Book Report #110 - My Life in France

My Life in France by Julia Child

I ate this up like it was one of her delicious meals. Julia had an intoxicating joie de vivre. I loved reading about her move to France with her husband Paul and how she developed an obsession with French cooking. I felt like I'd lived in France with her and was as intense a fan of it as she was.

She wrote about going to school at Le Cordon Bleu and then teaching her own classes. She had an amazing social life in Paris and I couldn't get enough. I was sad when she had to move to Marseilles because her husband was given a new station by the US government. At that point she was working feverishly on Mastering The Art of French Cooking, a book I never thought I'd read but am now hungering to.

Julia poured everything she had into writing that book. It took her years even with the help of her partner, Simca. She tested everything repeatedly to find the simplest and most effective ways to make the best food in the world and knew she had a classic on her hands if she just kept at it.

Her road to publication was rocky but highly entertaining. Her moves around Europe only made her more interesting as she kept her drive no matter what the location or the kitchen. I loved her introduction to television and then her contributions to it. I loved everything as long as she was talking about it.

Now when I putter around the kitchen I hear her disappointing titter and I giggle.

General consensus: This was a great read about success by a woman who not only mastered French cooking, but mastered the ability to appreciate life as it came. She is my new role model.