Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Renovating an Apartment in Paris is Not For the Faint Hearted

David Lebovitz loves his life in Paris. It was nearly perfect, but he wanted to own an apartment rather than rent. The search was time consuming and frustrating. Nothing seemed right. Then he found the “perfect” place. It needed work, but it had possibilities.

Purchasing the apartment was nearly as frustrating as looking for it. After many problems, including finding that the renovations would be far more expensive than he planned. The deal was done. That was only the beginning.

The restoration began, but it seemed for every improvement there were additional problems. David writes about the difficulties with humor, but the reader can see what a difficult situation it was. It makes you think twice about renovating an apartment in a foreign country, although from experience I can say that it can be equally frustrating in the US.

In addition to the tales of woe, the book has lively descriptions of life in Paris, particularly tracking down tasty food. I admit it makes me jealous to think of being able to buy such delicious pastries and produce within walking distance in your neighborhood.

Being a cookbook writer, David also includes recipes. I only tried the beef stew. It was delicious. I’m sure the other recipes would be equally delightful. The sprinkling of French words in the text can be off-putting if you’re not familiar with the language, but it does add to the atmosphere.


I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.   

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