Book Review: The Book of Lost Fragrances 02/24/2012
I'm taking a petite pause from the Paris Mad Libs series to showcase a wonderful new book. Several months ago, a publicist for author M.J. Rose contacted me about reading and reviewing The Book of Lost Fragrances. As a lover of perfumes, the title alone had me hooked, and I readily agreed to highlight the novel on the blog. Below you'll find the publisher's synopsis and my own review of the novel. SYNOPSIS: A sweeping and suspenseful tale of secrets, intrigue, and lovers separated by time, all connected through the mystical qualities of a perfume created in the days of Cleopatra--and lost for 2,000 years. Jac L'Etoile has always been haunted by the past, her memories infused with the exotic scents that she grew up surrounded by as the heir to a storied French perfume company. In order to flee the pain of those remembrances--and of her mother's suicide--she moved to America. Now, fourteen years later she and her brother have inherited the company along with it's financial problems. But when Robbie hints at an earth-shattering discovery in the family archives and then suddenly goes missing--leaving a dead body in his wake--Jac is plunged into a world she thought she'd left behind. Back in Paris to investigate her brother's disappearance, Jac becomes haunted by the legend the House of L'Etoile has been espousing since 1799. Is there a scent that can unlock the mystery of reincarnation - or is it just another dream infused perfume? The Book of Lost Fragrances fuses history, passion, and suspense, moving from Cleopatra's Egypt and the terrors of revolutionary France to Tibet's battle with China and the glamour of modern-day Paris. Jac's quest for the ancient perfume someone 
REVIEW: I know some people who are super sensitive to perfume, but I've always wanted to be someone who has a signature perfume--just a light scent to remember me by, not anything overwhelming. The problem is I love too many fragrances to be faithful to just one. I own bottles and bottles of perfume not because I'm particularly enamored with the different scents, but because I enjoy the memories the scents trigger. I have a beautiful butterfly shaped bottle from Anna Sui that takes me back to the night of my first kiss, an elegant bottle of Givenchy Amarige that reminds me of winters in New York, and my favorite, Creed Fleurissimo that summons wonderful memories of a trip to London with my mom. M.J. Rose takes this idea of scent triggering memories and weaves a mysterious tale. This premise, more than any other aspect of the novel, is why I enjoyed reading The Book of Lost Fragrances. Initially frustrated by the novel's multiple, seemly disconnected plot lines and characters, I grew more attached to the story as I progressed through the chapters. M.J. Rose takes her audience to ancient Egypt, 18th century France, present day Paris, China, and back all the while enticing the reader with a combination of romance, danger, and even a bit of politics. By the middle of the novel, M.J. Rose had me completely lured into her complex plot, and I found myself nearly missing my metro stop on the way to work because I was so engrossed in the book. Despite being put off at first by Ms. Rose's different plot lines, I ended up enjoying the diversity of the novel and looked forward to the way each chapter was set in a different time period. In this way, I also learned about the history of perfume and the power of a scent to transport a person mentally through time. M.J. Rose's novel now sits on my night stand as a reminder to spritz myself with perfume and experience Paris's rich perfume history. I might even need to go ahead and create my own personal scent! Paris does have a least a few perfume houses ;-) See you later this afternoon with another post in the Paris Mad Libs series! Add Comment Paris Mad Libs Part II 02/22/2012
 Welcome to Part Deux of the Paris Mad Libs series! Today's guest Mad Libs writer is Jayme from Life en Route. Jayme is a Canadian expat who came to Paris to master the French language and discover the ins and outs of life in the French capital. Enjoy Jayme's version of the Oh Paris! Mad Libs story (and her beautiful photos too)! (For Part I of the Paris Mad Libs series click here.)  Oh Paris! Oh la la! Nothing like the charming sound of a baguette waking you up in the morning! But no time to saunter. I need to get dressed in my chic Parisian uniform of my Navigo pass and bescherelle, then I'm off for a quick bite of parapluie from Monoprix. But wait! As soon as I get out the door, I'm greeted by the man who parks his scooter RIGHT outside our window (practically inside our apartment) EVERY DAY and I'm forced to alter my plans for the day. Forget going to the 17ème arrondissement. I have to take the tiny, Parisian little dogs who dress nicer than I do to the bon marché Charles de Gaulle - Étoile Métro for a rendezvous with mon petit-ami. Quelle chance! It seems that hollering will have to wait until the workers stop striking. I may have mentioned getting the dictionary fixed, but who cares when I get to make a stop the métro platform instead. Thankfully, I can suddenly run and finish motioning before le président de la France, Nicolas Sarkozy comes and stands there shocked at la Grande Roue. I just don't understand why camera dropped on all of my baguette. Mais, c'est la vie!  Paris Mad Libs Part I 02/20/2012
