Emily in France 🇫🇷 Lost Lines from the French Book Town
Words from word-lovers
I’ve been writing about food in France for over a decade, but of late, I’ve been lucky enough to do a bit more travel writing, much of which is focused on bookish destinations. From Hemingway's Paris to the UK’s only residential library to Paris’ best Anglophone bookshop, my inner child has been all aflutter over some of the most bibliophilic spots in France and the UK.
Recently, this beat took me to Montolieu, an absolute jewel of a village in the South of France that’shome to 15 used bookshops. It’s located at the confluence not only of the two terroirs – limestone and granite – that give the tiny local Cabardès AOP its specificity, but also two rivers, two mountains, and even two winds: the Cers off the Atlantic and the Marin off the Gulf of Lion. This, according to local wineseller Adrian Mould, is part of what creates the stunning, cloudless views over the Pyrenees that made him fall so hard for this region.
My story about Montolieu came out in the BBC last week – you can read it here. But as always seems to be the case with stories driven by such passion – both on my part and on that of my interviewees – a few darlings got cut, baby toes, a writing friend once called them, at once for their lack of utility as for the pain of excising them. So let me offer, if I may, a few of my favorites.
“I have a very regular and loyal local clientele,” said Adrian Mould, here holding a glass of Cabardès and a head of broccoli gleaned from one of the 861-person village’s two organic vegetable vending machines. “Generally, booksellers like wine.”
“Everyone organizes themselves in their own way,” said my host for the night, Rob Kleiss of Abélard bookshop and the B&B of the same name. “I’m a bit… organized chaos.”
“There was a rumour saying that Montolieu was finished,” La Rose au Vents’ Marie-Hélène Guillaumot said, of a time when three local booksellers retired all at once. “By the following Easter, everything was back,” she says. “You need to let time do its work.”
One might think that with so many bookshops in a small area, the landscape would be rife for competition, but Jean-Noël Ortis assured me this is far from the case. “It wouldn’t work otherwise,” he says. “It would be a permanent war!”
Cheese of the Week
I often ask cheesemongers what their favorite cheese family is; they invariably tell me it’s goat cheese. I diverge in this (I'm a blue Stan), but this little gem from the Tarn had me changing my tune. Gramat is a creamy, tender goat cheese with a very thin white rind. Fattier than many of its cousins, it boasts a rich texture and lovely, nuanced flavor that's similar to that of its cousin, Rocamadour, albeit with a better balance, for my palate, of almost moussy interior to tender rind. That creamline between the two is utter bliss.
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 13th arrondissement’s “Triangle d’Or,” as Heather Stimmler-Hall recently explored in her Secrets of Paris newsletter, is one of Paris’ multiple Chinatowns, though it’s perhaps poorly named, as it’s known for boasting residents and businesses from a mix of Southeast Asian countries in addition to China. In honor of Lunar New Year, a friend and I recently headed down to Les Délices de Yunnan, where the focus is on the specialties of of this province. More on the blog.
What I’m Doing
1. Our next TERRE/MER retreat is on the books! Join us for cooking, ceramics, and yoga overlooking the Mediterranean from April 11 to 14. Book now to secure yoru spot!
2. Signups for the next edition of the Nantes Writers’ Workshop June 24 to 28 are open! In the meantime, be sure to sign up for our newsletter to keep those creative juices a-flowing.
Where I’m Going
1. To Au Moulin à Vent, which recently earned the chops of best bistro in Paris.
2. To Ducasse sur Seine, to dine on the water.
3. To the American Library in Paris, to stock up on some fresh reads. Any recommendations for me?
What I'm Writing
1. Set in a stunning location near the Pyrenees mountains, the tiny village of Montolieu is home to roughly 800 people and has no ATMs, but it boasts 15 bookshops. In the BBC.
2. Chef Ruba Khoury reveals five queer-friendly spots to travel to in France. For France Today.
3. From the archives: Matthieu Carlin’s Butterfly Pâtisserie is a veritable jewel of a boutique within the recently renovated Hôtel de Crillon. For Bonjour Paris.
What I'm Reading
1. This dive into what the market evolution towards plant-based foods means for farmers – especially those growing commodity corn and soy. In Vox.
2. This story about a woman who spent 500 days in a cave to prepare herself mentally for solitude in the Mongolian desert. In the New Yorker.
3. This story about the death of the tasting menu in the U.S., which TBH is running counter to what I’m seeing in Paris. In InsideHook.
A bientôt !