My Life in France

This is a beautiful insight into the life of a woman who has done so very much for the home cooks of America. It is told with personality and warmth, celebration and heartache. An ode to good food, good company, good conversation. To be savored and you will be sad when it is ended!

"Every field was an explosion of fragrant and colorful bougainvilleas, brooms, mimosas, or daisies. Warm, salty breezes blew off the Mediterranean. There were dramatic rocky cliffs along the coast, snow-topped Alps looming in the background...I found my senses were nearly overwhelmed." ~ pg. 49 When friends started to tell me that I must watch "Julie and Julia" I put the movie on my Netflix list and didn't think too much about it. Then a friend sent me a recipe adaptation of Boeuf Bourguignon and I adapted the recipe even more (I use less Burgundy). After trying that recipe I became even more interested in the movie and recipes. I had actually reviewed Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home the year I started reviewing and had watched a special on Julia Child's life sometime before. At one point (I think because of my reviews) I was invited to see Julia Child. I think it was around $400 so I wasn't able to meet her because at the time all my money was going into testing recipes for my own cookbook. However it wasn't until I watched the "Julie and Julia" movie that I became very interested in Julia Child's life. "My Life in France" is completely charming in every way. Since I visited France in 1996 I could relate to Julia Child's love of Provence and her love affair with Paris. I loved reading about Cassis and Marseille as it reminded me of the bakery we found and how delicious the fresh fish was at a restaurant by the Mediterranean Sea. Alex Prud'homme effectively captures Julia Child's voice by interviewing her and by obviously reading many of Paul and Julia's letters. There is probably no way anyone could remember such an amazing amount of details like the exact weather and the menu at restaurants. All these details about food make the book absolutely tantalizing. Julia's love of life comes through so well in the captivating warm prose. I could relate to the years Juila Child spent working on her cookbooks to the point of obsession. Her second book took nine years to produce. She really struggled to birth her books and had to deal with moving from country to country with all her kitchen equipment. It is fun to read about her rhapsodizing over kitchen stores. She was fascinated by kitchen gadgets. Once Juila Child discovered her love of cooking she never looked back. It is amazing how her entire life revolved around cooking. She made writing recipes into a total adventure. At one point she does some investigative reporting when she wants to learn to make beurre blanc. Somehow she had the money to go to some of the best restaurants in France. The main thing I loved about this book is how it effectively documents the stages Julia Child went through to become an icon. She truly had to work for her fame although at times it seemed like she was just at the right place at the right time. My only complaint about the book is that some of the French words don't come with any translation. You are at times left to imagine what was said. ~The Rebecca Review

This book is more than a book about cooking, it is a book about French cuisine, postwar France, friends, and people we too often take for granted in everyday life. When Julia puts herself back in time and place you feel like you are there with her talking to and interacting with the vegetable lady, the cheese monger, the man who tells you how to judge the age of the partridge and more. Along the way, Julia offers us her very subjective impression of the French as a whole and how they react to outsiders, for example, "The French are very sensitive to personal dynamics, and they believe that you must earn your rewards. If a tourist enters a food stall thinking he’s going to be cheated, the salesman will sense this and obligingly cheat him. But if a Frenchman senses that a visitor is delighted to be in his store, and takes a genuine interest in what is for sale, then he’ll just open up like a flower. The Parisian grocers insisted that I interact with them personally: if I wasn’t willing to take the time to get to know them and their wares, then I would not go home with the freshest legumes or cuts of meat in my basket. They certainly made me work for my supper—but, oh, what suppers!" Julia becomes very much a Francophile. And, like many Francophiles she cannot resist taking a shot at the British. "I admired the English immensely for all that they had endured, and they were certainly honorable, and stopped their cars for pedestrians, and called you “sir” and “madam,” and so on. But after a week there, I began to feel wild. It was those ruddy English faces, so held in by duty, the sense of “what is done” and “what is not done,” and always swigging tea and chirping, that made me want to scream like a hyena. The Old Sod never laid a haunting melody on me gut strings. In a way, I felt that I understood England intuitively, because it reminded me of visiting my relatives in Massachusetts, who were much more formal and conformist than I was." This little aside about the Brits perhaps tells you more about Julia than the inhabitants of those isles. Key to this is that she not only sees herself as a nonconformist, but revels in that role. Notably, besides distancing herself from the Brits, she also distances herself from her New England heritage and in other places notes that she could never live in like Pasadena, California where her parents lived. For her Pasadena is just too Republican and too uncultured. She also has less than kind words for various others. Okay, so she is -- at times -- pretty judgmental. But, at heart this is a book about Julia's journey, make that obsession with mastering as much as she can of French cuisine. Along the way there memorable restaurants, markets, and of course, her efforts at Le Cordon Bleu. It was not an easy journey, but Julia's pursuit of Le Grand Diplome was relentless. Once, that was in her grasp, she began to collaborate with two other women to produce the landmark "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." Getting that book in publishable form and published was another almost Herculean task. But, through almost ceaseless effort and determination and with a little help from her friends she succeeds. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have tried to watch the movie "Julie and Julia," but have never managed to stay awake for very much of it. Maybe, I'll try again.