On Friday I arrived in my hometown of Washington, D.C. for not one, but two weddings and a little R&R in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Blogging is going on the back burner while I spend time with family and friends, but I've lined up a few special posts to keep you entertained during my absence. About a month ago, I had the crazy idea to do a Parisian take on the famous word game Mad Libs. While Mad Libs stories are usually reserved for keeping children busy during long car rides, I still love the game as an adult and thought it would be a fun and easy way to introduce you to some of my favorite bloggers while I took a vacation from the computer. Following Mad Libs protocol, guest posters were asked to give me 25 words from different parts of speech which would then be used to fill in the blanks of a Paris themed Mad Libs story that yours truly wrote (way harder than it sounds!). But in traditional Mad Libs style, guests posters were asked not to look at the story before coming up with their Paris related word choices. Fortunately, I had a few brave souls who were willing to entertain this silly idea. I'm not sure how much sense the final stories will make, but hopefully they'll give you a few laughs and reveal just how equally glamorous and unglamorous life in Paris can be. The first guest writer in the Paris Mad Libs series is Ksam from the blog Totally Frenched Out. Ksam is going on her ninth year in France, most of which she spent wondering what on Earth she was doing in this godforsaken country. Luckily a move to Paris five years in helped her figure it out, and she has spent the rest of the time falling in love with the country that has inspired so many Americans before her. Here is Ksam's version of the Paris Mad Libs story. Enjoy, and don't forget to stop by her blog and say bonjour!  Oh Paris! Oh la la! Nothing like the burp sound of a crotte waking you up in the morning! But no time to eat. I need to get dressed in my chic Parisian uniform of iPhone and chocolate, then I'm off for a quick bite of aubergine from the Seine. But wait! As soon as I get out the door, I'm greeted by a Velib and forced to alter my plans for the day. Forget going to Rue Mouffetard. I have to take the rouge berets to the fabuleux Place de la Concorde for a rendezvous with a priest. Quelle chance! It seems that peeing will have to wait until the workers stop striking. I may have sucked at getting the tarte du citron fixed, but who cares when I get to make a stop in Montmartre instead. Thankfully, I can grandly walk and finish writing before Quasimodo comes and sings at la Grande Roue. I just don't understand why Nicolas Sarkozy stomped on all of my baguette. Mais, c'est la vie! More Paris Mad Libs on Wednesday and Friday! Stay tuned! The transformation 02/13/2012
A little over a year ago I was on a plane to Madrid talking to mon mari about running. I told him I thought running 26 miles was just ridiculous and swore up and down that I would never run a marathon. Never ever ever. Never ever ever should be banned from leaving my mouth. Since December I've been planning my weeks around a marathon training schedule and wondering how the heck I got myself registered for running such a silly numbers of kilometers. I may not be fast, super strong, or have a big race under my belt (yet!), but I'm a runner now. I know because I've got the gear and once I've got the gear, I'm in. In like Flynn. But, the transformation to runner started before my latest gear purchase (thank you Planet Jogging!). My running fever boils down to three things: (1) Friends who've inspired me. Holy Hannah I have a lot of copains who get their sneakers nice and worn in. First Richie Rich completed the 2011 Paris Marathon, then Amanda & Marissa did a 10 miler in Philly, then Betsy did a 5K, Elizabeth put her all into Boston, and Dee got 'er done in NY in November. This small list doesn't even include the gazillions of running bloggers who fill me with fitness envy and admiration (um, hi Runner's Kitchen and Lauren's Road Less Traveled). Clearly all the cool kids were doing it and I wanted in. (2) Paris. Paris is usually all that and a bag of chips, but when it comes to exercising on the cheap the city offers few budget friendly options. With a pair of sneakers and a set of workout clothes (and let's not forget a real bra ladies), you're pretty much ready to hit the pavement. Any sport can get expensive when you convince yourself you must have the newest equipment on the street, but you can keep things pretty minimal with running. (Coming from me that means a lot considering I've pinned about 10 running skirts on Pinterest.) (3) Exercising more means I can eat more. Who thought exercising more equaled losing weight? I mean really. That's silly. Clearly when you burn more calories, you should stuff your face. Worst advice ever. Don't listen to me. But it is seriously hard not to use training as an excuse to binge and it is ever so easy to wolf down a few (extra) pancakes after a long run. Mama Pea's Gluten-Free Almond Blueberry Pancakes are keeping me very full and happy. Now I just need to keep all this training up post marathon and beyond. Running for life, yay! (Probably not, but I can pretend I'm down for being 65 and running 5 times a week.) The thing is, a passion for staying fit is what got me into this running business, but it has become so much more than that. Like new friends (Go say hello to Jayme. She's awesome and I'm so thankful for our long runs together!) and winning things. Yep, winning things. I don't care if they're participation medals. Medals are medals and I'll run for fake gold medallions any day. 
