From Here, You Can't See Paris: Seasons of a French Village and Its Restaurant [Paperback]

Michael S. Sanders (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2003

From Here,You Can't See Paris is a sweet, leisurely exploration of the life of Les Arques (population 159), a hilltop village in a remote corner of France untouched by the modern era. It is a story of a dying village's struggle to survive, of a dead artist whose legacy began its rebirth, and of chef Jacques Ratier and his wife, Noëlle, whose bustling restaurant -- the village's sole business -- has helped ensure Les Arques's future.

Sanders set out to explore the inner workings of a French restaurant kitchen but ended up stumbling into a much richer world. Through the eyes of the Sanders family, one discovers the vibrant traditions of food, cooking, and rural living, and comes to know the village's history. Whether uncovering the darker secrets of making foie gras, hearing a chef confess his doubts about the Michelin star system, or absorbing the lore of the land around a farmhouse kitchen table after a boar hunt, life in Les Arques turns out to be anything but sleepy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With his wife and young daughter, Sanders spent a year in southwestern France, in the village of Les Arques, tracing the rhythm of rural life and the restaurant at the town's heart. As in his first book, The Yard: Building a Destroyer at the Bath Iron Works (which followed the construction of the USS Donald Cook at a shipyard struggling against modernization), Sanders explores a threatened way of life: before 1988 (the year citizens founded the Zadkine Museum), Les Arques struggled to barely survive. Inspired by Ossip Zadkine, the Russian sculptor who summered in the town until his death in 1967, the museum attracts resident students and tourists year-round. Now, the local restaurant, La R‚cr‚ation, not only feeds the locals, it draws an international clientele. Chef Jacques Ratier and his wife, Noelle, established what is locally called La R‚cr‚ (French for "recess") in the town's abandoned schoolhouse in 1993 and this is Les Arques' sole business. Sanders affectionately observes the restaurant in action, from morning prep to full swing service. As he contemplates a bid for star status in the Michelin guide, Mr. Ratier personifies Les Arques' struggle to stay in the game. Sanders also investigates French country ways, devoting entire chapters to foie gras and truffles and explaining the history of a region where every house has a name and children grow up on four-course school lunches. He unveils a culture wholly at odds with fast-food America. The book's back matter offers advice for travelers, but Sanders's account is so lovely, and Les Arques so sensuous and ripe with magic, to visit seems vaguely sacrilegious.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Michael S. Sanders, a former book editor and author of The Yard, lives in midcoast Maine with his wife and daughter.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (September 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060959207
• ISBN-13: 978-0060959203
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #380,555 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars From Here You Can't See Paris, May 6, 2003

By 

Joana Baker (France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Here, You Can't See Paris: Seasons of a French Village and Its Restaurant (Hardcover)

I loved this book. As an American who lives half time in France, a former restauranteur and ardent Francophile, it had all the things that most interest me here. A type of lifestyle very similar in many ways to the rural people who live all around me in Normandie, the story of a restaurant struggling to survive and prosper, as all small business owners do, and the experiences of an expatriate family who tried their best to assimilate into the French culture, something which is very hard for unilingual Americans to do.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loving the Lot, November 10, 2002

By 

carmen myers (seattle,wa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Here, You Can't See Paris: Seasons of a French Village and Its Restaurant (Hardcover)

My part time home is located just down the road in Lapeze.Though fearful of the crowds swarming this lovely Lot if this book is popular, Michael Sanders writes with knowledge and heart. His stories ring true and treat our wonderful locals with the respect they deserve without the sentimentality or pompousness of other books about the region. His words remind me of how lucky I am to be in this area and it has been very educational for me and will make my next visit even more wonderful.Le recreation is a supurb restaurant and its owners charming. Cest bon!!

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars From here I can see the future..., December 23, 2003

By 

L. Alper (Englewood CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From Here, You Can't See Paris: Seasons of a French Village and Its Restaurant (Hardcover)

Michael S. Sanders has beat both Peter Maysles & Frances Mayes at their own game. Too bad his book sales don't seem to reflect it!

"From Here You Can't See Paris" is written with a clear-eyed understanding of the hardships of picturesque rural life. Instead of being slightly patronizing towards the backwards locals & their quaintly amusing ways, Michael Sanders earns himself a place in the life of Les Arques by participating on an equal footing rather than as the newest deep-pocketed employer in the area. This is the France that I want to live in, an area trying desperately to retain it's ancient character while refusing to be an anachronism. The locals show great ingenuity in conceiving ways to achieve this. Michael Sanders documents their efforts, as well as informing the reader of the mechanics of such famed French food products as foie gras. The section on how foie gras is produced is fascinating, as is his description of daily life in a French restaurant.

The only reason this book rates 4 stars instead of 5 (really, it should be 4.5, but again, Amazon doesn't allow partial points) is Sanders occasional Americanism. I was taken aback when Sanders described his dismay at his 5 year old daughters increasing "Frenchness". His wishing for "playdates" & typical American media diversions such as a local multiplex were annoying to me. The descriptions of Les Arques & the local school seemed all a parent could want for a healthy, intelligent & well-adjusted child; why yearn for a sullen, over-stimulated American brat?

Those carps aside (& they are purely my own reactions to French culture) "From Here You Can't See Paris" has helped me to determine my future lies in France.