An American in the French Languedoc
How many times in your life have you considered leaving your structured life? cultural trappings? workday routine?
If you could re-write the script of your life, what destination would choose for your escape?
In 2005, California artist Marques Vickers and then wife Claudia and sold their northern California home, left established careers and uprooted to the French Midi, specifically the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France.
Their objective was to escape the frenetic pace of the San Francisco Bay Area and renovate ancient stone village houses. Their relocation to southern France involved streamlining their lifestyles and adapting to a radically different culture. The adage that one must lose yourself to ultimately find yourself defined the experience.
The first major casualty 18 months later was their marriage.
An American in the French Languedoc is a compilation of 52 illustrated essays documenting Vickers personal journey of urban escapism while painting an intimate portrait of French rural life. Vicker's two stone village renovated homes were located in the Corbières region of the Languedoc wedged between the cities of Narbonne, Perpignan and Carcassonne and the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The gateway to the Spanish border, the Pyrenees Mountain range, is approximately 60 miles south. The Languedoc topography boasts the world’s largest acreage of vineyards and abundant ruins dating from the Roman colonization to the Cathar chateaus of the Middle Ages.
Share Vickers' insight and enthusiasm into an escape most people only dream of exploring. The price of admission is less than a round of drinks and who knows...maybe next summer you'll be scouring the region for your own personal escape. The French Languedoc remains the region Provence used to resemble.
Marquis Publishing Company
ISBN #978-0-9706530-3-1
132 Pages, 105 Photo Images
On Compact Disc in Adobe PDF Format
$19.95 USD Includes Free Shipping
We use PayPal Secure Online Payment Services
marquesv@marquesv.com
CHAPTERS
FABREZAN RESIDENCE (June 2005-April 2006)
Take a test drive by reading one of the linked sample chapters
“How I Found Myself in the French Languedoc”
“A Personal Leap of Faith”
“Sourcing A House Purchase"
“Vintners House of Horrors”
“Crepi To The Rescue”
“Monster Discharge”
“Bathroom Horror Session”
“Unwelcome Cargo: Hosting Company During A Renovation”
“The Quest For Budget Central Heating”
“The Terraced Obsession”
“Even The Cadaver Drives A Tractor During Vendage”
“Butch the Beggar Dog”
“A Bigger Baguette”
“The Raging Tides of Extreme Weather”
“Right Side of the Road, Wrong Transmission”
“Becoming A Local Curiosity”
“Troubled Vineyards”
“The British Invasion of Southern France”
“When the Bells Cease to Toll”
“Anxiety in the Accelerated Lane”
“Buffet A Go Go”
“Poor Charles Cros”
“South of the Border to Dalihood”
“Inheriting Your Spouses Relatives”
“Mail Service as a Local Festivity”
“Memo From My Moulin”
“Simple Little Rose”
“My Alter Ego Stephen”
“Talairan Truffle Market”
“Embracing the Wild Kingdom”
“Real Estate Realities and Formalities”
MONTSERET RESIDENCE (May 2006-)
“Montseret”
“The Sad Life of One Vagabond”
“A Stranger in My Hometown, Homeland”
“A Tale of Two Regions”
“Monsieur Louis Crosses the Line”
“Rose’s Thorns in Languedoc Politics”
“Trailing the Modern Cathar”
“Sourcing Village Home Buyers”
“Les Fric…C’est Pas Chic”
“Ridley Versus the French”
“Hiring the Local Help”
“Antiquity Graffiti”
“Super Rugby Bowl”
“Carnivale”
“The Unwanted Gift”
“Village Promenades”
My French Green Card
Separating the Pros From Poseurs
“My Russian Online Romance”
“1907 One Hundred Years Later”
“Pursuing My Notion of Paradise”
Marques Vickers Fine Art Website
Renovation of Vickers' Montseret House
Renovation of Vickers' Fabrezan House
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