France Books - Page 6

Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy

Frances Mayes

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 131 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Frances Mayes, whose enchanting #1 New York Times bestseller Under the Tuscan Sun made the world fall in love with Tuscany, invites us back for a delightful new season of friendship, festivity, and food, there and throughout Italy.

A companion volume to Under the Tuscan Sun, Bella Tuscany is Frances Mayes's passionate and lyrical account of her continuing love affair with Italy. Now truly at home there, Mayes writes of her deepening connection to the land, her flourishing friendships with local people, the joys of art, food, and wine, and the rewards and occasional heartbreaks of her villa's ongoing restoration. It is also a memoir of a season of change, and of renewed possibility. As spring becomes summer she revives her lush gardens, meets the challenges of learning a new language, tours regions from Sicily to the Veneto, and faces transitions in her family life. Filled with recipes from her Tuscan kitchen and written in the sensuous and evocative prose that has become her hallmark, Bella Tuscany is a celebration of the sweet life in Italy.

Henri Cartier-Bresson: A Propos de Paris

Henri Cartier-Bresson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Amazing! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

As my favourite photographer, Cartier-Bresson has some kind of impayable discernment. His gallery of Paris is his magnum opus. His Leica, his 50mm lens, his mysterious face... all made him a monumental legend. I bought this gallery (hardcover) in 1995 for the price of $US 50 in Hong Kong. What are you waiting for? Just click it and buy it immediately, you will never regret buying this book.

My Favorite HCB Book 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I have many of Cartier-Bresson's books, but this is the one I find myself drawn to.

Time and again I thumb its pages and find something in the photographs that I never before noticed.

This isn't some book full of "pretty" pictures in the conventional sense. One has to look at each picture to understand what inspired HCB to capture it.

I have a few favorites photos from this book, but those that stand out in my mind are of the picnic by the Marne and of the little boy carrying two large bottles of wine.

The Marne photo is so well layed out that, if one didn't know better, it would seem staged. That simply wasn't Cartier-Bresson's way. Although their faces are not seen, I "know" what each of the people look like.

The opposite is true of the little boy. His face is there for all to see and interpret. What is he thinking? Is he happy? Is he proud to be showing off for the little girls in the background?

Many of HCB's photos force us to read his mind and the minds of his subjects. These seemingly impromptu snapshots not only depict what HCB saw, but also depict it geometrically.

To someone like myself who has dabbled in "street photography", HCB epitomizes the genre.

Editorial Review:

"Photography is nothing, it's life that interests me".--Henri Cartier-Bresson. A PROPOS DE PARIS presents the renowned photographer's personal selection of more than 130 of his best photographs of Paris taken over 50 years. This is a unique gallery of urban landscapes rendered by a great sensibility. 131 illustrations.

New French Country: A Style and Source Book

Linda Dannenberg

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Before Pierre Deux?s French Country enchanted the world with the warmth and exuberant spirit of Provencal design, the charms of French Country style had remained hidden behind the closed doors of the farmhouses, chateaux and auberges that dot the countryside of France. This seminal book revealed a unique aesthetic that has evolved over hundreds of years to arrive at a look that is perfectly adapted to its time and place. Now, Linda Dannenberg, co-author of French Country, returns to Provence to capture not only the best of the old traditions but also to present the latest design developments and trends in le style provencal. New French Country takes you on privileged tours that include a lavish apartment in Avignon, a lushly landscaped estate in the Luberon and an antique ochre mill in Rousillon, treating you to a fascinating narrative about local customs and handicrafts. In addition to chapters on the colours, fabrics, furniture, pottery, architectural elements and gardens of Provence, New French Country includes an extensive directory to the best the region has to offer, and an overview of its most charming shops and most accomplished artisans.

