gem to lovers of travel and lovers of literature, you have guessed correctly

The Belle Ile Love Nest

If you have ever been tempted to look up an old girlfriend or boyfriend, you will sympathize with Frederico. If you have doubts about revealing yourself to someone from your past, you’ll understand Emma. Did you ever have the urge to open a bookstore? You’ll love Dreams & Desires, Emma’s bookstore in Milan that specializes in romance. Paola Calvetti, the Italian author, agreed to answer some questions for readers of A Traveler’s Library, and in my first question, I get at one of the reasons this book stands apart. P.O. Box Love blows apart the assumption that romance ends at 35 or so.

A Traveler’s Library:  How did the protagonists’ age change your task as a romance writer? 

Menhir Jean, Belle Ile, Brittany

PC: The way I found Belle Île was really strange and… tied to the destiny of the book. I was in Concarneau; it was a cloudy afternoon and I was visiting its historical monuments, having a cup of tea and wandering in the alleyways. I happened to enter an ancient bookstore run by an old bookseller selling second-hand books. I asked him “do you have any books about Breton legends or rather a love legend?” “Of course”, he answered, the great story of Jean and Jeanne!”

There are literary quotations in abundance throughout P.O. Box Love. Emma ironically quotes Virginia Woolf,” how very little natural gift words have for being useful.” A sign on the wall of the store says “The only advice you can give someone about reading is not to accept any advice…” But we asked advice anyhow– for books that inspire travel.   Paola echoed the beliefs of A Traveler’s Library.

Indeed the book is a love poem to the United States, particularly since Frederico is an Italian temporarily living in New York City during September 2001 and the book deals with the shock and horror of 9-11-01. Frederico (and the author) love the Morgan Library in New York and we are treated to the history of Morgan and the architectural challenges of adapting an historic building.

A love story told in letters sounds as though it would be a simple affair, but P.O. Box Love is enriched with  literature,  architecture, the beauty of three countries, the interplay of interesting characters, including a mother and her teenage son, and the invasion of the Internet into previously hidebound practices of publishing. All these factors contribute to a winner of a book. I welcomed Frederico and Emma into my life and was sorry to say goodbye.

Follow Paola on Facebook.

Disclaimer: Links to the book on Amazon are affiliate links, meaning that anything you buy when you use the link will help support A Traveler’s Library, and we thank you very much.  The photographs here are all the property of Paola Calvetti and should not be reused without express permission.

Today’s prize, the LAST January birthday present, a copy of P.O. Box Love, goes to one person who comments, subscribes, tweets (using @pen4hire) or mentions Vera Marie Badertscher on Google+ (You can comment on this post or on an earlier post. Just do it before Wednesday, February 1, 3:00 a.m. MST. This is your last chance, also, to enter for the Grand Prize drawing.  

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NOTE: The Arizona State Alumni magazine wrote about Kristin Espinasse in December 2011.  You can read it here.

Destination: France

Book: Blossoming in Provence by Kristin Espinasse

You might think at first glance that a beautiful blond from Arizona who goes to Paris to study and winds up marrying an impossibly handsome Frenchman who starts a successful vineyard where they live in Provence and have two children….you might think that is pretty much a fairy tale life.

Well, yeah, but fortunately for all us dreamers, Kristin Espinasse spills all the difficulties of marrying France along with her tempting photographs of the life of Provence. Before you start hating her for her life, and because she is an accomplished writer and photographer, please read what she has written. In Blossoming in Provence, her sequel to Words in a French Life, we learn, for instance, that the impossibly handsome Frenchman doesn’t just pack light on a weekend trip, he packs in a trash bag and leaves his toothbrush at home because he can always use hers. (Now those are two tips I’ve never seen the numerous travel blog posts on packing light.)

