An Englishman in Paris: L'education Continentale by Michael Sadler
A wonderfully warm and witty love letter to one of the world's great cities. Michael Sadler is a Frenchman manque. As Peter Mayle, author of A Year in Provence, writes in his Preface, 'Sadler was born in Lewes, a small town in the south of England. This was a geographical accident. He should have emerged from the womb in Paris, looking anxiously about him for a suitable place to have lunch.' He may not have been born there, but Michael Sadler eventually found his spiritual home. An Englishman in Paris is his delightfully warm and witty memoir of his year in the French capital, describing with alternate affection and bemusement such continental confusions as the etiquette of flower-buying, the role of cricket in French foreplay, and the dangers beurre noir presents not just to one's cholesterol levels but also to dry-cleaning bills...