This beautifully written and completely charming memoir captures Julia's unique and genuine personality. This is one of the most delightful, happy books I've ever read! Julia admits complete ignorance at the beginning of her story, which attests to her most unusual gift for blending self-deprecation with charming self-confidence, and it is her natural curiosity that led her to collaborate with master chefs, true to her non-condescending and bubbly personality. There is a heavenly breathless spirit about this book that captures her earthiness and integrity and complete emotional fulfillment that is absolutely contagious. This is the most beautiful love story between kindred spirits. Her husband, Paul, who clearly shines throughout, worked for the US State Department, and it was he who encouraged Julia's exploration and interest in fine cuisine and his transfer to Paris began her legacy. What a wonderful marriage they must have had! They shared an extraordinary life of love and passion, not only for each other but for travel and the tastes to explore other cultures. Her colorful and bright and cheery account of her 1940's life-changing stay in France is one of the most cherished, enjoyable and interesting books I've had the pleasure of reading. I wanted to sing. This book is a great biography, as well as a historical account of a nation, as instruction of the refined culinary arts, and it works well as the travelogue that evokes the locations being described. My senses were titillated; I could smell the baking bread, lavender fields, leg of lamb cooking in sumptuous herbs; I could taste the magnificent, succulent dishes; I could see the lush countryside, the cobblestone roads and streets. The laughter, the wit, the union, their lives together had to be Heaven on earth. This is beautifully told, brimming with life, just as Julie Child lived during her years in France, and as compelling as a great novel that you know has a happy ending. Because the family kept all of Paul and Julia's letters home, primarily Paul's twin brother, Charlie and his wife, the detail is as fresh and fun as when it first happened. Julia lived a "joie de vivre", loved a new adventure and took life on with an incredibly open mind. She seized opportunity with great zest and had the confidence that she could achieve her goal. She was real and fun and didn't take things too seriously. One of Julia Child's most compelling attributes was her ability to share her knowledge without being intimidating. She gave you the sense that she was as accessible and as friendly as if she'd known you all her life, although infinitely more interesting. She truly cared about people, all people. With class, charm, enormous magnetism, and great determination this remarkable woman had turned French cooking into an American fascination. This is not a book about food; this is a book about life, full of passion and love and wisdom, beauty, art and creation. You can learn a lot from a life like that. This should be on everyone's reading list.

Third reading and still warms my heart and inspires me! I will read it again and again. Treat yourself- enjoy!

