Book picks similar to
Saving Our Skins: Building a Vineyard Dream in France by Caro Feely
memoir
france
memoirs
wine
More Ketchup Than Salsa
Joe Cawley - 2006
They’re also tired of smelling of fish.When offered the chance to escape from the dreary market stalls of England to run a bar on a sub-tropical island, they recklessly jump at the opportunity - despite their spectacular lack of experience.In Tenerife, dreams of a better life overseas are soon crushed by mini-mafias, East European prostitutes and biblical-grade cockroach infestations.Joe and Joy's foreign fantasy turns into a nightmare as they find themselves trapped with a failing bar in a foreign land, pandering to a bar full of oddball expats while trying to stop their relationship crashing into the rocks.Can they save their business, their dreams, and their relationship before it's too late...
Tout Sweet: Hanging Up My High Heels For A New Life In Rural France
Karen Wheeler - 2009
But when her 'plus one' leaves, she wonders if there is more to life. So, she hangs up her Manolos & waves goodbye to the city, deciding to go it alone in a run-down house in rural Poitou-Charentes, western France.
Rodeo In Joliet
Glenn Rockowitz - 2009
The story takes us from Glenn's unexpected diagnosis of 'three months at best' just days before the birth of his only child, to his miraculous remission and the ironic death of his father. It is a journey that is by turns heartbreaking, painfully funny, misanthropic, loving and ultimately heroic. Rodeo In Joliet tramples the Hallmark cliches and platitudes of traditional cancer survival stories and presents in their place an experience that leaves the reader in awe and grateful for his or her every breath.
Uneasy Rider: Travels Through a Mid-Life Crisis
Mike Carter - 2008
Never mind that he hadn't been on two wheels since an inglorious three-month teenage chapter involving a Lambretta, four crashes and an 18-month ban for drink-driving, a plan had begun to loosely form...And so, having completed a six day residential motorcycle course and hastily re-mortgaged his flat, Mike sets off alone, resolving to go wherever the road takes him and enjoy the adventure of heading off into the unknown. He ends up travelling almost 20,000 miles and reaching the four extremes of Europe: the Arctic Circle in the north, the Mediterranean coast in the south, the Portuguese Atlantic to the west and the Iraqi border of Turkey in the east.But really it's a journey inwards, as, on the way, Mike finds his post-divorce scars starting to heal and attempts to discover what he, as a man in his forties who hasn't quite found his place in the world, should be doing. Self-deprecating, poetic and utterly engaging, his is a heroic journey taken for the rest of us too scared to leave our 9 to 5 office-bound existence.
Giovanni's Ring: My Life Inside the Real Sopranos
Giovanni Rocco - 2021
That lethal assignment brought the undercover operation to an end in March 2015, and the resulting string of high-profile arrests eviscerated the criminal organization.Giovanni’s Ring is not simply a chronicle of Giovanni Rocco’s adventures in the murky and dangerous Mafia world he inhabited, but also a fascinating window into the psychological struggles that such a life inevitably entails.“Rocco conveys the frustrations of his double life poignantly throughout this revelatory read, a captivating true-crime thriller from start to finish and a new gem for Mafia book fans.” —Booklist
Eating with Peter: A Gastronomic Journey
Susan Buckley - 2018
A man who was larger than life, Peter pulls Susan out of her comfort zone to taste the fine life, literally. Together they embark on a rollicking adventure through Michelin-starred restaurants in France to the souks of Morocco and the waters of the Red Sea and the Caribbean. They explore the world, and along the way discover the most desired tables (sometimes in a tent) and the best markets, moving from Peter's adventures with Hemingway to sampling delectable treasures in an Alpine meadow.When they return to New York, Susan and Peter—a writer, photographer, gourmand, as well as an inventive chef—incorporate their adventures into their daily American life. As they explore three-star restaurants, French farms, and Italian cheesemakers, the reader gets a taste of famous gastronomic dishes and their chefs, in addition to learning about mouth-watering recipes, culinary moments around the Buckley's kitchen and table with family and friends, and many of their New York food secrets.If much has been written about La Haute Cuisine in the past, nothing compares to the fresh, personal, and tantalizing tone Eating with Peter offers. All twenty-eight recipes in the book have thoroughly been tested, and should invite the reader to recreate the joys of Susan and Peter's experience.
Queen Of The Elephants
Mark Shand - 1995
This book describes the experiences shared during this remarkable journey - joining a government 'elephant squad' together with local villagers to chase a band of wild elephants off a tea estate, and making a stop at Parbati's ancestral home, now a virtual shrine to her father's lifelong work with elephants. The importance of this ancient knowledge becomes clear: if not preserved, the Asian elephant stands an even greater chance of disappearing altogether.
Year 1 - Fur Babies in France: From Wage Slaves to Living the Dream (Adventure Caravanning with Dogs)
Jacqueline Lambert - 2018
Then, never having owned a tin box on wheels, they accidentally bought a caravan. They named her ‘Kismet’ – which means ‘Fate’. Half way down the second bottle of CCC (Caravan Celebratory Champagne) they made the perfectly rational decision to go straight from being First-Timers to Full-Timers. Within a month, they had sold most of their possessions on eBay and rented out their apartment to tour in Kismet full time. They called it ‘Early Retirement’ and set out to Live the Dream by touring Europe with their surfboards on their roof. ‘Fur Babies in France’ is the story of their first year on wheels with Kismet and ‘Big Blue’ – their trusty tow vehicle (and toy box) - a Hyundai iLoad panel van. It was a steep learning curve; one that involved lots of breakages and started on Day 1 with a near-death experience! However, Jackie and Mark approach all of their mishaps and misadventures with more than a pinch of humour. And avoiding the crowds to tour France by the back roads, they finally found what they were looking for; beauty, peace and tranquillity, with a bit of windsurfing thrown in!
