Today, a guest post! While visiting my favorite Mediterranean town of Valbonne last month, I stopped in a darling English bookstore. It turned out the owner, Amercian Lin Wolff, is one of our readers. Lin's own story was so interesting that I asked her to share it with us.
Not a week goes by that I don’t think of my high school French teacher’s warning, “You’ll never know when you might need to speak French,” to her bored class of young Texans struggling to get their lazy tongues wrapped around the simplest of French vocabulary – Oui! (Wah!) Non! (Nowh!) Je m’appele (Gee mapple… ) Most of us struggled and lost the battle. I lasted one semester. And now I find myself having lived in France for over 10 years, still struggling with my “toddler” French and terrible accent. But every day is a joy, every day is a learning experience, and almost every day reinforces my faith in humanity, particularly the French kind. Watercolor of her shop by Lin's dad, artist Hunter George.
I own a little English bookshop in the south of France, half an hour from Nice, 10 minutes from Grasse, and with a constant view of the Mediterranean.How did a little girl from Houston end up here? It all started with leaving Texas for Los Angeles as fast as I could and falling into jobs for National Geographic and Disney, then meeting my future husband, Marc, while we were both on location in Tahiti. Marc has managed to turn his flying experience in Vietnam into a successful career of flying for films – you’ve probably seen his work in everything from the Star Wars films to the latest James Bond, SKYFALL, and if you’re watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics this summer, you’ll catch his involvement in that, too.
I traded L.A. for Marc’s flat in London and then the Cornish countryside . We started our family there and lived happily for 13 years, until the rainy winter of 2000 when I began to dream of living somewhere warmer, drier, sunnier and a colour other than gray. So, we joined old friends here in France the following summer and after the move Marc and I each took intensive month-long French immersion courses in nearby Villefranche. His already good French became excellent, while my non-existent French became toddler French.
Having discovered an adorable English bookshop in nearby Valbonne, I tended to hang out there among beloved books, chatting to owner Jill, and other ‘refugees’ taking a break from the intensity of mangling French. When I finally worked up the courage to ask if she ever needed the occasional help, Jill put me on her list of ‘fantasy booksellers.’ I’d never worked in retail, didn’t know how to work a cash register or a credit card machine, got the shakes when counting out customers’ change, but she kept me on anyway.
And after 5 years, Jill decided she wanted to sell up but not having much luck finding a buyer. We’d just bought a little lake house in northern Vermont, where I was planning to spend some quality time enjoying a very different sort of life from my French one, especially as the kids were going on to university and I could finally have my very own timetable. However, I just couldn’t imagine life in my corner of France without this bookshop, so I said yes to it (quickly, before I could change my mind) and have embarked on a very different sort of adventure ever since – accounting, taxes, employee benefits ad nauseum, all in French! It’s never dull, my French is improving, slowly, and my admiration for the French continues, unabated. Photo below: the main square in Valbonne.
As for advice regarding the learning of the language, I’d say LEAVE YOUR EGO BEHIND! Don’t worry about how you sound – just try! Nothing pleases the French more than someone who is really trying to learn their language. And persist! Don’t let responses to you in English deter you from continuing to try in French. Keep at it! My husband is the world’s best at stubbornly sticking to his French during an otherwise-English conversation. It helps him – he always learns something new. And I always show my pleasure in being taught better vocabulary by helpful strangers. It’s a connection – and often a shared laugh.
Favorite Reads: Felicitations to our reader, author Karen Chase: her book Bonjour 40: A Paris Travel Log (40 years. 40 days. 40 seconds.)
14 thoughts on “The Best Little Bookshop in France–straight from Texas”
Merci Lynn…..will have to make it over to Valbonne. Used to visit an Englis bookstore in Saint Remybut she closed a few years ago. Nice to know about Lin!
Lin, if you have not discovered it yet visit Chateau Trigance, just an hour north of you at the east end of the Gorge du Verdon. The Thomas family are wonderful hosts and the restaurant is “world class” but not expensive. Tell Guillaume that Lee & Maureen sent you.
We discovered Chateau Trigance in 1997 on our first vacation to France together and it remains a favorite stop for us. The trip around the Gorge du Vedon make a nice day trip then return for an apero on the terrace and enjoy the sunset before dinner. La Bon Vie!