If we're talking in percentages, I'm giving the gluten free diet about a 70% effort. 30% of me still wants to plunge head first into the nearest bread basket and swim in a sea of gluten goodness. Those smarty pants health experts weren't joking when they said going gluten free would be hard. But since gluten doesn't have my stomach roiling in pain, I lack the motivation to make hardcore diet changes (even though deep down I know gluten is making me ill on the inside). This means I cheat often and go gluten crazy at least once every few days. These past few weeks haven't been a total wash, but I'm definitely not giving it the ol' college try. To mark the one month anniversary of my semi-gluten free life, here's the highlight reel from the past few weeks. HIGHS --> Finding edible, dare I say enjoyable, gluten free products in Paris. See evidence below. I could eat that sticky date cookie for dessert 3x daily. --> Making The Healthy Everythingtarian's banana custard oats more times than I can count. (Tip: sub in Speculoos for the peanut butter and you'll lick your plate clean over and over and over again) --> Telling the boulanger that I would not like a piece of bread to accompany my salad. He looked confused, and I was sad.     IN-BETWEENS --> Making my own kamut bread (recipe here). It's funky shaped, but I LOVE its weirdness. (Okay, full disclosure--kamut isn't really gluten free, but it has less gluten than other types of wheat...that counts right?) --> Devouring a slice of carrot cake from Sugarplum Cake Shop. Yeah it was bad for me, but you can't count something so wonderfully delicious as a low. It just wouldn't be right. Plus, I was at the bakery for an awesome bag painting workshop with Kasia Dietz. (Can you guess where the quote on my bag is from?) LOWS --> Eating Picard's gluten filled moelleux au chocolat for dessert (often). They're just so good. Really they are. I don't care if they're frozen. --> Binging on ice cream because it's an obvious gluten free dessert choice. I'm not proud. So there you have it. The die hard gluten free folks are probably laughing at my amateur attempt to purge myself of gluten, but you gotta start somewhere, and I'm totally okay with taking it slow, real slow. You know it's cold in Paris when... 02/02/2012
They're out there salting the holes used to put up the stakes for the neighborhood market tents. Yikes. It's freezing here. I believe this post from September is finally justified...winter has arrived! 
