Pulse { La France } Inspiration
POV: exploring the French Riviera in September
Whether or not you’re joining us on retreat this fall, you can add a little Riviera inspiration to your summer…
reading
l’ incontournable // the unavoidable, classic-for-a-reason, tried-and-true… you get it
Living Well is the Best Revenge by Calvin Tomkins
An intimate portrait of Sara and Gerald Murphy, American expats who moved to France in the 1920s and became central figures around which The Lost Generation and friends orbited. They lived what Tomkins describes as a life of great originality and considerable beauty, frequented by artists from Stravinsky to Picasso and inspiring F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic Tender is the Night.
Toujours Provence by Peter Mayle
Most lists you find of books set in France (and every list of books set in Provence) will start with Mayle’s 1989 memoir A Year In Provence, but I like this follow-up better, especially for the descriptions of French food! The book is whimsical, charming, and perfectly sets the scene of Provençal life.
pour la plage // the beach read
Villa America by Liza Klaussmann
Am I a little obsessed with Sara and Gerald Murphy? Maybe! Should you be a little obsessed with them too? Probably, yeah! This splashy novel is a fictionalized (and ok, glamorized, but I did say ‘beach read’) account of their art-soaked life on the French Riviera.
pour flâner // walking with the eyes of a poet
Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay
Ok maybe it’s not set in France, but Ross Gay’s poems are very much in line with the French (and Tantric!) way of seeing beauty in the everyday, and we are here for it.
film
To Catch a Thief, 1955
Talk about incontournable. Does it get any more classic? Alfred Hitchcock directs Cary Grant and Grace Kelly in this thriller set in the French Riviera. They speed along the coast through one sweeping vista after another, and there’s a jewel heist in there somewhere.
A Good Year, 2006
Say what you will about Russel Crowe, or Ridley Scott, or film adaptations of much-loved novels. But Provence (and Marion Cotillard) cannot be beat. For a stunning preview of the landscape you’re about to explore, start here.
Two for the Road, 1967
A couple embarks on a road trip through the south of France in this rom-com from another era. Scenic countryside and mediterranean coastline, iconic 60s fashion, and Audrey Hepburn. Oui, s’il vous plaît.
The Hundred Foot Journey, 2014
An Indian family moves to the south of France and opens a restaurant in a small village, across the street (and one hundred feet) from a Michelin-starred french bistro headed by Helen Mirren. The rather predictable plot is buoyed by incredible scenery and mouth-watering cuisine.
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