This is a charming book, where Julia Child talks in detail about her years in Paris and France just after the Second World War. Julia completely fell in love with France and with French food and the way of life there. The relationship between Julia and her husband Paul is also lovely to read about, as they completely adored each other. Julia's passion for life, her energy, her sense of humour, modesty and intelligence shine through every page. This is accompanied by a complete lack of self-pity eg where she mentions their inability to have children. She describes in detail her first encounter with French food, her experiences studying at Le Cordon Bleu, learning to speak French, setting up her own cooking school and writing her first cookbook. There were many trials and tribulations in the years of research, testing of the recipes, collaborating with the other authors and getting the book accepted for publication. Julia was like the original Alton Brown or 'Cook's Illustrated'. Of the three authors, one of whom contributed very little, it was Julia who was constantly tinkering with the recipes in order to find the best result. Spend a month experimenting with the best way to boil an egg? No problem. She was fascinated by kitchen science, which was in its infancy in those days. Julia also describes eating at restaurants all over France and she remembers many of the menus in detail, as well as the vintage of wines they drank and how the individual dishes were prepared. She talks about shopping for ingredients in the marketplace and some of the unusual kitchen gadgets she picked up in Paris, which later appeared on the set of her TV shows. So many things were done differently in those days - you put your milk bottles on the window sill to keep cool because most Parisians didn't have a refrigerator, and just about everything in the professional kitchen was still done by hand in the old manner. It was a different culinary world and I am pleased that some of this history has been preserved in this book. The book has a lot of general historical interest too - when they arrived there was rationing and there were hardly any cars in Paris. They walked all over the city, routes that you just could not do on foot these days. Her husband was a photographer/artist and there are some interesting B & W photos of Paris & the French countryside included in the book. They also had a house in Provence long before the influx of tourism changed and spoiled the area. She and her husband met many influential and eccentric people. The book was a collaboration between Julia and her husband's twin brother's grandson, who is an author in his own right. I thought it was very enjoyable and interesting. Is this a great work of literature? No, and to be honest, few biographies are. But this book does what it set out to do very well. It is pleasant and easy to read and the story it tells is very interesting. I would recommend it for people with an interest in culinary history or community cookbooks, an interest in French cuisine, and of course for anyone who liked Julia Child. It makes a lovely accompaniament to the bible of classic French cuisine: "Mastering the Art of French Cooking".

What a delightful read! Julia Child's very intimate experience of her life in France and immersion in her passion for French cooking is irresistible. The photos taken by her husband, Paul, really help paint the picture of their remarkable partnership. Julia recalls her first meal in France - an experience that changed her life and led her into her true calling. This is not a recipe book, but a memoir of her tireless approach to translate what she was tasting to a form regular American cooks could reproduce. Many of her fondest memories are grounded in an unforgettable menu. Equally interesting is her candid account of experiences as a spouse in the diplomatic service, including a run-in during the notorious McCarthy inquisition. What a remarkable, original tour de force she was!

