Innholdsfortegnelse for March/April 2024 i My French Country Home

Dear Readers, With each passing day, the chill of winter becomes a more distant memory as we look forward with growing anticipation to spring. Our March/April 2024 edition brims with stunning homes, gardens and destinations that should fill you with fresh ideas for the months ahead. After a season of cocooning at home with family and dogs, I always find myself yearning to get out and explore. Our Discovery Guide focuses on the “twin sisters” of Normandy’s Côte Floral: Deauville and Trouville. This is a region dear to my heart, renowned for its broad sandy shores and stunning Belle Époque villas. You’ll find even more to love about this area’s special atmosphere in our Portfolio, which delves into the color and whimsy of its iconic beach umbrellas. As France slowly…

Johnny Hallyday: l’Exposition Johnny Hallyday epitomised the love affair that French youth had with all things American in the wake of WWII. This immersive exhibition pays tribute to a pop icon who embraced the sound and style of early Elvis Presley and added his own distinctive French twist. Until June 19 at Paris Expo – Porte de Versailles. www.johnnyhallydaylexposition.com Modern Paris 1905-1925 A survey of the rich creativity of early 20th century Paris in fields ranging from fashion, cinema and visual arts to dance, architecture and industry. Featuring nearly 400 works, as well as designs by the likes of Lanvin and Cartier and even planes and cars from the period. Runs until April 14 at the Petit Palais.  www.petitpalais.paris.fr Brancusi: Art is Just Beginning This retrospective at the Centre Pompidou brings…

Braised Chicken in Tarragon Sauce With its subtle anise notes, tarragon is one of the most underrated herbs for cooking, which is why I can’t resist a dish where this distinctive herb is the hero. This recipe uses both the stalks and the leaves to break through the creamy sauce. Serves 4 Ingredients: • ¾ cup (200 ml) high quality, premade beef or veal stock• 1 bunch fresh tarragon (stalks and leaves)• 6 chicken pieces of your choice (thighs, breast or legs)• Salt and pepper, to taste• 2 tbsp (15 g) flour• 1 tbsp (15 ml) cooking oil• 1 carrot, roughly diced• 1 shallot, roughly diced• 1 celery stalk, finely sliced• 2 tbsp (30 g) unsalted butter• 3 tbsp (45 ml) cognac• ¾ cup (200 ml) dry white wine• ¾…

It’s cold inside the ground-floor annex where Fabienne Wadoux sits hunched over a massive wooden table, ministering to a seven-meter (23-foot) section of florid wool velour that unfurls from the imposing roll that rests heavily on a spartan tile floor. Giant plate-glass windows bathe the space in natural light, but a small electric heater does little to cut the late-winter chill of this make-shift restoration studio. Fabienne shrugs as she warms her skilled fingers around a steaming coffee cup. “This is its birthplace,” she says of the nearly 200-year-old carpet entrusted to her charge. “It’s normal that it should come back here — the only place in the world with the expertise to restore a piece of this quality.” “Here” is the Mobilier National, France’s national furniture repository, which dates…

Considered a village within the capital, Montmartre has retained many aspects of Paris' storied past. Boasting numerous delightful restaurants and captivating attractions, it is well worth a full day visit, including a stop at Guillaume and Catherine’s store. Whatever your fancy, from rustic earthenware water jugs to ornate crystal chandeliers, it is likely L’Objet Qui Parle will have something that speaks to you. Despite its compact size, Guillaume and Catherine have filled every inch of the store, from floor to ceiling, with their collection of antiques. And yet, thoughtful spacing allows each item to be admired individually, facilitating a curated atmosphere in which to find a piece of French history to take home. SPECIALITY: Brocante LOCATION: 86 Rue Des Martyrs 75018 Paris CONTACT: IG account: @lobjetquiparle Website: www.lobjetquiparle.fr OPENING TIMES:…

The Last Restaurant in Paris By Lily Graham Grand Central Publishing Sabine inherits a Paris restaurant from Marianne, a grandmother she never knew. She then learns that Marianne – who was despised by locals and deemed a traitor for serving Nazi officers during WWII — mysteriously disappeared after a terrible tragedy. As she digs into the past, Sabine wonders if Marianne was maybe a heroine after all. Paris Cocktails: An Elegant Collection of More than 100 Recipes Inspired by the City of Light By Doni Belau | Cider Mill Press This expanded and updated edition includes more than 100 cocktails invented in or inspired by the French capital. While delving into a bit of mixological history from the Jazz Age to the modern era, you’ll discover dozens of new addresses,…

PRINT Delivered to your door, enjoy the magic of French living in a beautiful collector’s-quality magazine. US$79.95 for one year (6 issues)*  US$14.95 for one issue* Yearly print subscribers get FREE access to the digital version of the magazine. DIGITAL Enjoy the same beautiful My French Country Home features, photography and delicious recipes - wherever you are. Ideal for commuting or holidays, read the latest issue of MFCH on your smartphone and escape to France with the click of a button. Yearly digital (and print) subscribers get issues conveniently stored within the Bookshelf, accessible from your My French Country Home account. US$39.99 for one year (6 issues) US$7.99 for one issue Enjoy easy reading with adaptable viewing modes, interactive live links for online shopping and a personal library of back…