A riot of daiseys, Giverney

And then there are the children, who have grown up in full public view as Kristin has blogged about their life for the past seven years. From correcting her French vocabulary when they were in grade school (rolled yeux. “Oh Maman!”) or they spill a mint drink all over the floor she has just cleaned for guests, and as they enter their teens, we regular readers of the French Word a Day blog begin to worry that they will soon leave home and blog.

But lest you think all she talks about are the annoyances of expat life, I must hasten to say that Kristin turns every one of her vary personal experiences into a lovely and positive  life lesson.  Not only that, but each one is a French lesson as well! As she is making sense of her life in France, we are meeting irrisistable characters like her mother (who now lives in Mexico), Jean-Marc’s family–who, trust me, are NOTHING like the French family in Le Mariage. And that is why I am breaking with the January tradition and not giving away the book I’m reviewing today. I CANNOT part with it.

Restaurant sign in Brittany

If you, as I did, once studied French, but got away from it and want to brush up a bit, freshen your vocabulary with today’s slang–you’ve come to the right place.  Blossoming in Province presents selections from the French Word a Day blog. Each includes some French expressions within the little story and a list at the end. (On the blog you can also get pronunciation help from one of her native French speaking family). So loyal are Kristin’s followers that they comment vigourously, suggesting corrections or alternatives to the words and expressions she presents. AND the blog readers helped her select and edit the entries for this book.  Which may explain why this little book strikes me as so much more worthwhile than many made-from-blog books.

Just one teeny suggestion. I would like to have a complete vocabulary list at the end of the book, as well as the list at the end of each chapter. And maybe next time (there has to be a next time) we could have a brief vocabulary of generally useful phrases to go with the specialized ones in the stories?

You don’t have to know French, or even want to learn it to enjoy this book and its mother blog, though. Want to enjoy beautiful photography of France that will have you  booking a flight? Love dogs? She rarely posts without mentioning her two beautiful goldens. Are you a writer or wanna-be writer? She shares her learning process as she becomes a writer. Or do you just like a little inspiration for finding the good things in your life and fully enjoying it?  Travel Library or not, you will thoroughly enjoy Blossoming in Province, its predecessor Words In a French Life and Kristin Espinasse’s blog, French-Word-a-Day.

Disclaimers: Kristin sent me a review copy of her latest book, but I had already bought the first book and am a subscriber to the blog, so obviously one review copy will not sway my opinion. Photos are my own, although they are not in Provence, they are in France. I excuse that fault since I have not been to Provence, and since Kristin does also used photos from other parts of the country. Links to book titles take you to Amazon, where by some sort of miracle although you spend no more, I earn a few pennies from each purchase. Thanks!

So although I’m holding back Blossoming in Province, I have to offer you SOMETHING, don’t I?  Strictly your choice if you wish to accept it.  Another terrific book for travelers is The Portuguese, A Modern History, reviewed here. If you would like to have this review copy, let me know in the comments below, or in a tweet or on Google+ or all three. Keep in mind that people who have subscribed to the blog, and told me that in a comment are winning lots of things, because they get an automatic entry every day. But you have to TELL me!

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Wednesday Matinee

Destinations: France, England, Hawaii

Movies: The Descendants, Hugo, and War Horses

Reviews by Jane Boursaw

If there’s one thing we can count on around the holidays, it’s lots of great movies with fabulous locations. Let’s take a look at a few movies that had me going, “Wow, I have to include this in my Wednesday Matinee column at A Traveler’s Library!”

Hugo, the Movie

Hugo (Directed by Martin Scorsese; 126 min.; rated PG for mild thematic material, some action/peril and smoking; 5 out of 5 Reels). Only the master of film himself, Martin Scorsese, could make a family movie that involves the history of filmmaking. The reason it works as a family movie is because Scorsese slyly blends the history of filmmaking with a very human story about loss, hope and new beginnings.

And yes, the best movies start with a great story, so it helps that this one is based on Brian Selznick’s Caldecott-winning novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. It tells the story of Hugo (Asa Butterfield), a 12-year-old orphan living within the walls of a Paris train station in the 1930s. He’s a good boy who’s trying to make the best of things after losing his dad (Jude Law) in a tragic fire and being sent to live with his drunken Uncle Claude (Ray Winstone) who keeps the clocks running at the station.

