Book Crush — Read your way to Paris

In honor of Becoming Clementine’s upcoming release (next Tuesday, Sept. 25!), we are taking you to Paris this week and next.

These two books will help you get there. The first is At My French Table: Food, Family And Joie De Vivre in a Corner Of Normandy by Jane Webster, which tells the story (through text and pictures) of the author’s move to Normandy from Melbourne in 2005. Once in France, Webster and her four children settled into a crumbling chateau, where she set up a cookery school. A photographer captured Jane’s colorful journey from produce markets to antique fairs to fancy and elegant restaurants. Along the way, she introduces you to the vivid local characters, shares forty regional recipes, and unveils the chateau after its restoration. The book is so beautiful, you want to eat it, and Jane’s journey leaves you feeling rejuvenated, inspired, entertained, and wistful that it didn’t happen to you (yet feeling, in some way, you were there).

The second book is Parisian Chic: A Style Guide by Inès de la Fressange. De la Fressange is an icon of French style and the former face of Chanel. Her insiders guide covers everything from beauty to fashion to home. She tells you how to dress like a Parisian, how to mix inexpensive (yet classic) basics with high-fashion accents, and how to accessorize. She also helps you bring Parisian chic into your home, and insert your own newly-Parisian style into any space. (In addition, she offers Paris addresses for where to find these basics and accents and accessories.) My very favorite thing about it is the illustrations, which she drew herself. If only Velva Jean had been able to use this little book as a resource while she was trying to become French.

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