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My French Life

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Manufacturer: Studio

List Price: $35.00
Our Price: $15.69
You Save: $ 19.31 ( 55% )
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Average Customer Ratings:

A beautifully photographed romantic book about French style and culture—and making a new home in Provence

In 1999, Vicki Archer, with her husband and three children, made a lifelong dream a reality when she bought a seventeenth-century property in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. She spent three years lovingly restoring the farmhouse, bringing back to life the abandoned apple and pear orchards, and planting an olive grove of more than two thousand trees. In My French Life, Vicki shares an insider’s view of life in France— from its landscapes, delicious food, and scents to its charming people. And she offers an intimate portrait of what it’s like to adopt a new home on the other side of the globe. It’s a personal tale of taking risks, facing challenges, and the joyous experience of falling in love with all things French.

With lavish four-color photography that captures the essence of French style, My French Life is a book to cherish. It is the perfect gift for the holidays.


PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS:

Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 914
EAN: 9780670018772
ISBN: 0670018775
Label: Studio
Manufacturer: Studio
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 240
Publication Date: 2007-11-01
Publisher: Studio
Studio: Studio


SIMILAR ITEMS:

• Quiet Corners of Paris
• All You Need to Be Impossibly French: A Witty Investigation into the Lives, Lusts, and Little Secrets of French Women
• Parisiennes: A Celebration of French Women
• Entre Nous: A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl
• Joie de Vivre: Simple French Style for Everyday Living


CUSTOMER REVIEWS:

I, me, mine... -
I had hoped the book was written to inspire a trip to France and explore the French lifestyle. Really, the writing left me unable to appreciate the lush photos; so self absorbed and boastful. My first ever return to Amazon.

Virtual trip to Paris -
If you don't have the time or money to go to Paris, this is the next best thing. The photos are dreamy and really wonderful. Put on French music, poor a glass of wine and your there!!!

A Real Disappointment -
I remember doing a search quite a while back for French Life (or something similiar) and found this book right before it's release. I immediately put it on my Wish List and kind of forgot about it.

A few months later, I found it again (going through my list) and decided I didn't want to spend $35 for this book so after much waiting it became available thru inter-library loan.

Let me tell you that I am so glad I was able to get it this way rather than pay for this overly-plush, terribly written book. Such a letdown..boring writing with heady photographs.
You will not learn anything new about the French in this book. It's the same thing: French style, food, politeness, slow pace, etc. And I got really sick of the author's constant referrals to her olive farm.

Best book on French style: Veronique Vienne's French Style: How to Think, Shop & Dress Like a Frenchwoman...magnificient OOP book but absolutely worth the inflated price.
Best book on French cuisine and life: Robert Arbor's Joie de Vivre.

Don't waste your time with this one. You'll just be paying for padded fluff.

PRETENTIOUS, PRETENTIOUS, AND BEYOND PRETENTIOUS!!! -
I have never read anything so utterly pretentious -- how wonderful that Ms Archer found this paradise and, at untold cost, restored it brick by brick, stone by stone, using the best local craftspeople,artisans, antiquarians and the like (and who all, along the way, became her new best friends)-- and telling us in the most mundane style how lucky she is to be able to sit and watch the olives grow while also tripping off to Paris or London (her now home).

Her ultimate coup, it seems, and which Ms. Archer proudly tells us she has received, was recognition,by the French Security person at the airport,of her HERMES BERKIN handbag. He informed her that she had bought the most perfect item in the whole world, made with utmost craftsmanship at Hermes-- and she has the privilege of owning it! MON DIEU!!!

Luckily, I got this book from my local library and thus have not added a centime to her rather full coffers. SAVE YOUR MONEY! BETTER TO DONATE IT TO A WORTHY CAUSE!!!!

My dream home -
This book is just devine. It will inspire you to take risks, uproot your life and follow your dreams. Vicki and her husband David fell in love with a farmhouse in Provence while holidaying, and have lovingly restored the house and surrounding acreage. The house is truly beautiful and I now have Provence on my list of places I must visit soon. What is interesting is how she made this her new life, learnt a new language, gives us her viewpoint of the French and way of life. What living in France is like to someone who is not French but has chosen it as their new home.
Vicki also covers Paris - I am thankfully going there next year!
The photography, thanks to Carla Coulson is spectacular,and this is a beautiful book.
Vicki also shares a list of shops in Paris and in Saint-Remy-de-Provence she recommends, plus movies, books and music that have have inspired her love of all things French.
Thank you for sharing your journey with us Vicki.

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