Emily in France 🇫🇷 Greetings from the South!

Did you miss me?

Did you miss me?

The lack of newsletter last week was no accident. I was deep in preparation for the latest edition of TERRE/MER, the ceramics and cuisine retreat I co-host in Southern La Ciotat with my friend and phenomenal ceramicist/product designer Camille Drozdz.

Camille manages the ceramics side of things while I take charge of the food, preparing seasonal, local recipes like tourte de blettes, grand aïoli, and macarons provençaux with phenomenal local ingredients sourced at nearby farms. I also lead apéro workshops so that our participants learn some of the ins and outs of the region's best recipes, and bien sûr, I take everyone on a discovery walk where we encounter one of my favorite cheesemongers ever, pairing a selection of cheeses with a range of local wines both natural and conventional.

We were blessed by four days of glorious sunshine, which prompted me to revisit soupe au pistou in salad form, topping a combo of carrots, local new potatoes, and white beans with a tomato coulis infused with herbes de Provence and a pistou handmade by our lovely participants, and we discovered a funky sheep’s milk cheese we loved when paired with Nedjma, an orange wine from the Rhône.

While I’ve now returned to Paris’ indecisive April weather, just looking at these photos has me dreaming of returning: to yoga on the harborside first thing in the morning, to a post-dinner glass of rosé on the terrace in the starlight. If you're interested in joining our next retreats, we’ll be sharing our fall dates in our newsletter and follow us on Instagram page.

Hope to see you there – or here in Paris – soon!

Cheese of the Week

Saint-Nicolas was once made with goat’s milk – and when it was, it was one of Paris by Mouth founder Meg Zimbeck's favorites. I sadly didn't get the chance to try it before the monks that make it at the Saint-Nicolas de la Dalmerie monastery switched to ewe’s milk (a decision that, according to one fromager I won't name, came from a feud with their goat supplier), but I love this fatty iteration with a thyme-infused flair and a light, fluffy texture perfect for spring.

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

The food at Ducasse sur Seine is visually stunning but far from groundbreaking in the flavor department. And that’s not necessarily not a bad thing, considering its audience: those with slightly less adventurous palates who still want to reap the benefits of a special occasion meal with an other-wordly view. And in that, it almost entirely succeeds. Almost. More on the blog.

What I’m Saying

Je ne sais quoi is a phrase American women love to use to describe their French counterparts, but according to Debra Ollivier, best-selling author of What French Women Know About Love, Sex, and Other Matters of the Heart and Mind, the French don't use it at all. She’s joining me on Navigating the French to talk about why – and what this means about the French approach to popularity, likeability, and identity.

What I'm Writing

1. If you’d walked into a Parisian bakery 20 years ago, the viennoiserie case would have featured a small cast of familiar favorites, but these days, some newcomers are joining these stalwarts: not just American doughnuts, Polish babka, and Scandinavian cinnamon buns, but also a few French regional delicacies hailing from la province. In FranceToday.

2. A top sommelier shares his five bargain wines (and five fancy splurges). For InsideHook.

3. From the archives: There’s an expression in French: Simple comme bonjour, simple as hello. But for expats, even seasoned ones, bonjour is anything but simple. For the Wall Street Journal.

What I'm Reading

1. This bonkers exploration of the world’s largest buffet, which is located just a few miles from where I typically spend my summers. In the New Yorker.

2. This dive into Paris’ lost river and efforts to bring it back. In National Geographic.

3. This story about learning French (in which I’m quoted!) for Connexion France.

A bientôt !