Maureen and I spend 10-12 weeks a year in Provence near Sainte Cecile des Vinges (15 minutes NE of Orange). The rest of our time is split between our homes in Atlanta and Sunset Beach, NC.
We have just arrived on May 2 and will be here until June 7, if you are in our neck of Provence stop for an apero.
Keep having fun!
Lee and Maureen Adams
Hello Lynn. Enjoyed having a glimpse into your French life. My Italian (after 7 years in a little village here) isn’t much better than your French. I keep telling myself that learning a second language is a process…and go off to read a book in English! If I ever pass through Valbonne I’ll be sure to stop in…
Lynn, thanks so much for the mention about Bonjour 40, my book about turning 40 in Paris. I love that you’ve read it and have included it among your favorite reads!
The best part about writing this book has been hearing about other people retrace my steps – even my neighbor went to Paris and stopped in at the crab shack near the apartment I had in Paris. While there he met the owner and Bandit, her dog, featured in the book. It helped me realize the impact an adventure can have in making the world smaller and friendlier.
I whole-heartedly agree that learning the language means checking your ego at the door. I’m open to any correction the French want to make in my pronunciation. It’s mostly come with a smile and a laugh. I, too, am only speaking toddler French, but I dream of staying in France more than a month at a time so that I can improve.
You have a great story. I don’t think my husband and I will ever live there full time, but we definitely want to buy property and live a more complete French life. We’re usually Burgundy-based, but I’ll keep your store in my notes for when we head south (I think we might go that direction this summer for a couple of days).
Great fun reading Lin’s story…
Valbonne! It brings back memories of our wonderful months in a house in Chateauneuf de Grasse, nearby. I think friends took us to an out-of-the-way little ‘workers’s’ resto just outside Valbonne, for a prix-fixe (and menu-fixe) meal. How those names bring it all back: Opio, Pres du Lac, Tourette sur Loup, Plascassier, Gourdon,le Rouret, Mougins…
Long sigh of envy of you! I hope that my health improves sufficiently to permit us to revisit that magical area – and to drop in at your bookstore.
How lovely. We were in Valbonne last October. Will definitely return for a visit to Lin’s charming bookstore next trip. What a wonderful
story…thanks as always for sharing it Lynn. Also, for all of the encouragement from you and your readers on improving one’s French language skills. Bon weekend!
Linn is living every Francophile’s dream! What a charming story!
@Lee & Maureen–We were in St. Cecile les Vignes in November on a wine tasting at Domain Rouge Bleu (home of writer and blogger extrodinaire, Kristin Espinasse & her husband, wine maker, Jean Marc). It truly IS a small world
Lynn, what a great idea to invite Lin for a guest post!
It is a totally charming read and leaves us smiling at the success and happiness of such a nice lady!(make that TWO nice ladies!)
Wishing you both a day as happy as you’ve given us!
Merci!
Since writing the above, I’ve been in Vermont and Texas, visiting family, and have only just managed to read the many lovely comments. How CONNECTED I feel! And how I look forward to meeting some of you in my shop in the future! Thanks to Lynn for allowing me to tell my story, and for visiting the shop in the first place, and, of course, for using my Dad’s brilliant artwork!
Lin – I’m not sure if you will see this comment, but I am an American (a fellow South Carolinian, Lynn!) and I’ll be moving to Valbonne permanently within the next year (visiting til then). I came across your bookstore during a trip back in April, but unfortunately it was a Sunday so the store was closed. I hope to meet you when I return in just a couple of weeks! I don’t know much of anyone in the area, so perhaps I can meet you and some others via the French-English conversation meetings or the stitch-n-bitch’s. 🙂
Hi Caitlin – how very exciting that you will soon be a ‘resident!’ I look forward to meeting you and introducing you to some friends. Sorry to have missed you in April — we close on Sundays and Mondays — I call those ‘sanity’ days!
We all need mental health days and it’s probably a great idea to have those scheduled ahead of time, haha! I’ll probably try to stop by the end of next week or the week after (depends on how jet lagged I am!), so be on the lookout for une jeune américaine. 🙂