Emily in France 🇫🇷 Ready to Head South?
Our next TERRE/MER retreat is open for reservations!
Paris is at once full and empty of late, something I notice as I walk into work from my home in the 10th arrondissement, a bit off the beaten tourist track.
The early parts of my walk are almost spookily quiet; many of my neighbors, it seems are juilletistes, taking some or all of their five weeks of annual leave in July. But as I approach the Marais and the Latin Quarter, the streets teem with life – and not Francophone life. Despite civil unrest, Paris is still welcoming record numbers of tourists, sure to surpass the 44 million that led it, last year, to maintain its status as the most-visited city in the world.
So if you're hoping for a French vacation that’s a bit calmer, might I suggest a TERRE/MER retreat?
Seeing as you loved our long weekend format, we’re launching another four-day retreat October 5 to 8. Participants will take full advantage of ten hours of ceramics with artisan ceramicist and product designer Camille Drozdz plus three hands-on culinary workshops led by yours truly and, of course, a cheese tasting.
Add to that yoga glasses with local professionals, guided walks, shared meals made with local products, and more than enough free time to soak up the village ambiance of La Ciotat, and it’s kind of le rêve.
Our retreats are small (just six people max) so sign up now before we run out of spots! We’re looking forward to welcoming you in October.
Oh… and if your travels aren't taking you quite so far south, why not consider paying my friend Diane a visit? She’s just launched her Bordeaux in Bites food tours, and I have it on good authority that they're stellar.
Cheese of the Week
One thing I love so much about spring and summer months in France is the sheer variety of fresh goat cheeses to choose from. Indeed, as I recently learned from cheese educator Jennifer Greco (whose cheese tastings are a must for any turophiles in Paris), many of the estimated 1,800 cheeses in France are simple local goat cheeses you're unlikely to find outside their region of origin. I snapped up this one at one of my favorite Parisian cheese shops; I was as tempted by the fresh thyme on top as by the promise of an oozy, runny layer belied by that misshapen rind. (It did not disappoint.)
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
In a pastry world driven by a trend towards reducing variety in favor of mastery of a handful of forms (or even just one), Carl Marletti remains dedicated to the traditionally wide offering of forms and flavors. And what’s more, he somehow manages mastery in nearly all of them. More on the blog.
Discover more of my foodie finds via Instagram @emily_in_france and on the blog.
What I'm Writing
1. France is home to hundreds of different goat cheeses, 15 of which boast an AOP designation. But amidst all of these choices, the small but mighty Picodon stands out: for its diminutive size, for its piquant flavor, but perhaps most of all for its variety. A cheese whose aromas, intensity, and even color can vary widely from producer to producer, Picodon is as diverse as the mountainous landscapes of the Drôme and Ardèche where it is produced. For My French Life.
2. Mac and cheese is a comfort food classic for a reason. Rich and cheesy, it fulfills our common human love of rich, creamy textures, and it boasts the addictive power of casein, aka the protein found in dairy products that gives our brains a blissful hit of dopamine. But the cheese doesn't need to stand alone. There are loads of ways you can spice up mac and cheese, from bacon to breadcrumbs. And that's just the start! For Mashed.
3. Four pros share the best (and worst) of SF's craft coffee scene – plus they offer up their own coffee orders, in case you're on the lookout for new inspiration. For InsideHook.
What I'm Saying
In France, a "good" immigrant is one who is intégré, integrated. This concept encapsulates values, language, culture, religion... and has frequently been weaponized against people of color. To delve into the ways in which this value looms large and small in French culture, this week on Navigating the French, I’m joined by Megan Brown, a historian of Modern Europe with a focus on 20th-century France, European integration, and empire at Swarthmore college.
What I'm Reading
1. I love Elif Shafak's evocative writing, and so many elements of her Three Daughters of Eve worked so well: the immersion in a fairly offbeat university class, the heart-wrenching (and occasionally heart-warming) scenes from the narrator’s childhood in a divided home in Turkey. That said, other pieces felt out of sync with the greater narrative, particularly the main character’s relationships with those meant to be closest to her. The ending, for as inevitable as it was, ultimately didn't feel quite earned, meaning that for as much as I found the book beautiful, the payoff fell a bit flat.
2. Sitting strongly in “good vibes only” territory is this story of a grandma-grandson duo who have set out to visit as many national parks as possible. In the Washington Post.
3. Fiction writers often get told to write what we know, and yet if we stuck with lived experience, so many wonderful books would never get written. But research is a complicated part of the novel-writing process – an issue I was recently discussing with a close friend deep in the research trenches. Here’s an insightful glimpse at how to manage this part of fiction writing. In LitHub.
A bientôt !