The Reluctant Hotelkeeper
John Searancke - 2018
After his parents’ marriage fell apart, he was dragooned in, at the age of 22, to pick up the pieces of their new venture, a barely-trading country house hotel that had, frankly, seen better days. Not only was it posting an annual loss, but the fabric of the building was crumbling and there was no money left to make improvements. There were to be battles royal with neighbours not wanting their status quo to be altered, and with the local fire authority who sought to impose draconian new safety measures.Over the years, and with the steepest of learning curves, the grand old building was renovated and transformed to meet the requirements of the modern discerning traveller. Accolades for the hotel and its restaurant were won; together they became a well-regarded destination for a number of celebrities – and those that deemed themselves to be celebrities but were not. Stories abound featuring idiosyncratic guests, overbearing public bodies, fractured family life and animals of all shapes and sizes. The local fire station next door was demolished one foggy night, people were frightened by flying dogs and snakes in the long grass, and there were, as befits a country house, strange goings on in the night. Many were the guests who checked in who really should not have been seen together.A rescue mission originally thought of as lasting for a year or two turned into a 35 year lifetime love affair with a beautiful old building. This is a tribute to all the people behind the scenes who helped to make the hard-won transformation into a great success.
I Am Duran: The Autobiography of Roberto Duran
Roberto Duran - 2016
In his own words, and for the first time, Roberto Duran tells his unbelievable story in I Am Duran: The Autobiography of Robert Duran. From the mean streets of Panama to the bright lights of Las Vegas, blazing a trail through the golden decade of boxing, Duran, in unflinching form, dispels myths and lays bare the cost of conquering the world. He also returns to the debacle that entered sporting folklore during his rematch with Sugar Ray Leonard, when he uttered the infamous words 'no mas' - no more.Starting life in abject poverty as the illegitimate son of a serving US soldier, Duran quickly realized that his fists could both protect him on the streets and put food on the table. His reputation in and out of the ring travelled the corridors of boxing power on the day, for a bet, he knocked down a horse with a single punch.From his stunning debut in New York to the glorious defeat of Sugar Ray Leonard, the world titles and the chaos that ensued after the No Mas encounter, Duran's explosive life in the ring was matched only by the volatility outside of it, as he lurched from kingmaker to bankruptcy, before the ultimate ending of a bloody comeback and, finally, redemption.
Dirt: Adventures, with Family, in the Kitchens of Lyon, Looking for the Origins of French Cooking
Bill Buford - 2020
Baffled by the language, but convinced that he can master the art of French cooking--or at least get to the bottom of why it is so revered-- he begins what becomes a five-year odyssey by shadowing the esteemed French chef Michel Richard, in Washington, D.C. But when Buford (quickly) realizes that a stage in France is necessary, he goes--this time with his wife and three-year-old twin sons in tow--to Lyon, the gastronomic capital of France. Studying at L'Institut Bocuse, cooking at the storied, Michelin-starred La Mère Brazier, enduring the endless hours and exacting rigeur of the kitchen, Buford becomes a man obsessed--with proving himself on the line, proving that he is worthy of the gastronomic secrets he's learning, proving that French cooking actually derives from (mon dieu!) the Italian.
Querencia
Stephen J. Bodio - 1990
He never left. With an assortment of birds, dogs, snakes, and books, he took up residence in a ramshackle two-story house along US 60 and set out to live in the way of country people. "Querencia"--the Zen-like Spanish term means something like the tiny pocket of one's inner life where one is truly at home--details a decade of life there. Throughout the early pages of his memoir, Stephen finds himself tested by the locals for his knowledge of raptor birds, of snakes, of dogs. When he begins to pass the tests, his transformation is complete, earning him a home, a place in the heart. Querencia offers a fine brief on rural living, alternately reveling in country matters and acknowledging the difficulties involved in such exercises as luring cows home from the mountain wilderness into which they've strayed while steering clear of venomous reptiles and combative bull elk. It's a treasure. --Greg McNamee
Chickens, Mules and Two Old Fools: Tuck into a Slice of Andalucían Life
Victoria Twead - 2009
They have no idea of the culture shock in store. No idea they'll become reluctant chicken farmers and own the most dangerous cockerel in Spain. No idea they'll help capture a vulture or be rescued by a mule. Will they stay, or return to the relative sanity of England?Includes Spanish recipes donated by the village ladies and a link to FREE accompanying photo book.The Telegraph-- "a colourful glimpse of Andalucían life. And a psychopathic chicken or two...charming...funny"
The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2015
Bob Sehlinger - 2014
The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World explains how Disney World works and how to use that knowledge to make every minute and every dollar of your vacation count. With advice that is direct, prescriptive, and detailed, it takes the guesswork out of travel by unambiguously rating and ranking everything from hotels, restaurants, and attractions to rental car companies. With an Unofficial Guide in hand, and authors Bob Sehlinger and Len Testa as guides, find out what’s available in every category, from best to worst, and use step-by-step detailed plans to help make the most of time at Walt Disney World.