After his uncle abandons him, Hugo continues caring for the clocks and survives by swiping scones from vendor carts and dodging the stern Station Inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen) who stomps around with his leg brace and scary Doberman. But Hugo’s real passion is his beloved automaton, and he steals parts to fix the mechanical man his dad rescued from museum archives before his death.

Hugo is not only a beautiful story about a time in France’s post-war history when movies were melted down to make shoe heels, but the attention to 1930s-era detail is magnificent. There’s the fairy tale train station that bustles with activity. The complex inner workings of the massive clocks. Bakery carts filled with warm scones and buns. Wooden armoires with ornate carvings. Wise librarians who love books. And women in knitted berets selling flowers. The whole movie has a Dickensian feel to it.

Where You’ll Want to Travel:

• La Sorbonne, Paris 5, Paris, France
• Peterborough Train Station, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England
• Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, London, England

2. War Horse (Directed by Steven Spielberg; 146 min.; rated PG-13 for intense sequences of war violence; 4 out of 5 Reels). If you’ve seen enough Steven Spielberg movies, you can almost spot one at a glance. Lush production with authentic locations, attention to the smallest detail, gorgeous cinematography by longtime collaborator Janusz Kaminski, epic score by John Williams, well-cast actors and believable dialogue. War Horse has all that and more, set against the backdrop of World War I in rural England.

Based on a 1982 children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo and a 2007 stage adaptation, the story begins with English teenager Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine) watching the birth of a beautiful colt near his rural farm. Despite his best efforts to get the colt to warm up to him, it doesn’t happen, and the young horse is sent off to auction.

Cut to the auction site, and Albert’s father Ted (Peter Mullan) gets caught up in a bidding war against his curmudgeonly landlord Mr. Lyons (David Thewlis). Even though what Ted really needs is a sturdy plow horse, he ends up using the family’s rent money to outbid Lyons on the young Thoroughbred, much to the chagrin of his long-suffering wife Rose (Emily Watson).

But Albert is thrilled and agrees to train “Joey” to pull a farm plow so the family can plant turnips and pay the rent after the fall harvest. But when a rainstorm damages the crop, Ted is forced to do the unthinkable – go behind Albert’s back and sell Joey to a cavalry officer, Captain Nicholls (Tom Hiddleston), who promises to look after the horse and, if possible, return him to Albert’s care after the war.

But Joey’s journey takes some unexpected turns, as we follow him through a misguided battle, on the run with two young German soldiers, in the care of a French farm girl, pulling heavy artillery up a hill for the German army, and smack in the middle of a battlefield in 1918, where a small moment in the midst of war gives hope that perhaps two opposing armies can work together.

Spielberg doesn’t gloss over the horrors of war. We see muddy battlefields strewn with dead humans and horses, a German gas attack that takes soldiers by surprise, and horses that are shot after they collapse from exhaustion. It’s hard to watch, and I don’t recommend it for kids younger than 14 or anyone who gets squeamish about war scenes and brutality against animals.

I love how the story follows Joey’s journey through several people, but circles back around to Albert, who enlists in the army as soon as he’s old enough, with the hope that he’ll find his beloved horse again. Both Joey and Albert are noble, brave and don’t shirk from their duties and responsibilities.

Where You’ll Want to Travel:

• Bourne Woods, Farnham, Surrey, England
• Castle Combe, Wiltshire, England
• Dartmoor, Devon, England
• Devon, England
• Luton Hoo Estate, Luton, Bedfordshire, England
• Meavy, Devon, England
• Wisley Airfield, Wisley, Surrey, England

3. The Descendants(Directed by Alexander Payne; 115 min.; rated R for language, including some sexual references; 5 out of 5 Reels). On screen or off, George Clooney always has that trademark suave air about him. He’s a debonair ringleader who organizes big casino heists (Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen),  a smooth talker who flies around the country firing people (Up in the Air), an escaped convict searching for hidden treasure (O Brother, Where Art Thou?). Never a hair out of place, especially in that last movie. Remember his penchant for Dapper Dan hair cream?

