Description
Carole Bumpus’s Adventures on Land and Sea takes readers to Provence in the South of France. We are transported and cheered by her joy as she visits a succession of towns and villages, among them Avignon, Arles, and Aix-en Provence, the once-upon-a-time home to several celebrated Impressionist painters.
Bumpus, for years a successful travel and food writer, takes two weeks with a small party of family and friends to explore and enjoy the region. In 1997, before computers took care of travel preparations, they rented a house in the charming village of Claviers and took along Peter Mayle and Anthony Bourdain, who were ideal absent guides.
The trip allowed visits to sights like pre-Roman remains and museums, to shopping in exotic, fragrant food markets. They learned how olive oil travels from tree to the supermarket, and local people generously shared their baking and culinary skills.
Bumpus revels in what she terms her ‘Rubenesque’ figure, each restaurant offering a meal more delicious than the one before, with no worry about gaining a couple of pounds.
The book also features two later visits. With lots of relaxed adventures and new friends, Bumpus’s eloquence and sense of humor carry the day.