In Paris for a weekend visit, Elizabeth Bard sat down to lunch with a handsome Frenchman — and never went home again. Was it love at first sight? Or was it the way her knife slid effortlessly through her pavé au poivre, the steak's pink juices puddling into the buttery pepper sauce?
Lunch in Paris is a memoir about a young American woman caught up in two passionate love affairs -- one with her new beau, Gwendal, the other with French cuisine. Packing her bags for a new life in the world's most romantic city, Elizabeth is plunged into a world of bustling open-air markets, hipster bistros, and size 2 femmes fatales. She learns to gut her first fish (with a little help from Jane Austen), soothe pangs of homesickness (with the rise of a chocolate soufflé), and develops a crush on her local butcher (who bears a striking resemblance to Matt Dillon). Elizabeth finds that the deeper she immerses herself in the world of French cuisine, the more Paris itself begins to translate. French culture, she discovers, is not unlike a well-ripened cheese — there may be a crusty exterior, until you cut through to the melting, piquant heart.
Peppered with mouth-watering recipes for summer ratatouille, swordfish tartare and molten chocolate cakes, this is a story of falling in love, redefining success, and discovering what it truly means to be at home.
Thursday Thoughts: I'm wearing a Snoopy tee-shirt today and will attend a class on the importance of balance for older folks. Falls can really mess up the lives of older people, you know. So around here, we have exercise classes designed specifically for us. I am 85, but I walked 7,083 steps yesterday and 10,446 steps the day before, according to my step counter. It helps my balance and strength.
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