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Rate this book... Rating: 4.6/5 (7 votes cast) Average rating 5 out of 5 
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Description of A Summer in Gascony: Discovering the Other South of France |
A Summer in Gascony evokes the spirit, sights, smells and sounds of the "other South of France" with its strong spirit of independence, its love of the land and all the simple pleasures it provides - magret de canard, méchoui - and gutsy red wine and armagnac!
The only travel-writing book on Gascony and sure to enjoy as much success as our bestselling Almost French, this is a charming and humorous ‘fish out of water’ tale of a young Englishman who spends a summer working in Gascony and leaves a Gascon in heart and soul - a love affair that endures till today.
A Summer in Gascony is full of fascinating insights into the turbulent history of Gascony with its strong English connection going back to the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry Plantagenet when it became "the English Kingdom" for 300 years.
With charm and gentle humour, Martin Calder describes an extraordinary summer spent working at a Ferme-Auberge in a remote hilltop village in Gascony, one of the most rural parts of Southwest France stretching from Toulouse in the East to the Atlantic in the West, from the River Garonne in the north to the Pyrenees in the South. It is a golden land of rolling hills and wide horizons, swathed with vineyards, sunflowers, maize and pastures where wild boar and roe deer roam the oak forests.
In the tiny hamlet of Péguilhan, Calder is introduced to the Gascon way of life, working in the fields, shepherding the sheep, watering the crops, grilling succulent magrets de canard at the inn, and discovers a unique people, proud of their fiercely independent heritage.
This is a tale of two love affairs: an idyllic summer romance with his fellow stagiere Anja and a lifelong love affair with Gascony and its village festivals, dusty roads, and sun-baked wine country, full of colourful characters
- the charismatic and convivial Jacques-Henri, the hardworking farmer and his family who take Martin into their home and hearts; the yoga-practicing Germans
- Pattes, the mischievous and lovable stray dog who brings havoc in his wake
- Madame 'Parle-Beaucoup' the town gossip who has a secret of her own
- and the memorable Monsieur Fustignac whose pride in his Gascon heritage is unforgettable.
As an Englishman in Gascony, Martin finds himself more welcome than he expected thanks to the old affinities that exist between England and Gascony - after all Gascons fought for 300 years alongside the English against their common enemy - the French! Gascony exported huge quantities of wine - "claret" - to slake the thirsts of medieval Englishmen.
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Reviews"Nostalgia for a traditional France, soused in Armagnac, sunshine and young love, brought vividly to life."
- John Mole, author of It's All Greek to Me!
"Entrancing... the reader soaks up Gascony like a thirsty vine."
- Kevin Gale, France Bookshop
"Martin’s vivid descriptions of his time spent in la France profonde allow readers to experience, eat and drink their way through a summer in Gascony from
the comfort of an armchair."
- Nick & Karen Kitchener, EARL Domaine de Lauroux Winery
"This engaging recollection of an unforgettable summer... replete with regional culinary delights, smells, sights and sounds of Gascony, is a sensory feast. Highly recommended."
- Michelle Dixon, French Magazine Book Club
"A charming and nostalgic account, written in an accessible and down-to-earth style, this book offers an insider's perspective of Gascony. I felt entirely satisfied with this read and keen to sample Gascony's rural pleasures for myself."
- Becci Sargent, French Magazine Book Club
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About Martin Calder |
Martin Calder is a lecturer in French language and literature at the University of Bristol. A true Francophile, he has lived and worked in Paris and other parts of France, but is always drawn back to Gascony. Gascony appeals to his enjoyment of the simple pleasures of life on the land, the sights and smells of the country, good food and wine, and hard work.
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