My Life in France

Since Saturday, I have been the proud owner of MY LIFE IN FRANCE by Julia Child with Alex Prud'Homme. Since Saturday I've been wanting to post about the book, but thought I should wait until I've finished reading it.

I COULDN'T WAIT!

I am not even 100 pages into the book and I am in love, inspired, happy, joyful, enlightened, envious; I wish I could go one...but I'm not that great with adjectives.

Written by Julia and her...grand-nephew, Alex, the book focuses on Julia and her husband Paul's time in Paris, shortly after getting married and while Paul was stationed in France with the U.S. State Department. Of course, we know the story of Julia learning to cook at L' Cordon Bleu, eventually pairing with Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck to write MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING, then moving back to the U.S. and creating her show, THE FRENCH CHEF on PBS, bringing gourmet food to the U.S....the rest is history. But this provides the details in a way you can't even begin to appreciate with my novice narrative, so I'm not really going to try.

So far in the book, we've experienced Julia's First French Dinner, fresh off the boat from the U.S. and before they even make it to Paris. I swear I could taste it all, savoring every bite, and I've never had Sole Meuniere! Subsequently we taste more meals Julia and Paul have, and we go through her early cooking classes, trips to the country-side and the true love that Paul and Julia had for one another....and the cooking experiments at home.

Just last night I patted my book as I was preparing to head to bed to read, "We're moving to Paris for a few years so that I can immerse myself in the art of French cooking and live like this." There might have been a grunt or nod, but nothing I can call a verbal contract. I've never been to Paris and although I've often wanted to go, it has never been on the top of my list of destinations. It has certainly moved up there with this book.

I've always had one memory of Julia, standing tall, proud and goofy, before a copper bowl of egg whites with a large wisk in her hand, pronounced to the camera in her marbled voice that she was going to whip the eggs to a soft peak and like a snapped rubber band, her upper body contorted and she whipped those whites into a frothy pillow in a flash! That image will always be with me.

Julia lost Paul in 1994, I think, and the world lost Julia in 2004. Alex Prud'Homme had been interviewing Julia and collecting data and photos*, creating outlines and such to help her with the book focusing on these years in France. When she died, Alex continued the book with Julia as the main author. Just in the past month, MY LIFE IN FRANCE was published and released to the masses. My understanding is that it's already on the best sellers lists! I am having a hard time not reading it at my desk. I have a few days off next week before I start my new job and I do plan on finishing the book then.

**Photos...these are not of Julia's cooking, at least not yet, they are photos, mostly taken by Paul and they are amazing. They are not on plates the middle of the book, they are tucked right into the narrative and really capture and portray Paris and France and Julia. There have been more than a few I thought would be lovely matted and framed...would I want to tear the pages out of the book to do this....? We'll have to see.

And if you haven't heard, the American History Museum is closing their doors after Labor Day for two years of renovations. As of now, you can head over and take a look at Julia's Kitchen. It's pretty damn cool!!!

All this said, I'd recommend you pick this book up for a read. I had it on my wishlist and planned to get it, but then I started reading review after review praising it and being a sucker, I picked it up and couldn't be happier.