One Sip at a Time

Learning to Live in Provence

Can a two-career couple really pick up stakes and move to Provence? Keith and Val had a dream - to live in Provence, the land of brilliant sunlight, charming hilltop villages, and the deep blue waters of the Mediterranean. But there were two problems: they weren't French speakers and they had full-time jobs. So they came up with a plan....

Follow their adventures (and misadventures) as they quit their jobs, become consultants, and split their time between two countries. Laugh along as they build a life in Provence, slowly mastering a new language and making friends with the locals over long meals and just a bit too much wine.

This light and breezy memoir is full of wry observations on France, like the power of cheese to sway elections, the right and wrong ways for men to kiss each other, and the law requiring that blood donors must speak French. If you've ever dreamed of changing gears and learning what joie de vivre is really all about, you won't want to miss this delightful book.

©2016 Keith Van Sickle (P)2017 Tantor

Disappointing and choppy

I wish the author had elaborated on some of the stories and told less stories. He bounces around from topic to topic too much. I didn't feel like I connected with the author. I've read way better memoirs of people's experiences living abroad

Useful

Useful as I’m headed back to Provence, so it was culturally relevant as well as entertaining.

Author is last person I'd want to travel in France with.

I gave up an hour in. Sadly, the author came across as a self-absorbed bore.

Such fun!

I really enjoyed it for what it was… small vignettes that give you a sense of the delight that the author clearly feels as he makes his way through the French language. Great fun!

An intriguing story.

Yearning to relocate, I snatch books about others’ international moves like they’re stacks of cash. I found Keith Van Sickle’s story of moving to France with Val to be both humorous and enlightening, with cultural insights I hadn’t considered. I laughed as Keith made several mistakes trying to speak a foreign language, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent listening to this fabulous audiobook.