Encore Provence: New Adventures in the South of France

Peter Mayle

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 77 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

PROVENCE, ONCE AGAIN 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Peter Mayle effectivately takes us once again to beautiful Provence through his second book. His writing is witty yet very unassuming and laid back. He gives the reader vivid and often funny accounts of the land and its people. He has an uncanny ability to observe the smallest details in the Provencal locals that he meets and to express it in a very entertaining way through his books.

Editorial Review:

In his most delightful foray into the wonders of Provençal life, Peter Mayle returns to France and puts behind him cholesterol worries, shopping by phone, California wines, and other concerns that plagued him after too much time away.

In Encore Provence, Mayle gives us a glimpse into the secrets of the truffle trade, a parfumerie lesson on the delicacies of scent, an exploration of the genetic effects of 2,000 years of foie gras, and a small-town murder mystery that reads like the best fiction. Here, too, are Mayle's latest tips on where to find the best honey, cheese, or chambre d'hìte the region has to offer. Lyric, insightful, sparkling with detail, Encore Provence brings us a land where the smell of thyme in the fields or the glory of a leisurely lunch is no less than inspiring.

Adventures on the Wine Route: A Wine Buyer's Tour of France

Kermit Lynch

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Interesting, But No Longer Timely 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book was written in 1988, and therein lies a problem. In general, the book is a charming personal memory of a wine merchant's buying trip in France. It shines most when the book discusses the people who grow wine, or at least in 1988, grew wine. At that time, the wine industry was undergoing basic changes, in the way vines were grown, tended, stored, bottled and shipped. Perhaps a person with extensive knowledge of wine would find the book an interesting snapshot of wine growing/making, but people with less knowledge of wine will not know how, or if, change continued. One of the reasons I bought the book was to provide a non-textbook source of information about wine for a friend who knows little about wine. This book assumes too much of its reader to be useful as a basic instructional tool for such a person.

Editorial Review:

Kermit Lynch’s recounting of his experiences on the wine route and in the wine cellars of France takes the reader through the Loire, Bordeaux, the Languedoc, Provence, Northern and Southern Rhone, and the Cote d’Or.

Europe Beyond Your Means: The Paris Edition

Conrad G. Lucas II, William D. Norgard

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Editorial Review:

Europe Beyond Your Means is a hilarious and satirical travel guide focused on understanding Parisian culture and enhancing the overall experience of visiting one of the world's most celebrated cities. Complete with travel suggestions, witty observations and relevant narratives of a nature that you won't find in typical travel literature, this book is guaranteed to augment any visit to Paris. By pointing out the endearing quirks of the French and the throngs of tourists who visit each year, Europe Beyond Your Means takes readers through the essential vacation steps of packing, arrival, necessary activities, cultural realizations and the difficult acceptance of having to eventually return home. This book is written for those who seek the most out of travel by trying to grasp the local culture and do not always feel accounted for by guides propagating the widely popular "ten-dollar-a-day" approach. In short, Europe Beyond Your Means is a must have companion piece for any erudite traveler to Paris who wants to laugh a little along the way.

Paris 2009 Calendar

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Ah Paris city of my dreams! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This Paris 2009 Calendar is such a good visual trip through the streets of Paris. The photographs are so crystal clear and pretty you feel like you're actually there. Lovely, lovely photographs especially the January one with all the trees in front of the Eiffel Tower. I had no idea it had a park with all these trees in front of it. Every time I see the Eiffel Tower in the news all I see are young kids skateboarding in front of it. What a pleasnt surprise to know the Eiffel Tower has a tree lined park beside it too. GraphiquedFrance does itself proud with these Paris photographs. Thanks Amazon.

French or Foe?: Getting the Most Out of Visiting, Living and Working in France

Polly Platt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 74 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Polly or folly? 2 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Polly Platt's book is a mixture of valuable insight and eye-rolling pompousness. To give her due credit, the first chapter is full of useful information and essentially contains all that you will need to know from this book. Soon thereafter the book descends into a name-dropping snobbery and gives all the tips you'd need to know if you were visiting with the upper 3% of French society. Much of what Ms. Platt reveals about French culture seems to be outdated and of little relevance to the middle and lower-class French people that a visitor will no doubt actually be coming into contact with. Indeed, the author leaves the reader feeling that they would not be allowed at Ms. Platt's own dinner table.

