La Vie: A year in rural France
- Brand: Unbranded
Description
I'd really been looking forward to reading this and it saddens me to have to give it such a low rating. He has moved with his family, dogs, and various animals. The aim is to reconnect with nature, to farm for the person rather than for money, and to become at least 50% self-sufficient by the end of the year. A clear-eyed and unsentimental, yet utterly beguiling immersion in La France Profonde, keenly observed and beautifully told. Felicity Cloake, author of One More Croissant for the Road
La Vie by John Lewis-Stempel review — my year as a French peasant
John Lewis-Stempel has permanently moved to France and become a self-sufficient farmer in the Charente region, living in extremely rural France or “la France Profonde”. Or maybe not. Contrary to popular prejudice, sheep are among the smartest animals in the farmyard, fiercely loyal, forming long and lasting friendships. Sheep, farmed properly, are boons to biodiversity. They also happen to taste good and their fleeces warm us through the winter - indeed, John Lewis-Stempel's family supplied the wool for Queen Elizabeth's 'hose'. If you're coming to Coles by car, why not take advantage of the 2 hours free parking at Sainsbury's Pioneer Square - just follow the signs for Pioneer Square as you drive into Bicester and park in the multi-storey car park above the supermarket. Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you. You don't need to shop in Sainsbury's to get the free parking! Where to Find Us It reminded me all over again of why I threw up everything for the magic of La Belle France‘ Carol Drinkwater, author of The Olive FarmTo see a hare sit still as stone, to watch a hare boxing on a frosty March morning, to witness a hare bolt . . . these are great things. Every field should have a hare.’ Our special anniversary Slightly Foxed 2024 Wall Calendar is here, featuring a selection of readers’ favourite Slightly Foxed cover artwork from the past 20 years. La Vie describes a year of his family living in the village, putting down roots and enjoying their new life. It reminded me all over again of why I threw up everything for the magic of La Belle France' Carol Drinkwater, author of The Olive Farm
The Sheep’s Tale - Penguin Books UK
A charming account of how a farmer swapped Herefordshire for a life in rural France... Readers of his many books and his Times nature columns will know how easily Lewis-Stempel's writing marries the lyrical with the descriptive... And his capacity for wonder never flags. The Times I watch Jean-Francois make his way from the Boulangerie to the Maisonette de la Presse. A journey of fifty yards, but it takes Jean-Francois quarter of an hour. A former notary in his early seventies, Jean-Francois shakes hands or bisous five different men and women - France is the republic of handshakes and kisses - and exchanges greetings, gossip and news with them all. These same people then greet and talk with others in a slow, slow quadrille. He wanted to be self-sufficient, to make his own wine and learn the secrets of truffle farming. Buying an old honey-coloured limestone house with bright blue shutters, the Lewis-Stempels began their new life. Over that first year, John falls in love with the French countryside and living the good life – or as the French say, La Vie.His writing has an eternal feel. Even when writing about man, he writes about an ancient rhythm of life. This is not a book about the fast-paced modernity most of us live in. Lewis-Stempel described himself as perhaps the last religious nature writer. His faith, as well as a yearning for a way of life lost even in the depths of rural Herefordshire (England), are clear to see. Life and death are dealt with beautifully.
John Lewis-Stempel - Penguin Books UK John Lewis-Stempel - Penguin Books UK
Everyone who is British living in France profonde utters, as axiomatic, ‘France is like the Britain of our childhood’, by which they mean, depending on their certain age, the 1950s or the 1970s or 1990s. Sometimes rural France is older still. While we were house-hunting and renting the mill in the hedged bocage of northern Deux-Sevres the birdsong was of medieval intensity. Here, in our corner of woods and arable fields in eastern Charente-Maritime, we are at Renaissance level. I found this book not only pleasingly escapist but also nostalgic... the writing is vivid, lyrical and seductive... There's a romance to shepherding that is entirely absent from pig and poultry farming. The TimesLewis-Stempel is a farmer of mediaeval heritage, with his family owning the same land for 700 years. But he has bought a house in the Charente region of France. This house comes with a potager, various farm buildings, and other accoutrements of a house built in rural France during the Belle Époque. The book recounts a year in his life: January-December.
La Vie: A year in rural France by John Lewis-Stempel | Goodreads
The hare, a night creature and country-dweller, is a rare sight for most people. We know them only from legends and stories. They are shape-shifters, witches’ familiars and symbols of fertility. They are arrogant, as in Aesop’s The Hare and the Tortoise, and absurd, as in Lewis Carroll’s Mad March Hare. In the absence of observed facts, speculation and fantasy have flourished. But real hares? What are they like? Lewis-Stempel’s best book in an age; my favourite, certainly, since Meadowland. I’m featuring it in a summer post because, like Peter Mayle’s Provence series, it’s ideal for armchair travelling. Especially with the heat waves that have swept Europe this summer, I’m much happier reading about France or Italy than being there. The author has written much about his Herefordshire haunts, but he’s now relocated permanently to southwest France (La Roche, in the Charente). He proudly calls himself a peasant farmer, growing what he can and bartering for much of the rest. La Vie chronicles a year in his quest to become self-sufficient. It opens one January and continues through the December, an occasional diary with recipes. It reminded me all over again of why I threw up everything for the magic of La Belle France' Carol Drinkwater British nature writer John Lewis-Stempel is a man who takes birdsong seriously. In the Preface to this book, he highlights the song of nightingales as a reason to relocate to rural France. As a sort of Afterward, he compiles a list of all of the birds see on his own patch at La Roche in the Charente region. Throughout the novel, he notes which birds are singing; and just occasionally, those brief times in the annual calendar when there is seemingly no birdsong at all. From 1st July 2021, VAT will be applicable to those EU countries where VAT is applied to books - this additional charge will be collected by Fed Ex (or the Royal Mail) at the time of delivery. Shipments to the USA & Canada:An utterly beguiling immersion in La France Profonde, keenly observed and beautifully told’ Felicity Cloake, author of One More Croissant for the Road The independent-minded quarterly magazine that combines good looks, good writing and a personal approach. Slightly Foxed introduces its readers to books that are no longer new and fashionable but have lasting appeal. Good-humoured, unpretentious and a bit eccentric, it's more like having a well-read friend than a subscription to a literary review.
- Fruugo ID: 258392218-563234582
- EAN: 764486781913
-
Sold by: Fruugo