Time To Celebrate The Terrific Cookbook Author Patricia Wells!

This Wednesday’s Bookmobile is heading to France to hang out with one of the greatest and most prolific Cookbook Authors ever – Patricia Wells, who along with bestselling cookbooks also wrote a terrific memoir about her life, along with her husband Walter!

“We’ve Always Had Paris…And Provence” by Patricia and Walter Wells.

Wednesday’s Bookmobile is going on a delicious journey to Paris and Provence, as Patricia tells her fascinating story and love of food.

Here is the Amazon writeup of their memoir:

“Patricia Wells, long recognized as the leading American authority on French food, and her husband, Walter, live the life in France that many of us have often fantasized about. After more than a quarter century, they are as close to being accepted as “French” as any non-natives can be. In this delightful memoir they share in two voices their experiences—the good, the bad, and the funny—offering a charming and evocative account of their beloved home and some of the wonderful people they have met along the way.”

Patricia Wells wrote the “must have” travel guides “Food Lovers Guide To Paris” and “Food Lovers Guide To France” – and many GREAT cookbooks as well:

Patricia and Walter own a home in Provence, which they open up several weeks a year for cooking classes – that’s right, you can cook with Patricia and that’s what my wife Alex and I did!

The Patricia Wells Cooking Class – In Her Kitchen!

Yes, Patricia and Walter welcome you to their home to cook with her! Every day you plan, prepare, cook and consume a terrific series of dishes, made as a team, under Patricia’s expert direction…

Here we are with Patricia, posing in front of the Julia Child’s stove – a gift to Patricia from Julia – this is the provencal stove that Julia cooked on for years!

What is so much fun about the cooking class is that it takes place at their home – which they call Chanteduc – located in the shadow of the french village Vaison la Romaine, near Avignon:

Her memoir is filled of stories of the life they have built together in Provence, and when you spend a week cooking with them, you see what a terrifically happy couple they are. Here is Alex getting some instruction from Walter:

After cooking together, you eat the food in a group setting – here we are on the veranda enjoying lunch together – a wonderful way to savor the hard work that went into the meal.

Every day another meal, another adventure – so much fun, and always with the full support and guidance of Patricia:

The twelve of us had the best time cooking with Patricia, as she guided us through an amazing array of dishes, always using the best local ingredients, many from her own garden…

OK, I mugged to the camera while Patricia did most of the work…and meanwhile, Alex was outside harvesting her eggplant!

Alex’s Eggplant Dish!

Look at how beautiful this dish is, made with eggplants you harvest from Patricia’s garden!

It was one of our favorite vacations ever, and we learned things that influence our cooking to this day. Check out Patricia’s website for a bunch of great stuff, including information on all of her classes:

http://patriciawells.com/

As I said, we stayed in the small village of Vaison la Romaine, perfect for a cooking adventure…the picture above is the view from our front den window, and this was our view of the town’s old fortress from our back terrace outside our room…

The medieval streets of Vaison la Romaine were so much fun to wander….even if you can’t cook with Patricia, pick up one of her many cookbooks – and read her memoir with Walter – and live the provencal life!

And since we were there, we headed out to explore the entire regions – from Gigondas to Chateauneuf-du-Pape and more! See my pictures here:

https://johnrieber.com/2012/09/03/wine-roman-ruins-and-gigondas-too-whiskey-babys-and-a-few-papes-touring-provence-thanks-to-patricia-wells/

If you enjoy these posts, why not subscribe and never miss out? It’s easy, and there are NO ads of any kind, just stuff I like…click on the main page and “follow” me on the upper right…

https://johnrieber.com

Thanks so much for reading!

Categories: Books / Media, cookbooks, Exotic Travel, Food, food blog, Food Review, Memoirs, Paris, Pop Culture, Real Estate, Recipes, Talent/Celebrities, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir, Uncategorized, wine

Tags: adventure tour, Adventure Travel, Allard, Allard restaurant, At Home In Provence, Avignon, bistro food, Chanteduc, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Cookbooks, cooking, cooking adventures, cooking classes, cooking schools, duck dishes, duck recipes, duck with olives, European travel, food travels, France, french food, french wine, Gigonda France, Gigondas, Julia Child's Provencal stove, Mediterranean, moving to Provence, Paris, Paris bistros, patrica wells, Patricia and Walter Wells, Patricia Wells, Patricia Wells At Home In Provence cookbook, Patricia Wells Cookbooks, Patricia Wells cooking class, Patricia Wells memoir, Provence, Provence food, Provence France, Provence wine, provencial travels, provencial villages, Recipes, Restaurants, Seguret, travel, travel adventures, travel journal, travel memoir, travel writing, Vaison la Romaine, Vaison la Romaine France, Vaison la Roomaine, We’ve Always Had Paris…and Provence, wednesday bookmobile, weekly wednesday bookmobile, weekly Wednesday bookmobile series, weekly Wednesday bookmobile series More stats, Wine