Spending Time in France

No, I haven't been out of the country, not using my passport anyway.  I've accidentally spent three books worth of time in France.  I didn't plan to read three books that take place in France, but that's what happened.

  A friend recommended the mystery The Bookseller by Mark Pryor.  I'm not sure I realized that it was set in Paris.  Even odder, one of its characters shares a name with a character in Chasing Cezanne, another of the books set in France.  Coincidences are so, well, coincidental.  I liked The Bookseller, but I don't feel compelled to read the next in the series right away.  Booksellers who sell used books from  kiosks along the Seine begin to disappear and reappear dead.  One is Hugo Marston's friend.  Marston is head of security for the American embassy in Paris.  He saw his friend Max abducted at gunpoint and is determined to find out what happened to Max and why.  He has help from a beautiful (and rich) journalist and an old friend who is ex-CIA.

I didn't read Le Road Trip next.  I just can't figure out how to move the picture around on my blog.  I read When Wanderers Cease to Roam by Vivian Swift several years ago.  I was enchanted by Swift's watercolors and her direct and descriptive writing.  Le Road Trip is the story of the trip her late-in-life-new-husband and she took in France.  She'd been all over the world before she met James and he had, too.  Seasoned travellers, but new to each other.  Her watercolors are just as enchanting.  Their adventures and her thoughts about travel and love make the book fun to dip in and out of.

  

 

I had read two of Peter Mayle's books, A Dog's Life and Toujours Provence.  Chasing Cezanne is one of his novels, which takes place mostly in France.  A photographer happens to see a Cezanne being removed from a house in a plumber's van.  That didn't seem right.  When he contacted the owner, the owner didn't seem to be very concerned.  That was odd, too.  The photographer, his girlfriend, and an art dealer discover a plot to sell forged art, but they don't uncover the entire plot.  This one took me a while to finish.  I was interested, but it wasn't gripping.

If you've made it this far, you should know that I'm writing this while the carpenters are running a sander, finishing the installation of the bookshelves in my new library.  My books have been living in boxes in the sun room and I can't wait to shelve them (ever the little librarian!).  But after the shelves are painted, they have to cure.  I've been too eager in the past and had books stick slightly to painted shelves that felt dry to me.

The carpenter's helper is my old high school friend, Bruce.  His friend Ryck is the carpenter and he / they are doing a terrific job.  Jack's pleased and if you can please Jack ....

And Smokestack Masonry just left after lining our fireplace chimney and installing a gorgeous copper chimney cap.  If you live in the Lancaster area, we can highly recommend Smokestack.  Brian and Courtney are prompt, professional, and careful to leave your house they way they found it, except for a safer chimney.

It's amazing that I could string four words together with all the activity and noise, at least I hope I've written something that makes some sort of sense!

C'est vrai!  Mais non!  Parapluie!