Emily in France 🇫🇷 Explore Ceramics and Cuisine with Me in the Sunny Sud
Our next TERRE/MER retreat is coming this September
For the past few years, my dear friend Camille Drozdz and I have hosted TERRE/MER, a long weekend retreat in the seaside town of La Ciotat. Over the course of four days, we welcome small groups of women seeking creative inspiration, relaxation, and connection.
We're so excited to announce the dates of our next retreat: September 11 to 14!
We’ve hosted several iterations of this retreat, and no two are exactly alike. The anchor of the long weekend remains a ten-hour ceramics intensive hosted by Camille in her state-of-the-art studio, ICI l’Atelier, in the heart of this picturesque southern French town. After a morning in the studio, participants enjoy a convivial lunchtime spread prepared by yours truly, followed by afternoon activities that vary depending on the season and the interests of our cohort.
In the past, we have scrambled along the beautiful cliffside calanques overlooking the Mediterranean, meandered through the morning farmer’s market, embarked on a guided tour of local foodie vendors (including the fromagerie, bien sûr!) discovered how local Marseille soap is made, and taken advantage of local yoga instructors’ expertise for sunrise yoga practice on the harborside.
In the evenings, we connect over an apéritif and hands-on cooking demonstration to discover some tips I’ve gleaned from top chefs over the course of my decade+ as a culinary journalist, and we cap off the evening with a dinner made from local products, the perfect time to revisit our favorite memories of the day.
We voluntarily keep our groups quite small (six women max!), and reservations are open now. To thank you all for being such loyal supporters, I’m offering a 10% discount to any newsletter subscribers who sign up. Just quote the code EMILYINFRANCE to take advantage of this special deal. We look forward to welcoming you this fall!
Cheese of the Week
Have you met France’s 47th AOP cheese? Mothais-sur-Feuille just got its yellow-and-gold badge, and since spring has sprung, it’s the perfect time to try this seasonal chèvre. This goat cheese from Poitou is aged on a chestnut leaf, which lends it even more moisture and balances the acidity of its super-thin rind. Inside, expect an almost marshmallowy texture and an herbaceous flavor. It’s far more mild-mannered than most American chèvres, making it a surefire crowd-pleaser. If you want to know even more about it, check out my full story in my cheese column for My French Life!
To discover more of my favorite cheeses, be sure to follow me on Instagram @emily_in_france, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and tune into the Terroir Podcast, where Caroline Conner and I delve into France's cheese, wine, and more one region at a time.
What I’m Eating
I adore sushi, but I tend to avoid seeking it out in Paris. But when a friend came to town who’s an even keener culinary researcher than I am and suggested we grab lunch at EnYaa near the Palais Royal, I jumped at the chance to try some excellent raw fish… and I wasn’t disappointed. More on the blog.
Where I’m Going
1. To Redd, a wine bar where you can build your own planche!
2. To a chocolate festival being held in Meaux. (I’ve been assured there is more than just chocolate to be had.)
3. To check out La Pérouse, a longtime fave of literary legends like Emile Zola, Charles Baudelaire, and Victor Hugo.
What I'm Writing
1. I just added the 8th arrondissement to my collection of Paris neighborhood guides, but I also updated 1-7 with some new addresses. Check them out now if you haven't already!
2. Evidence of the health risks of ultra-processed food continues to pile up, with studies linking its consumption to increased risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, anxiety, and even early death. To add to the growing list, researchers have just uncovered yet another good reason to swear off ultra-processed food: an increased risk of cognitive decline. For Organic Authority.
3. From the archives: This is what it was like to judge the Oscars of cheese. For InsideHook.
FAQs
With the goal of bringing you the content you crave, I've solicited your help. What questions can I answer for you? Drop them into the newsletter chat, and I’ll answer as many as I can!
What I'm Reading
1. I adored this lyrical book halfway between poem and prose. The story fades into the background to allow the characterization and language take center stage, and while it occasionally leans into tropes about Americans finding themselves abroad, it's self-aware enough in creating a wide berth between the unreliable narrator and the reader as to be incredibly insightful. It's a short book, and one that I took immense pleasure in lingering over.
2. This clear-eyed exploration of the obsession with self-development, and why it might be better for everyone – including ourselves – if we committed, instead, to looking outwards. In the Elysian.
3. This story about the rise in self-imposed solitude and the repercussions on our happiness. Among other things, the article offered the staggering statistic that the average American goes to the movies three times a year but watches 19 hours of TV a week. But perhaps more importantly, it put a finger on what social isolation is really eroding: the “village” of our neighbors, reducing our societal ability to practice productive disagreement and compromise. "Families teach us love, and tribes teach us loyalty. The village teaches us tolerance.” In the Atlantic.
A bientôt !