We've Always Had Paris...and Provence: A Scrapbook of Our Life in France

333 Pages·2008·4.61 MB·English

by  Patricia Wells

We’ve Always Had
Paris
. . .
Provence
and
a scr apbook of our life in fr ance
Patricia and Walter Wells
For Rita and Yale Kramer,
great friends who sent us on our way,
and for
Colette and Jean-Claude Viviani,
who welcomed us into their French family
Contents
List of Recipes vi
Preface: Go for It! 1
PA R T I
Setting Out to Live a Fantasy
1 Ah, Paris! 15
2 Learning More Than French 23
3 Seeing Things 35
4 Rules, Rules, and More Rules 39
5 Reality Strikes 49
6 Making Yourself Up 57
7 Put Yourself on Vacation 65
8 La Vie en Rose 77
PA RT II
Going Native
9 Almost Parisian (“Have You Ever
Thought of Wearing Makeup?”) 87
10 Dangerous De-Liaisons 95
11 A Small Inn Near Avignon 101
12 Nouvelle Cuisine, Critique Nouvelle 109
13 You Paid to Learn to Drive Like That? 121
14 Two for the Road 129
15 The L’Express Years 135
16 Mr. Patricia Wells 147
17 Weighty Matters 157
PA RT III
Our Private Universe
18 A Farmhouse in Provence 169
19 Making a House a Home 181
20 Chantier-Duc 191
21 Grow, Garden, Grow 201
22 All About Yves 215
23 Vineyard Tales 225
PA RT IV
World Enough
24 Right Bank, Left Bank 237
25 Fame but Not Fortune 251
26 Clients Fidèles 261
27 Life Lessons from Julia and Joël 269
28 Another Kind of Interlude 283
29 Mrs. Walter Wells 289
30 It’s Not About the Marathon 295
31 You and Me, Babe 307
iv contents
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Other Books by Pa tricia and Walter Wells
Credits
Cover
Copyright
About the Publisher
List of Recipes
Seduction Dinner: Polenta with Chunky Fresh
Tomato Sauce 10
Our Lemon Chicken with Roasted Onions 30
Chiberta’s Nouvelle Cuisine Raw Duck Salad 32
Johannes’s Picnic Couscous Salad 48
Judy’s North Carolina Pork Barbecue 54
Celery,Tarragon, Spinach, and Chicken Salad 64
Red Sea Squid Pasta 73
Frédy Girardet’s Fresh Foie Gras in Vinaigrette 83
Dried Cranberry and Apricot Bread 93
Peach Wine 107
Michel Guérard’s Salade Gourmande 119
Almond Macaroon and Fresh Berry Cake 127
La Cagouille’s Salmon Tartare 145
Fettuccine with Vodka and Lemon 155
Fish Cheeks with Polenta and Parmesan Crust 165
Rolando’s Eggplant 179
Colette’s Vinaigrette 200
Just Tomatoes! 210
Fig Chutney 211
Eggplant in Spicy Tomato Sauce 212
Scrambled Eggs with Truffles 223
Grape Harvest Cake 233
Rue du Bac Grilled Mackerel 249
Ceviche 259
Corsican Ricotta Cheesecake 267
Mussels with Tomato Sauce 281
Modern Salade Niçoise 287
Hand-Cut Saturday Surprise Beef Tartare 293
Ed Brown’s White Truffle Risotto 304
Walter’s Birthday Chicken with Tomatoes and Feta 312
vii list of recipes