In August of 1945 two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. Shortly afterward, Japan surrendered and VJ day was celebrated on 8/15/45. In September of 1945, just weeks later, President Truman signed an executive order disbanding the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) which had gathered intelligence and fought behind enemy lines during the war. This action had the overwhelming support of the US Congress at the time. The naivete of President Truman and most members of the US Congress in dissolving our worldwide intelligence apparatus is truly staggering. We'd won the war beating Germany and Japan; No more need for an American intelligence service! Those who write dark conspiratorial histories of America's grasping imperialist ambitions typically forget these chapters in our history. Historians Isaacson and Thomas write in their history of the cold war The Wisemen, "Americans had grown weary of global responsibilities...and wanted nothing more than to "settle our difficulties with Russia and then go to the movies and drink Coke," according to Averell Harriman. (Source: The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made ). In late 1945, the veterans of the "greatest generation" wanted to return home and begin work on launching the baby boom without giving further thoughts to war and international politics. One direct consequence of Truman's executive order was the dismissal from the OSS of Paul and Julia Child (8/15/12 marked the centennial of her birth) who had met and fallen in love while serving in the OSS in Ceylon and in China. During the war, she even invented a recipe for shark repellent that was designed to save the lives of downed naval airmen--did it contain butter? After leaving the OSS, the couple returned to the United States and were married. Paul was re-assigned to work for the USIA (United States Information Agency) in Paris. Without Truman's dissolution of the OSS Julia Child might never have become a French-trained Cordon bleu chef, famous author or television personality. Later in life Julia Child wrote a book (with Alex Proud'homme) called My Life in France which tells the story of her consuming love affairs with Paul Child, France and Cooking. The half of the movie Julia and Julie that was worthwhile was based loosely on this book--an anorexic cook who prepares a year's worth of Julia Child recipes -- I don't buy it! Reading My Life in France makes one hungry for classic French cuisine. I can relate to her exuberant joy in the pleasures of expat life. Paul Child was a foot soldier in the cold war efforts who helped created presentation materials in Paris, Marseille, Bonn and Oslo. In her book My Life in France, Julia Child writes, "So icy was the Cold War now that Paul and I were half convinced that the Russians--"the wily commies," he called them--would invade Western Europe. He suffered nightmares over the possibility of an all out nuclear war. He grew snappish at the office, convinced that the busy world that ate up his days was trivial in light of our nation's unpreparedness. I declared that I was ready to man the barricades to defend la belle France ad her wonderful citizens." Julia later writes that Paul was preoccupied with "the fact that the U.S. wasn't doing enough to prepare Western Europe for a Russian invasion". In Paris, Paul did his best for the USIA creating, for example, presentations on the Berlin airlift that saved Germans from starvation in 1948. Julia and Paul Child were, undeniably, liberals for their time. She was a young woman who was in rebellion against her father -- a conservative Republican businessman from Pasadena. Julia tells us that Paul, "had to bite his tongue when my father's friends would casually scorn President Truman, Jews, Negroes, the United Nations, or all those "Phi Beta Kappas" in Washington". Julia did not "like Ike" and she let her father know it. After the election of 1952 Julia had this exchange with her father...Julia "'Well, I guess you Pasadenans are pretty glad about Ike's election results.' 'Glad? I should say we are!' Big John thundered. 'Why who wouldn't be? Everybody's glad! But of course you people over there, you wouldn't know how the country feels--all your news is slanted.' This was hard to take, especially from the man who read only the right-leaning LA Times. For the record, Paul and I were avid devourers of the New York Times, The Herald Tribune, Le Figaro, Time, Fortune, The Reporter, Harper's, The New Yorker, even L'Humanite, not to mention the flood of embassy cables, intelligence briefs, and other twenty-four-hour-wire-service and ticker sheets pouring in from around the world. So -- whose news was slanted?" I must note here that Julia Child writes these words without even a trace of irony. The answer to her question is, of course, that BOTH father and daughter's news sources were slanted! They always are. Some, dear reader, have even accused me of being somewhat slanted! When McCarthyism broke out in the US, Paul Child was summoned back to Washington and subjected to interrogation. Paul Child, the OSS spook, was suspected of being a treasonous commie spy in the state department. Julia Child was a committed New Dealer -- recall that the Democrats in 1952 had won 5 consecutive Presidential contests over twenty years. Accordingly, she did not "like Ike" and blamed him for complacency in the anti-communist witch hunt. She writes, "What was happening to America? Several of our friends and colleagues were tormented by McCarthy's terrible witch hunt. It ruined careers and, and in some cases, lives. Even president Eisenhower seemed unwilling to stand up to him, which made me angry. When Eisenhower announced that he'd run for a second term, after having a heart attack, I had no doubt that Adlai Stevenson would make the better (an more resilient) president. Ike was just not inspiring: I got nothing but a hollow feeling from his utterances, as if Pluto the dog were suddenly making human noises. Just about anyone from the GOP had, for me, a fake soap-selling ring to him, with the exception of Herbert Hoover, who had impressed everyone on a recent swing through Europe. Stevenson, on the other hand, had a nobility of ideals that appealed to me. I just liked eggheads, damnit!" Julia Child might have been surprised to learn that Eisenhower in loathed Senator Joseph McCarthy, in Stephen Ambrose's words "almost as much as he hated Hitler." Ike ordered all members of the executive branch to ignore McCarthy's summons with his Army committee hearings in the US senate. When Senator McCarthy went after the US Army he was taking on the American institution that was dearest to Ike's heart. Moreover, it was Ike who was, in fact, the principal architect of McCarthy's self-destruction in his showdown with the US Army. For a full account of how Ike broke McCarthy see Jean Edward Smith's "First off the Tee" chapter in his book--Eisenhower in War and Peace, 2012. It was, of course, not principally in the field of political commentary that Julia Child made her mark on the world, but rather in the kitchen; here she excelled. The childless 6'2" Child poured out her passion into mastering French cooking and then explaining it effectively to the wide American public. She, along with her collaborators, wrote the classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I: 50th Anniversary which was published in 1961 and made its way into countless American homes. She then went on to become the French Chef on public television. Vice president Nixon and Nikita Krushchev fought their famous battle of the kitchen in Moscow in 1959. Previously, I credited General Electric with making many of the appliances that helped American women surpass their Soviet counterparts in the kitchen, but that of course, is only part of the story. Corporations such as GE and Frigidaire may have supplied some of the "hardware," but it was Julia Child and others like her who created the essential "software" to advance the deplorable state of American cookery. Julia Child's success meant that a surprise Soviet "borscht" first strike would be answered by the USA, not only with burgers and fries, but also with a devastating "boeuf bourguigon" reprisal! Julia Child loved using butter and cream in her preparation of rich French sauces such as Bearnaise and Beurre Blanc. She adored pate and foie gras. It is safe to say that "liberal" Julia Child would be horrified by the politically correct approach to food and nutrition espoused by today's liberal diet police (e.g. Michelle Obama). She made the world more delicious by her presence. She was a bridge across cultures and represented an America that would remain, not isolated, but rather, engaged positively with the world. Julia and Paul Child, therefore, each deserve credit in helping to guide the West to a most delectable victory over communism in the Cold War. Pass the butter! If you enjoyed My Life in France you may also like America Invades: How We've Invaded or been Militarily Involved with almost Every Country on Earth by Kelly / Laycock and Italy Invades

