L'Appart

The Delights and Disasters of Making My Paris Home

By: David Lebovitz

Narrated by: Graham Halstead

Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Best-selling author and world-renowned chef David Lebovitz continues to mine the rich subject of his evolving expat life in Paris, using his perplexing experiences in apartment renovation as a launching point for stories about French culture, food, and what it means to revamp one's life. Includes dozens of new recipes.

When David Lebovitz began the project of updating his apartment in his adopted home city, he never imagined he would encounter so much inexplicable red tape while contending with perplexing work ethic and hours. Lebovitz maintains his distinctive sense of humor with the help of his partner, Romain, peppering this renovation story with recipes from his Paris kitchen. In the midst of it all, he reveals the adventure that accompanies carving out a place for yourself in a foreign country - under baffling conditions - while never losing sight of the magic that inspired him to move to the City of Light many years ago and to truly make his home there.

©2017 David Lebovitz (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"This book is so entertaining and so deliciously told that I could just gobble it all up in one sitting. As always, David Lebovitz managed to draw me into his scrumptious universe with a million poignant observations and countless of laugh-out-loud moments." (Yotam Ottolenghi, author of Jerusalem, Plenty, and Sweet)

"David is an incredible storyteller, both in and out of the kitchen. I thoroughly enjoy the authenticity of life in a different country, where every day requires an adjustment and every event is a curve ball. But that's where the joy is: embracing life with a wonderful attitude, seeking exploration and novelty." (Gabriele Corcos, chef and author of the New York Times best seller Extra Virgin)

a great guide book to renovation.

Absolutely what anyone needs to hear prior to any French renovation, or renovation anywhere. Always hold your builders accountable. This book is amazing because it is punctuated with these wonderful recipes and landscapes of Paris that are formidable!

Not great as an audio book

I couldn't finish this audio book unfortunately. It is probably much better to be read in true book format. It is filled with recipes that sound wonderful but are time-consuming and boring to listen to, and difficult to return to in order to transcribe. Also, the author uses a great deal of French words that he doesn't translate - I assume reading them, their meaning becomes clear, but audibly not so much. And as lovely as all the food sounds, he makes Parisians sound utterly unbearable.

I'm addicted to stories about Paris

I don't know why I love Paris stories so much because I feel so angry about the different habits of the culture. Parisans are not looking for or demanding instant results like Americans.
By the time Daniel (sp) came to inspect the apartment, I was about off my rocker! I thought for sure David would have given up. But no-he powered through it with much more grace than I could have. Bravo! His apartment will have stories to tell for years to come, as will the bar stools.
Also loved the recipes. I don't bake but I could picture him preparing the food in his new kitchen as I listened, and I hoped he'd remember to use the faucet correctly. ;-)
Interestingly, the narrator was telling of the 'ing' sounds in language-yet he does not pronounce that sound.

Delicious

Loved it, great and losing story with heartfelt English as well as delicious treats...thanks. France

For anyone who has had the dream

Have you dreamt of moving to Paris and living the ex-pat life? I have/do. I think that is why I loved this so much. Not because this book made it sound easy but because this book spoke about every blunder and thing that can go wrong. Seriously, this book is a narration of a multiple year process to buy a Paris apartment but with lively little recipes to end each chapter. If you love following David, you’ll love this story too.

fun, entertaining, especially for the Francophile

Loved almost everything about it - was just a little frustrated by a couple of French mispronunciations. But unless you're very familiar with the French language, you won't notice. Highly entertaining, although the end felt just a little long.

Just When It Gets Interesting...

...the narration stops dead for a long complex recipe! So frustrating! Easier to read in a print edition, where the recipes can be skipped!

Great listen!

I've followed David on social media for a while now and love his current life. Nice to hear how he got there! Also thank you for getting a narrator that can actually pronounce the French words well 😁

Crazy-making and entertaining - plus recipes!

The title says it all, almost - delights and disasters indeed! As someone who's spent a fair bit of time in France (and would love to live there for a few years), I was very curious to hear about the author's experiences, although I cringed while I saw the disasters coming. Happily, he breaks up the horror stories with recipes, and *that* is a delight. He definitely learned a lot in the process and, if any of you are thinking of moving to Paris and buying (and renovating!) an apartment, definitely READ THIS FIRST!!!

Okay but… as an audiobook?

Lovely story I enjoyed ripping through in one setting and I like that this is built around recipes I can happily picture the author and his friends enjoying in his newly renovated kitchen but as an audiobook, the placement of the recipes is bizarre and self-defeating. Why not include an accompanying pdf with the audiobook? Currently the recipes are welcome and I hope to remember to come back to them and try one or two but even if I wanted to try them all the current audiobook structure is tedious.

Plus side - I can definitely see this story being dramatized and made into a great film adaptation :)