Scene from The Descendants

But The Descendants offers a different view of Mr. Clooney — a vulnerable father of two who’s piecing life back together while his wife lies comatose in a hospital bed following a boating accident. Clooney’s character, Matt King, has always been “the back-up parent,” the one who’s never around long enough to know what kind of ice cream his youngest daughter Scottie (Amara Miller) likes, or what his teenager Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) does while away at boarding school.

And it’s just the sort of role that will turn Clooney into a true movie star, not just another pretty face among the Brad Pitts and Matt Damons of Hollywood, not just the guy who always takes the big, high-profile roles. Or maybe The Descendants IS Clooney’s high-profile role in its regular-guy simplicity.

You can tell he’s sort of been heading that way in the past few years, reaching out for different types of roles. In The American, he played a cold-hearted killer (did anyone like him in that role? I didn’t). And in The Ides of March, Governor Mike Morris may have been eloquent on the surface, but he was swimming an ocean of dirty politics.

But I’m not sure how much of an argument I can make here, considering that Clooney’s movie career started out with gigs on The Facts of Life, Baby Talk and Roseanne. I guess he’s been a renaissance man from the start, willing to try anything to further his craft.

The Descendants is a superb movie. As a bonus, we get to see the lush Hawaiian islands of O’ahu and Kaua’i, where it was filmed (there’s a subplot about Clooney’s family selling off a huge piece of prime real estate). And if you’re worried about bawling your eyes out, I can tell you that I usually find something to cry about in every movie, but this one didn’t strike me that way. Part of it’s because we never really get to know Matt’s wife, played by Patricia Hastie, who spends most of the movie in a coma.

The Descendants also has enough humor to keep it from getting too maudlin. Shailene Woodley is wonderful as Matt’s older daughter. Finally, she gets a chance to shine beyond her one-note character on The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Amara Miller is just as wonderful as Matt’s younger daughter. They seem like a real family you’d know from the neighborhood.

And special mention must be made of Nick Krause, who plays Alexandra’s friend Sid. He turned what could have been a clichéd teenage-slacker role into something much more meaningful. There are no stereotypes in The Descendants. Everyone seems like a real person, doing the best they can with the circumstances they’re given.

Where You’ll Want to Travel:

• Honolulu, O’ahu, Hawaii
• Kaua’i, Hawaii

Jane Boursaw is a family entertainment writer specializing in movies and TV. Visit her at ReelLifeWithJane or email jboursaw@charter.net.

Today’s prize to one person who comments, subscribes, tweets or mentions us on Google+ is a copy of Casablanca, 85th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition. Tons of bonus features, including Exclusive Passport Holder and Luggage Tag; 48-Page Photo Book; 10 One-Sheet Reproduction Cards; and Archival Correspondence.  Is that an incredible prize, or what?? (You can comment on this post or on an earlier post. Just do it before Thursday, January 12, 3:00 a.m. MST. If you already subscribe by e-mail and want an extra entry as a subscriber, be sure to tell me that in the comments. See complete rules here.) 

Thank you Jane for introducing these three movies and for offering the DVD set of Casablanca for one VERY lucky reader of A Traveler’s Library.

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Culture Travel Tuesday

by Dr. Jessie Voigts

Destination: France

Books: Several about food–read on.

Dessert Plate at Mariage Freres tea room, Paris

France. What’s the first thing you think of? If you’re anything like me, it’s all about the food. I dream of luscious cheeses, mouthwatering chocolates, special meals, and of course ANYTHING I can get at a boulangerie. Blame it on Molly Wizenberg, Alexander Lobrano, Patricia Wells, and David Lebovitz. Whenever I read books on food and France, the Proustian moment pops up (as expected).

