{"product_id":"9781804995815-la-vie","title":"La Vie","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA year in rural France\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAN INDIE BESTSELLER\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'It reminded me all over again of why I threw up everything for the magic of \u003ci\u003eLa Belle France\u003c\/i\u003e' Carol Drinkwater, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Olive Farm\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'An utterly beguiling immersion in La France Profonde, keenly observed and beautifully told' Felicity Cloake, author of \u003ci\u003eOne More Croissant for the Road\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFor fans of Peter Mayle, 'Britain's finest living nature writer' takes the plunge and buys an old farmhouse deep in the French countryside - a perfect slice of sunny escapist joy from the perennial \u003ci\u003eSunday Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestseller.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Charente: roofs of red terracotta tiles, bleached-white walls, windows shuttered against the blaring sun. The baker does his rounds in his battered little white van with a hundred warm baguettes in the back, while a cat picks its way past a Romanesque church, the sound of bells skipping across miles of rolling, glorious countryside.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor many years a farmer in England, John Lewis-Stempel yearned once again to live in a landscape where turtle doves purr and nightingales sing, as they did almost everywhere in his childhood. He wanted to be self-sufficient, to make his own wine and learn the secrets of truffle farming. And so, buying an old honey-coloured limestone house with bright blue shutters, the Lewis-Stempels began their new life as peasant farmers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOver that first year, Lewis-Stempel fell in love with the French countryside, from the wild boar that trot past the kitchen window to the glow-worms and citronella candles that flicker in the evening garden. Although it began as a practical enterprise, it quickly became an affair of the heart: of learning to bite the end off the morning baguette; taking two hours for lunch; in short, living the good life - or as the French say, \u003ci\u003eLa Vie\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41683877560417,"sku":"9781804995815","price":8.51,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/orig_32348702.jpg?v=1737187127","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781804995815-la-vie","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}