ANTIQUE WINE TASTING TABLE

French Essence: Ambience, Beauty, and Style in Provence

The author of My French Life returns with a breathtaking, full-color tour of the culture and style unique to Provence.

Ten years ago, Vicki Archer and her husband began restoring a seventeenth-century olive farm in Saint-Remy-de-Provence, resurrecting the ancient orchards and renovating the farmhouse. The story of Archer's dream come true is an enchanting one, captured on the pages of her debut book, My French Life. Now fully at home in this magnificent corner of the world, she brings us a guide for celebrating and re-creating Provencal ambiance.

A lover of architecture, art, furniture, and decor, Archer knows that the best interiors are inspired by the heart as much as the mind. French Essence is designed to spark both, with gorgeous photographs of lush gardens, timeless interiors, hauntingly beautiful village lanes, and inspired aesthetic details. Sumptuous cuisine and charming shops are also essential features of the tour, giging all readers the chance to vicariously savor the sensuous pleasures and effortless chic of this region. Reminiscent of Frances Mayes's lavishly illustrated books, In Tuscany and Bringing Tuscany Home, Archer's captivating words and scenes open the doors of inspiration for all who cherish the French way of life.

Imagine this - you're a vendor at an semi-yearly brocante with over 800 stalls. It's the first day of the market and buyers are everywhere looking for that rare find. One o'clock rolls around so, in true French style, you break out a full 4 course meal complete with wine, goblets, china, etc. You dine casually and you're nearly oblivious to the shoppers in your booth because IT'S LUNCH TIME! Gotta love the French. They know how to enjoy dining. Look at the table in the right corner. They have cheese and everything! Some vendors were even having lunch inside their booths and they didn't even address people if they came in to shop. Another vendor came over to us with his wineglass in hand and said he was off to lunch so we'd have to come back later if we saw anything interesting!

Foire Nationale aux Antiquites, a la Brocante et aux Jambons. Chatou, France.

At Ainsworth State Park.

As we stocked up on dehydrated goodies for this trip, I realized one thing about bicycle camping-- as far as the camping goes, it's a lot like car camping; but when it comes to food, you're in the backcountry. We do bring a few things like bread and cheese to keep things sane, but the bulk of our bike camping food is those vacuum sealed dehydrated suppers. Fortunately there are some decent ones nowadays, most notably Mary Jane Butters' organic meals, which are also mostly vegetarian and sometimes vegan. Most of them only have a few ingredients and, when reconstituted, resemble real food.

Of course, one of the benefits of riding 40 miles with a fully loaded bike to your campsite is that everything you eat tastes like the best thing in the whole world.