To start this new year off well, I’d like to share my very favorite books on Food and France. Soon, I imagine that you, too, will be trying recipes, reading deep into the cold dark winter nights, and dreaming of walking through the door of your favorite chocolatier or boulangerie, tossing off your order in flawless French.

Long Ago In France: The Years in Dijon, by MFK Fisher
This started it, for me…that life-long love of France and French food. This book is both is a memoir of three years in Dijon as a postgrad student and an ode to exploring, learning, and loving food, by America’s foremost literary food writer. While still on chapter one, I ran to the store and bought a huge jar of Dijon mustard. I put it in vinaigrettes, main dishes, on sandwiches – and also, just opened it and smelled FRANCE. I still remember her descriptions of how the smell of Dijon mustard wafted through the town, and wanted it for myself. This book is, yes, still on my nightstand.

Eat Smart in France: How to decipher the menu, know the market foods, and embark on a tasting adventure, by Ronnie Heiss.
Eat Smart in France is filled with recipes (!), gorgeous photos, the history of French cuisine, tips for shopping, resources for finding ingredients, helpful phrases, a menu guide, food and flavor guide, and a reference guide to the food establishments. Want to know more? You can read our interview with author Ronnie Hess – an award-winning journalist who has lived and worked in France .

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, vols. 1 & 2, by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck
Need I say more? This is THE classic — cookbooks that have inspired movies, books, blogs, and more meals than we can count. It changed the way that Americans cooked, and thought about global cuisines. I haven’t worked my way through them one recipe at a time, but have chosen the dishes I love most to prepare. If you buy one cookbook set, let it be this.

The Sweet Life in Paris, by David Lebovitz
After I read the review here on A Traveler’s Library, I had to get this book for myself (thank you, ATL!). I was not disappointed – great recipes, marvelous stories of living in France, and pure joy at reading the life of an expat foodie in Paris. Finding spices can be difficult, depending on what you’re looking for. Finding great food? Not so difficult. A glimpse into life in a tiny apartment in Paris? Both cautionary and inspiring. A great, great read. Extra Bonus: LOTS Of chocolate references and recipes.

A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table, by Molly Wizenberg
Not a book about food and France, per se. But the chapters that talk about food and France both inspire and get you in the kitchen. Author Wizenberg (if you haven’t been to her popular blog, Orangette yet, go there first) shares stories and recipes, including of her time in France. I love this kind of book, where you read a bit, and then delve into a recipe. Yes, I’ve made her father’s potato salad, and the dark chocolate ginger banana bread, and, well, almost all of the recipes in the book. Definitely worth a read, for more than the France sections. Want to know the backstory? We talked with Molly at Wandering Educators.

Hungry for Paris: The Ultimate Guide to the City’s 102 Best Restaurants, by Alexander Lobrano
Renowned food writer Lobrano seems to be all over the place – on tv, in the New York Times, Saveur, and a whole host of food magazines. He’s based in Paris. Need I say more? He’s your inside guide to eating well in Paris. Hungry for Paris also addresses cultural aspects of French Cuisine – including manners, mores, history, reservations, and more. Each restaurant Alec recommends is a gem – I almost had to stop reading after each entry, to think about what I’d order, and to visualize its location, chef, and menu for myself. Whether you have a large or small meal budget in Paris, a taste for classical French food or leaning toward ethnic or bistro fare, this book covers it. One key aspect of this book is that it teaches the reader about food in France in “The Happy Eater’s Almanac: How To Have a Perfect Meal in Paris.” Definitely a must-read, and a necessity for your next trip to Paris.

The Table Comes First: Family, France, and the Meaning of Food, by Adam Gopnik
I’ll read just about anything by Adam Gopnik (love his articles in the New Yorker). He spent years in Paris, and is a true foodie. The essays in this book cover a variety of topics (to eat meat or not; how the modern restaurant started; contemporary French cuisine; history; culture), but it is his paean to food and family, of eating together, of the pleasures of the table (wherever that table may be) that has drawn me in.

