More than a decade ago, Angela Murrills and husband Peter Matthews began their love affair with the Languedoc, an area in southern France near the Mediterranean coast and the Pyrenees. One of Europe’s oldest and most historic regions, it is rich with wonders including castles, wild white horses, Roman ruins, and Carcassonne, Europe’s greatest fortified town. What really drew them to this area, however, was the locals’ love of food and wine. As their visits to the region became longer and their dream of owning a home intensified, they began to discover another way of living—a slower one based on gastronomic pleasure and the really important things in life: hunting for mushrooms, morning trips to the bakery, long lunches, and heated debates about the best way to make cassoulet. Including mouthwatering recipes and delightful duotone drawings, this wonderful memoir is for the fans of Peter Mayle and Frances Mays

Angela Murrills writes on food, wine, and lifestyle for many publications, including Nuvo, Northwest Palate, Food Arts, Western Living, and the Georgia Straight. In her ongoing pursuit of stories with the ring of truth, she has worked on the production line in a chocolate factory, learned to make roti in an Indian desert, and undertaken a blind tasting of 50 Sauternes at nine o'clock in the morning. She is the author of Food City: Vancouver. She and her husband, retired art director Peter Matthews, divide their time between Vancouver and the Languedoc.