Our House is Definitely Not in Paris is the third memoir in the 'Our House' series, following 'Our House is Not in Paris' and 'Our House is Certainly Not in Paris'.<br /> <br />The French countryside has again been poetically evoked in this delightful, charming and captivating memoir. The renovee adventures continue to enchant the reader and draw them further into the unfolding account of the Cutsforths' other life. This memoir allows us to travel side by side with Susan and Stuart as they fling open the shutters each day in their petite maison in a small French village.<br /> <br />Humour, drama and pathos – Cuzance is a microcosm of the world. Cuisine, markets and the stunning rural landscape of Le Lot – a story that holds equal appeal for armchair travellers; those who already love France or those who will be inspired to explore the most visited country in the world.<br /> <br />'Our House is Definitely Not in Paris' is about the cadences of daily life in a French country village, permeated by the clanging of church bells, enveloped in the endless golden light of a French summer.
Оглавление
Susan Cutsforth. Our House is Definitely Not in Paris
Prologue
An Apartment in Paris
French Cuisine
Ah Paris, City of Light and Love
Baguettes, Bérets and the Eiffel Tower
Faking French
A French Household
Pied de la Croix Reunion
Filling in the Gaps
A Week Ebbs Away
The Viager System
Cuzance Days
Foreign Exhibits and High Drama
Summer Treasure Searches
Summer Starts
Rosé and Siestas
Plans in Place
A Cuzance Monday
Tuesday in Toulouse
Wednesdays in Martel
The Call of the Wild
Thursday — Hiring Equipment in Brive
Gypsies or Snakes?
The Jewel in the Crown
The Days March On
Crazy Paving and Interfering Neighbours
Return of the Rénovation Life
Rénovation Marches On
Fini — for the Working Week
John and Joe Arrive
Cross-Cultural Confusion
Cuzance Encounters
Dîner in Souillac
Three Men go to Market
Petite Vacances — Or Not
Cuzance Days
Soirée and Bière
Le Jardin Takes Shape
Beginnings and Endings
Gignac
Oui, More Rénovation
Grapevines
Déjeuner and Dîner
Cuzance Days Unfold
The Cast of Cuzance
Australian Amis
Glenn and Renate’s Stay
Saint-Céré
Cuzance Vide-grenier
Brive-la-Gaillarde
Valcadis Bricolage and Jardin Pursuits
Digging for Days
Tips on Blackberries
Sand in an Hourglass
Unfolding Days
Our Last Summer Visitors
Last Working Week
Parisian Neighbours and the Assumption of Mary
Working Vacances — Fini
The Sinking Sun
Farewell Dîner
The End Draws Near
Rain like Tears
The Final Chapter
Acknowledgements
Glossary of French words
Bibliography
Отрывок из книги
‘Oh, but Paris isn’t for changing planes, it’s … it’s for changing your outlook, for … for throwing open the windows and letting in … letting in la vie en rose.’
— Sabrina Fairchild in Sabrina (1954), Starring Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn and William Holden
.....
At home, as the moon dances and skips across the waves and the whales leap in life-affirming arcs, it means that in my personal calendar, the one set by the seasons in both hemispheres, our other life is marching steadily towards us. Life is indeed an amazing adventure, for just like the precipitous bends on rural roads in France, one never quite knows what may lie round the corner. And now, the renovating pattern of our married life has extended to a rénovation project of grande proportions in Cuzance.
I fling open the shutters and sunlight floods the dusty corners. Drum roll for another French summer full of enchantment on our working vacances.