And a kids book (because it is never too young to start either cooking or traveling)…

Crepes by Suzette, by Monica Wellington
Monica Wellington is a beloved children’s book author and illustrator. Yes, we’ve read all of her books. But this one, it is something special. Crepes by Suzette follows a crepe maker throughout her day, moving around Paris and making crepes for her customers. You’ll see your favorite Paris landmarks, of course. Wellington is truly creative, though, and works in pictorial references to great works of art. It’s fun, simple to read, teaches about a place and art, and also inspires young chefs. The crepe recipe in the book is a classic – and is the first recipe that our daughter (then 3) ever made. She’s gone on to master many other recipes (and been featured in a cookbook), but this is her very favorite.

Thanks, Jessie. For anyone who is worried about eating cheaply in Paris, check out my e-book, Ten Places to Eat Cheap(er) in Paris. 

Today’s prize to one person who comments, subscribes, tweets or mentions us on Google+ is a copy of Parisian Postcards, (not reviewed) a collection of travel essays and travel tips written by Dr. Loui Franke, an American who worked and lived in France. (You can comment on this post or on an earlier post. Just do it before Wednesday, January 11, 3:00 a.m. MST. If you already subscribe by e-mail and want an extra entry as a subscriber, be sure to tell me that in the comments. See complete rules here.) 

Disclaimer: Parisian Postcards was supplied by the author. Book cover links that take you to Amazon enable you to shop and although you spend no more, A Traveler’s Library earns a few cents with everything you buy.The photo at the top is Ken’s property. Please do not copy without express permission. Thank you.

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Mona Lisa paparazzi

When we were at the Louvre, I almost skipped going to the room with the Mona Lisa. I had read about how small the painting is and god knows we have seen reproductions aplenty.  But at the last minute, I dashed up the stairs and into the room, while Ken waited outside.  I’m so glad I did.  I laughed out loud at the desperate snapping of digital cameras and cell phones.  Now I know the meaning of that smile–she’s amused by the paparazzi.

Since this picture shows only about 1/4 of the crowd, here’s a wider shot.

Mona Lisa crowd

These photos are the property of Vera Marie Badertscher, all rights reserved.

These photos are my entry into the weekly Travel Photo Thursday sponsored by Budget Traveler’s Sandbox.  Visit that site to see many more travel photos from around the world.

Have you had travel experiences where the crowd reactions were more interesting than the object or site you went to see? Tell us about it.

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Making Chocolate Candy, The Squirrel's Den, Mansfield, Ohio

Stitching replica of Bayeux Tapestry, at Bayeux Broderie, Bayeux, France

Wood carving on Carousel Animal at Horsin' Around Carving School in Chatanooga Tennesee

LaDonna Secrist, The Squirrel's Den, Mansfield, Ohio

Bayeux needlework artist, Chantal James

Chattanooga wood carver

This post is part of Travel Photo Thursday. You can go the Budget Travelers Sandbox (the sponsor of Travel Photo Thursday) to see a variety of travel writers post a varitey of favorite travel pictures. Jump over there and see what you like.

When you travel, do you seek out local craftspeople?

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Destination: Corsica

Movie: Queen to Play

by Jane Boursaw

I knew right away I’d like Queen to Play, a French film set on the gorgeous island of Corsica. You geography buffs will know immediately where that is, but I had to look it up. Corsica is a mountainous piece of land in the Mediterranean Sea, located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia. There’s a natural park on Corsica which includes the Scandola Nature Reserve, home to two endangered species, the mouflon and the Corsican red deer.

But you won’t see those animals in Queen to Play, because the film’s focal point is a chess board. Adapted from the novel The Chess Player by Bertina Henrichs and written and directed by Caroline Bottaro, the story revolves around working-class chambermaid Helene (Sandrine Bonnaire, whose union with William Hurt produced a daughter, born in 1994). Helene spends her days cleaning rooms at an upscale resort frequented by tourists.

