My favourite books about Paris France

Have you read any really yummy books about Paris France, in particular about people who've moved to France on a whim?

I have, and there are some which I love to re-read, again and again over the years, because there's a special 'something' which warms the cockles of my heart [as my old Gran used to say].

Of course I love the 'Toujours' Provence stories - not books about Paris France exactlly, but about Provence, and the great characters in that area who crossed paths with Peter Mayle.

The other books I've read always touch my heart, and I've re-read them often :-)

My French Life : by Australian Vicki Archer

Oh what a special book! The photos are superb and the words pull at my heart strings ... oh I do love to read about people who've fallen in love with France and moved there - because they felt they HAD to!

An excerpt from Vicki's book:

"The farmhouse in view was not in line with the one in my imagination: what stood before us was derelict and in total disrepair. My excitement never faltered for a moment – these were mere hurdles to be jumped. My son, Paddy, whispered, 'This is it, Mum. We've found it.' My heart was hammering in my chest, tears filled my eyes, my ability to speak vanished and the momentous truth shook me like nothing before. If you believe there can be a moment in time when everything in your life changes, then for me, this moment had arrived."

RRP $A49.95 - one of the best coffee table books about Paris France - not to be missed.

Almost French : A new Life in Paris : by Australian Sarah Turnbull

I've read this book twice, and I'm getting ready for my third 'read' :-)

Of all the books about Paris France, this one is quite nostalgic for me, as it mirrors some of the parts of my life when I moved to France, and the things I experienced.

Heartwarming, funny, nostalgic, but upbeat, showing that love does conquer all.

I've actually got this book on my bedside table as I write this, and it's dog-eared from constant reading :-)

If you like a good girlie travel book, this is a great pick.

A Year in Provence : by English Peter Mayle

When I first read this book, the tears rolled down my face as I laughed out loud ... many times :-)

Although I'd never lived in a French village or countryside, I totally empathised with the marvellous adventures and characters, described so well by Peter Mayle.

He has such a great descriptive voice, and the French words peppered throughout made me often choke on my glass of wine.

For anyone with a tiny bit of knowledge of French, this will be an excellent read.

Peter's second book, "Toujours Provence" was just as funny and continued the real life story of Peter and his wife and the simple things in their daily life which turn into page-turners in this book.

I often think of the people who used to turn up on their doorstep from the four corners of the globe, just 'popping by' because the book was written with a voice that made you feel like you were a friend of the family ...

And some of those people were impossible to get rid of too :-)

Oh I loved these books tremendously!

How lucky are we that Peter has written so many books about Paris France!

Here are more books by Peter Mayle which I'd love to read when I get the time:

• Encore Provence: New Adventures in the South of France by Peter Mayle
• French Lessons: Adventures With Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew by Peter Mayle
• Hotel Pastis by Peter Mayle
• Chasing Cezanne: a Novel by Peter Mayle
• Anything Considered: a Novel by Peter Mayle

Some of the books I want to read

Here is a list of more books about Paris France, which I really would love to find the time to read!

• Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong: Why We Love France but Not the French by Jean-Benoit Nadeau
• Entre Nous: A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl by Debra Ollivier
• Joie de Vivre: Simple French Style for Everyday Living by Robert Arbor
• Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik
• French Toast: An American in Paris Celebrates the Maddening Mysteries of the French by Harriet Welty Rochefort

Got tips on books about Paris?

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