On these cold winter days I love to curl up on my couch, covered in the flannel quilt I made in 8th grade and read and read and read (and sometimes watch The Darjeeling Limited like I am right now).
I purchased these two books, Kati Marton's Paris: A Love Story and Julia Child's My Life in France during a period of extreme wanderlust. I haven't traveled much since I started college and my dreams of galavanting through Europe really start to wear on me in the winter.
Marton's tales of Paris revolve around her two husbands, first (well actually second) Peter Jennings, the famed news anchor my mom had a crush on through the '80s and '90s and second Peter Holbrooke a diplomat, which just sounds fancy. Both have passed away and much of the book deals with recovering from that profound loss. Marton recounts the mistakes of her marriage to Jennings and the difference between that marriage and the one to Holbrooke. She also recounts the problems she faced being an author, journalist, wife and mother.
Child's My Life is France details just that, her life with her husband Paul while they lived in Paris and other parts of France. With amazing detail Child recalls her favorite meals, her favorite pans, her favorite kitchen set-ups. The book follows Child and her husband as they were reassigned to different parts of France and Norway. What's most interesting to me is the tales of writing her first cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking with her two French co-chefs. For anyone who enjoyed Julie & Julia, likes cooking, or France, or funny stories, this is a wonderful book to relax on a cold winter's day with.
