An Englishman in Paris: L'education Continentale

Knowing that however keen you might be to excel in such matters it's easy to get it wrong abroad. South coast-born, (but temperamentally Parisian manque), Sadler decided to spend a year in the city of Renoir and Debussy to steep himself in continental manners. Braving the terrifying French traffic, finding out what wine to buy at the Bon Marche, tackling a diner bourgeois, negotiating affairs of the heart, coming to terms with tripe, and a million other challenges peculiar to the French capital--all these became grist to Sadler's mill, and if he didn't crack all of them, we are the beneficiaries of his wise and witty advice on how not to make too much of an ass of yourself. Sadler points out that the best approach is a commixing of British cool and French gusto. As he risked his cholesterol levels with mouth-watering French cuisine and learnt how not to give offence (or how to give it, if necessary) and as he discovers how to belong in a city that is distrustful of incomers, the process is fascinating. And as An Englishman in Paris proves, Sadler certainly did his damndest to be a boulevadier. His book is a canny, knowing and enthusiastic look at our neighbours at the other end of the Chunnel, and even makes some cogent observations about the nature of foreignness--theirs and ours. If you're packing your bag for that Eurostar trip, you'd be well advised to put this in. --Barry Forshaw