One day while cleaning a room at the resort, Helene glimpses an American couple (Jennifer Beals and Dominic Gould) playing chess on their balcony. Something is clearly missing in Helene’s marriage to construction worker Ange (Francis Renaud), because she finds herself drawn to the couple’s romantic interplay as they play the game. You wouldn’t think of chess as a sexy game, but this couple makes it seem that way. What’s more, they’re having fun, which I’m guessing is sorely lacking in Helene’s life

Curmudgeonly Kevin Kline as chess teacher

So she not only sets about learning how to play chess, but she becomes completely obsessed with it. When she sees a chess game collecting dust at a home she cleans for extra cash, she begs the owner, Dr. Kroger (played by curmudgeonly Kevin Kline) to teach her how to play. She’s so desperate to learn that she even offers to clean his home for free in exchange for chess lessons. That struck me as monumental, because it’s clear that Helene and her husband are just barely hanging on financially.

The tournament

You can see where this is headed. There’s bound to be a BIG IMPORTANT TOURNAMENT at the end of the movie, and sure enough, there is. Along the way, though, Helene has to try to bring her family – including her surly teenage daughter — onboard her new obsession. She somehow manages to do just that and find a new zest for life in the process.

Helene rides her bicycle across Corsica

Queen to Play is a soulful, quiet and beautiful film, shot on location in Corsica, France. Helene rides her bicycle everywhere, so we get some nice scenes of her peddling across stunning landscapes with mountains and the Mediterranean Sea in the background, as well as streets and buildings that have clearly been around for generations.

Queen to Play is available on Amazon.com. It’s not rated, though I think it’s ok for ages 13 and older. Note that most of the dialogue is in French with English subtitles. If you don’t ordinarily like subtitled films, give this one a try. You might find that it opens you up to a whole new world of foreign films, which are often more thoughtful and sophisticated than the commercial films made in the U.S.

Jane Boursaw is a family entertainment writer specializing in movies and TV. Visit her at Reel Life With Jane or email jboursaw@charter.net. Jane is an Amazon affiliate so if you use the links in this post to go to Amazon to buy something, Jane will earn a few cents to keep Reel Life With Jane in business. Thanks! 

Photos are by Patrick Glaize, published with permission from Zeitgeist Films.

Note from VMB: Just in case Jane’s description and photos from the movie do not inspire you, take a look at Camels and Chocolate‘s photo essay on Corsica and Sophie’s World on the same.

I don’t mind captioned films at all,(really dislike dubbed language where the lips and words don’t match!) but Ken is a reluctant viewer.  Do you shy away from seeing a film with English subtitles? 

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Honfleur Harbor, Normandy, France

Unfortunately, we only had one night in Honfleur, the lovely little Norman seaside town that attracts summer vacationers by the droves. It was no longer summer when we arrived, and the chilly wind sent us scurrying off the street and bending over a huge black pot of moules for dinner at a seaside restaurant. The next morning, the wind calmed and the sun blazed as we took an hour quickly exploring the fascinating, ancient downtown clustered around this picturesque harbor. It is easy to see how the Impressionists came up with the idea of painting with dots of light when you watch the sun sparkle on the water. And the Impressionists flocked here during their heydey. Just one more reason to visit Honfleur.

I missed posting a photo last week, because we were launching the introductions and first offerings of our new team of experts. If you missed it,  take your pick of an expert on music travel, cultural travel, movie travel, pet travel or family travel.

And, alas, no one came up with the definitive answer on the what- is-this photo of two weeks ago, although there were some pretty good guesses.  Please pass this on to anyone who might know. I’m SO curious.

This photo is part of Travel Photo Thursday, and you can see more travel photos by going to Budget Travelers’ Sandbox and checking the list of participants at the bottom of her post. Photo is the property of Vera Marie Badertscher. Please do not reproduce without permission.

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