Susan Loomis - On Rue Tatin (2001)

This is a good book, very descriptive and interesting. I was a little confused three-quarters into the memoir when it stopped moving sequentially through their years living in rural France and suddenly I was reading about something that happened in their first year there. The book continued to meander about like that until the last few chapters which described her *SPOILER*. No, I won't tell you. It was too nice an ending.

Loomis is a good writer, the book was simply written and very entertaining. I was amused with the constant misunderstandings between American-French culture. Yes, the French have their own ways, but no, they don't want Loomis to tell them how to do it the American way because she thinks it is better.  As a Morrocan put it to Suzanna Clarke in her book 'A House in Fez' when she wanted to know why they did things so differently and how it was done so much better at home - "But you are not in Australia!".

I think it's a common problem with all travellers - we're so used to the ways we grew up with and it's difficult to adjust to a new culture. The Loomis family makes a valiant effort to acclimatise to French culture. They were obviously in love with the country and threw themselves into it wholeheartedly.

At the end of each chapter Loomis added a couple of recipes relating to the anecdotes and I'm planning on trying the vegetarian ones. They looked delicious and there were a lot of combinations that I'd never thought of before.

The only thing I would have liked to see different were some pictures of their life in France and the house they slowly renovated. It just felt like the kind of travel memoir that really needed pictures, particularly of the first rug they bought, the face her husband carved in the beam, and the house itself. Even a sketch of the house layout would have made understanding its relation to the local church so much easier. On Rue Tatin Blog Loomis has some pictures in her blog, but since she is a cookbook author it is mostly recipes. Still, it's worth a look.