I have really enjoyed reading about Julia Child's inspiring trip to Paris and Marseille. She is so passionate about food, restaurants and storekeepers that I feel like I have strolled with her in the streets of Paris we both know so well. As a Parisian, I grow nostalgic of that time when life seemed a lot easier!

This culinary glimpse into life in France before supermarkets gobbled up individual shops, feels important. Something lost and also charming in how we used to shop and eat. Savouring the recipes is possible just from her telling the story of creating and eating the dishes. Bon appetit

You can't help but to fall in love with Julia Child, she seemed such a nice lady who never let fame change who she was and affect her zest for life Reading this book made me want to go to France and experience the great cuisine francaise, I wish I could have been there along with Julia. I love how she and her husband Paul had this great bond, they loved each other deeply, were friends, did everything together and cheered each other on every step of the way. The movie inspired by this book had a few exaggerations but none had big as Meryl streep's representation of Julia, Meryl Streep is way overrated. No wonder Julia was deeply loved by her legion of fans, I too am guilty of that, I loved the book and love Julia Child now.

My Life In France is a biography of Julia Child, one of the key figures in bringing French cuisine to America, and one of the first TV chefs. Written jointly with Alex Prud’homme, the great-nephew of Julia Child, the story starts in Paris where Julia and her husband Paul resided. As Paul worked for the US government, Julia developed an interest in cooking, eventually studied at the famous French cooking school Le Cordon Bleu. The book takes you through the culinary successes (and occasional failures), restaurant meals eaten in Paris, and the habits of other gastronomes of Paris at that time, as well as illustrating some time spent in Provence, Germany, Norway, and of course the USA. All of these experiences well-equip Julia, and her collaborators, to begin working on a cook book, which became a classic, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Eight years of hard work went into the cookbook, and the love and devotion towards it are evident. What struck me most about My Life in France was the relentless enthusiasm about French food, wine, and gastronomy. Exact menus of meals eaten forty years ago can be recalled, with the Chateau and vintage of the bottles of wine drunk with them. Anecdotes about pots and pans and the attention given to shopping in markets help relay such passion, that it would be hard not to become more excited about food after reading this. Another enjoyable aspect of the book is the insight given on cooking at different parts of the 20th century. From cooking with different kind of stoves, to the availability of ingredients and recipes, or just the changing of attitudes towards food and cooking, you learn a lot of cultural history through considering gastronomy. A few of the couple’s photographs are printed, which help give a better sense of their experiences. Overall, the book is well written, clear, very enjoyable to read, and so comes highly recommended.

Arrived in excellent condition.