Hello and Happy French Friday! Today I’m looking at the perfect armchair travel read for Francophiles! It’s the third in a series written by the unstoppable Janine Marsh (of the fabulous The Good Life France website and newsletter.
From the publisher:
Following on from her hugely popular books, My Good Life in France and My Four Seasons in France, ex-pat Janine Marsh shares more heart-warming and entertaining stories of her new life in rural France.
Since giving up their city jobs in London and moving to rural France over ten years ago, Janine and husband Mark have renovated their dream home and built a new life for themselves, adjusting to the delights and the peculiarities of life in a small French village.
Including much-loved village characters such as Mr and Mrs Pepperpot, Jean-Claude, Claudette and the infamous Bread Man, in Toujours la France! Janine also introduces readers to some new faces and funny stories, as she and Mark continue their lives in this special part of northern France. With fantastic food, birthday parties, rural traditions old and new – Jean-Claude introduces snail racing to the village – and trouble with uninvited animals, there is never a quiet moment in the Seven Valleys.
Yes – Toujours la France is the long-awaited follow up to Janine’s first two books, My Good Life in France and My Four Seasons in France. You may know Janine from The Good Life France website and Magazine (and if you don’t and you are a Francophile, you should!) or you may have been waiting anxiously for this third instalment of her “good life” story in France.
If you haven’t read the first two stories, I’d definitely recommend doing so before you read this. Though she touches on her journey to living in France in this book, the full story is worth a read – especially for those who think it’s all rosé and croissants. Janine definitely tells the tale of REAL life in France, renovations, language challenges and cultural differences, all in a wonderfully conversational tone that makes you feel like you’re sitting in her kitchen, chickens and cats scurrying around underfoot, enjoying that glass of rosé as she tells her tale!
In this third instalment of Janine’s life in France, she seems more settled, and an important part of her small village community. We learn the ins and outs of the village life, season by season and the way the story is crafted, it’s truly like we are there too. Janine paints a vivid picture of the villagers and their routines/ celebrations and rituals. If you’ve ever spent time in a small town in France you’ll completely understand what she writes about. If you haven’t, it’s the next best thing!
A must for Francophiles!
Purchase Toujours la France here (this affiliate link should bring you to the Amazon store geographically closest to you) or for free worldwide shipping, buy from The Book Depository (affiliate link).
Please note: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This post also contains affiliate links from The Book Depository. This means that if you click over and purchase something, I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price (at no extra cost to you). Thank you in advance!
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