Eating my vegetables 01/31/2012
{source} With one real class left, I thought I should let you know that Paul Giamatti has been teaching my French class. Pretty awesome right? Who knew famous actors moonlighted as level two French instructors? It's pretty hard to believe what an excellent instructor he is, but considering Giamatti's role in the 2004 hit movie Sideways I'm really not surprised by his extensive knowledge of French. Just think about all the French wine he probably had to drink to prepare for that film! Okay, okay...life would be pretty swell if I were attending French classes taught my movie stars, but Paul Giamatti isn't really teaching my French course. Someone who looks just like him is! I'm serious. EXACTLY like him. And if I were more comfortable being a stalker with my phone camera I would have a picture to prove it to you. My teacher's resemblance to Giamatti and his ability to entertain the class like a Hollywood pro are two of the major reasons I've continued my language studies. Trying to communicate with my fellow French? I'm way beyond that. I'm just doing it for pure merde and giggles... Right....I wish. No, I've been in French class since the day I arrived. Having taken zero French before boarding a plane to live in Paris, I had to get my study on immediately. I've taken classes just about everywhere, (here and here if you want to know) and now I am le tired of the whole thing. My current classes through the Mairie de Paris have been the best yet, but I'm over sitting in a room with an unmotivated crowd of seven (down from 23!) for two hours 2x/week trying to stuff present tense verb irregularities into my brain. Just like eating my vegetables, I know French practice is good for me, but man oh man I don't want to eat my vegetables anymore. I want to skip straight to dessert fluency! But like a good little nerd, I went ahead and signed up for another semester of classes. I just hope Ryan Gosling is my next professor. Pretty please with sugar on top. Time to study, eat din din, and finish off the bag of les colas I bought on a candy rampage today. À tout à l'heure Planner dreams 01/29/2012
 Commitments are piling up, and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. This happens every once in awhile especially when living abroad starts to feel like normal life. I'm trying to adjust by using lots of highlighters, post-it notes, and decorating my planner. I actually sort of love when my agenda gets a little cooky because that means I have an excuse to redesign my time management game plan. I recently went old school again and said sayonara to my online system, and now I get to reacquaint myself with the joy of scratching items off my to do list (aaaaaaaah). And while I'm not quite at this level of organizational awesomeness, I aspire to have a life binder like Sara Cotner. I was introduced to Sara's wise ways at a teaching conference a gazillion years ago and wish I could be as put together as she is. The girl has seriously got her act together. She also planned a wedding for $2000 dollars--no small feat in today's world of wedding industry temptation. So when I'm not crushing on Sara, I'm trying to remember that life comes before blogging and that sometimes I need to step away from the computer to make time for pursuing new goals, specifically one big, giant goal that's been simmering on the sidelines for what feels like forever: pastry school. Yippee! Maybe this seems like a bizarre path to go down considering my recent gluten allergy discovery, but I am more than ready to get the pastry show on the road. Wrap me up in cute aprons and take me to the kitchen! It's time to go get the pastry school application party going! This is one thing I don't mind adding to my to do list (mostly because I write it down in glitter ink adorned with lots of smiley faces). I'm over and out to get my shizzle together and revise an application essay or two. See you soon(ish)! Yes you can! 01/23/2012
 Even the French founded electronics chain, Darty, is getting into the spirit of the U.S. presidential elections. Do you think the product's packaging says something about where they're throwing their support? Totally whipping out my American flag toothpicks for these recipes. Don't fear the darkness! 01/20/2012
 This is the Paris I love. The one when I'm running across Pont de Sully to L’île Saint-Louis at 6:20 in the morning darkness. Is getting out of my warm bed difficult at that hour, oui for sure, but Paris is a whole different animal before the sun rises and one that I've grown to love as much as my cozy comforter. My predawn Paris is quiet, calm, and collected, not the noisy beast of mid-day when mopeds are zipping, cars are honking, sirens are blaring, and people are up and at 'em blocking your course down the sidewalk. But, a quiet Paris can also be a creepy Paris. You've got your unlit streets, darkened doorways, shady parks, and of course the occasional person who's out and about under questionable circumstances. And because I am a chicken little and more importantly a girl, I take extra precaution when going for runs when the sun is still a few hours away from gracing Paris with her presence. Actually, I take precautions all the time, sun or no sun, when I'm running by myself.  Anytime I'm running alone, I roll out with this super cool bracelet on my wrist. It screams, "DORK ALERT," but I'm OK with that. The bracelet has emergency contact information in case something happens to me while I'm out running. You know--I slip on a doggie present and twist my ankle or I pass out because I see Johnny Depp strolling along the Seine. Really any number of things could put me in danger. In addition to my name and phone numbers, I also had the bracelet printed with three very important words--"ENGLISH SPEAKING ONLY." I figure if I'm injured the little French I do speak will evaporate from my brain and leave me bumbling so better to let emergency personnel know exactly what they're working with. If you're a runner, and especially if you're a runner in a foreign city where you may or may not be fluent in the language, I really recommend carrying ID and numbers to call in case of an emergency (even more so if you've got a medical condition that puts you at risk.) I might be over cautious, but safe is always better than sorry. Why not be safe when knowing you've taken an extra step to keep yourself out of harm's way means you can enjoy all sides of a city, even the slightly eerie early morning ones? (In case you're wondering, I purchased my bracelet here, but there are several companies that offer this product.) P.S. Check out this post I wrote for Posted in Paris on running in the City of Light. |   CategoriesAll ArchivesFebruary 2012 Loading
      |
RSS Feed