Tish Jett is an author, a journalist and a former editor at the International Herald Tribune and American ELLE. She pens our regular “Just Between Us” column. www.tishjett.com @tishjett Aude Jolijour is a French scenographer and photographer. Her poetic images of the colorful beach cabanas of Trouville-sur-Mer are this issue’s featured Portfolio. @aude.jolijour Joanna Maclennan is a professional photographer who works with World of Interiors, House & Garden and The New York Times. This issue showcases her shots of the home of Jeff and Peter in Eygalières, Provence. www.joannamaclennan.com  @joannamaclennanphotography Eve Cardi is a professional chef who trained at Chez Catherine in Paris. She created the recipes and floral tablescape for our Easter feast. www.eve-cardi.blogspot.com @eve.cardi_ We are delighted to have the following talented writers and photographers contribute to this…

French residents, Londoners at heart and Americans by birth, it was almost by accident that Jeffrey McCall and his partner, Peter, found themselves buying a property in Provence in 2018. “We moved here from Singapore, where we were finishing our careers and decided that we wanted to retire,” Jeffrey explains. “We’d been very fortunate that we had been able to live and work all over the world, so we had the wonderful decision to make of where to spend the next chapter of our lives.” Deciding to try out living in a few different locations before making a final choice, “we put everything we owned in storage, and the first stop on this anticipated adult gap year — or so we were calling it — was Provence.” The couple had…

In most people’s lives, circumstances like job locations or proximity to family tend to dictate where they will live. In my case, it was dogs. Three large dogs from the Bedford, NY, SPCA were the reason we — my mother, my eight-year-old daughter, and I — found ourselves in a tiny French village 40 minutes west of Paris in the middle of the Rambouillet forest. One could say that I moved for a dream job at the International Herald Tribune, and that was partially true. But I saw it more as a two-year sojourn, a career investment after which I would return to New York with an irresistible resume. Because we weren’t planning on staying indefinitely, I rented a sweet thatched-roof house that, to our delight, came with a friendly…

Trouville’s transformation from a humble fishing village to a glamorous seaside destination in the 19th century was propelled by its allure among an elite crowd seeking respite from city life. Notably, it attracted renowned figures from the worlds of arts, literature and politics, from the likes of Gustave Flaubert, the influential French writer, to England’s Queen Victoria, who, enamored by the picturesque setting, made Trouville a frequent destination during her sojourns in France, solidifying the town’s reputation as a favored retreat among the European aristocracy. These illustrious visitors left an indelible mark on the quaint town. Amid the flurry of parasols and elegance that this new regal and cosmopolitan crowd brought to seaside life, the concept of private beach tents emerged, providing exclusivity to vacationers seeking solace and shade from…

Nobody seems to agree exactly how they first entered Parisian airspace, but resident colonies of rose-ringed parakeets have been observed in and around the French capital as far back as the 1970s. Native to the tropical forests of Africa and India, it is presumed that their ancestors were once either exotic pets or escapees from nearby zoos. Over the decades, these birds have adapted surprisingly well to the decidedly un-tropical climate of metropolitan France — as well as large swaths of western Europe, including Belgium, the Netherlands and England. Normally spotted in pairs or as part of large, raucous flocks, the parakeets of Paris are prolific breeders and their population today is estimated to number in the tens of thousands! Once rare, parakeet sightings are now commonplace in most public…

From the middle ages until the 19th century, Auvergne was one of the most important papermaking regions in France. From the time he was in elementary school, Etienne remembers taking class trips to an old water-powered mill in his home village of Ambert that had been producing handmade paper from recycled cotton and linen rags since the 1300s. The experience of watching the artisans transform the villagers' old bed linens and tablecloths into pristine white sheets fascinated him. As a young man —after pursuing a degree in sports science and taking a two-year detour to Australia — Etienne eventually felt the call to return to the region of his birth. By chance, the artisans at the old mill — the Moulin Richard de Bas — were looking for a new…

Chicken and Mushroom Vol-au-Vents Preparation time: 45 minutes Cooking time: 4.5 hours for homemade broth (or 20 minutes if using bouillon cubes) Serves 6 Ingredients: For homemade broth: • Chicken bones• 1 carrot• 1 stalk of celery• 1 small bouquet garni (thyme, parsley, bay leaves)• Parsley stems• 1 small onion (leek can also work)• 1 tbsp of coarse salt• Ground black pepper to taste• Or: 2 vegetable bouillon cubes diluted in 4 cups (1 liter) of boiling water For the vol-au-vents and the filling: • 6 vol-au-vent pastry cases• 2 chicken breasts• 1 deboned guinea fowl thigh• 2.2 pounds (1 kg) of seasonal mushrooms• 4 shallots• 1 cup (200 g) of washed fresh spinach• 3 1⁄2 tbsp (40 g) of butter• ¼ cup (40 g) of flour• 1 small bunch…

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