When I visited Paris I certainly found some of her information useful, such as her recommendation to use "The Ten Magic Words" (again, in the first chapter), and whether many of the French we came across were smiling and accommodating for this reason, I cannot say. Read this book and you will likely make fewer cultural mistakes in France than you would have if you hadn't, but read it knowing it is not the last word on French culture, and does not apply to most of the French population.

Editorial Review:

Let's face it: the French have gotten a bad rap. Mention that you're considering a trip to France and everyone will warn you about rude waiters, supercilious shopkeepers, and snooty concierges who won't give you the time of day--and worse, pretend not to understand your high-school French. Not so, says Polly Platt, author of French or Foe?; "The French are generous, exhilarating friends," but they are different--wonderfully so. The trick to getting along in France is understanding the culture and learning to accept it on French terms instead of your own. Though the book is designed primarily for people who will be living or working in France for extended periods, the lessons Platt teaches about manners, attitudes, and culture are invaluable for even those visitors just passing through.

French Country Kitchens: Authentic French Kitchen Design from Simple to Spectacular

Linda Dannenberg

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

“When I think back on all the homes I’ve visited in the French countryside—and I’ve visited hundreds over the last twenty-five years—it is almost always the kitchens I remember most clearly and recall with the most affection.”
—From the introduction

The kitchen is truly the heart of the home, and nowhere is this exemplified with more style and personality than in France. Distinguished by striking craftsmanship, bold colors, and vintage accents, the French country kitchen—whether a rustic retreat or an urban oasis—is always unique and inviting.

In this beautiful celebration of France’s real-life kitchens, French style authority Linda Dannenberg invites us into dozens of kitchens that capture the spirit of their regions, carefully examining the design, the priorities of the owners, and the details—from color palettes to collectibles—that create inviting, functional, and personal spaces. You’ll visit a remarkable new “eighteenth-century” kitchen in the heart of Paris’s old garment district designed entirely with elements dating from the 1700s; an airy, open family kitchen in a Provençal house that was once a grain mill; a dramatic kitchen, bold in color and scale, in an elegant farmhouse in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence; a romantic country kitchen, illuminated by a Palladian-style window from an old abbey, in a welcoming village surrounded by the farmland of the Île-de France; and a casual Parisian space—once an atelier occupied by Pablo Picasso—featuring a kitchen with subtle, restrained mosaics.

Distinctive elements that characterize these welcoming spaces are examined in depth, from tile work to the French way with color. You’ll even find recipes that capture the spirit of the French kitchen. With an extensive directory of sources, more than 200 full-color photographs, and evocative text highlighting a bounty of original ideas, French Country Kitchens is a lush and inspiring guide to re-creating a little corner of France in the heart of your own home.

Talk to the Snail: Ten Commandments for Understanding the French

Stephen Clarke

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Editorial Review:

Have you ever walked into a half-empty Parisian restaurant, only to be told that it’s “complet”? Attempted to say “merci beaucoup” and accidentally complimented someone’s physique? Been overlooked at the boulangerie due to your adherence to the bizarre foreign custom of waiting in line? Well, you’re not alone. The internationally bestselling author of A Year in the Merde and In the Merde for Love has been there too, and he is here to help. In Talk to the Snail, Stephen Clarke distills the fruits of years spent in the French trenches into a truly handy (and hilarious) book of advice. Read this book, and find out how to get good service from the grumpiest waiter; be exquisitely polite and brutally rude at the same time; and employ the language of l’amour and le sexe. Everything you need is here in this funny, informative, and seriously useful guide to getting what you really want from the French.