I'm not sure what led me to pick-up Bouquet by G. B. Sterns, which recounts her 1926 tour through the vineyards and restaurants of France. Perhaps it was the promise of an adventure, or the fact that it was set in the 20s, but I quickly realized that I was not the target audience for this book.
Stern's traveling companions are her husband Johnny, and married friends Rosemary and Humphrey, who are interesting and realistic traveling companions indeed. The relationship between these companions as well as Stern's lovely language and description of moments and places is the only thing that made me keep reading. I know this sounds weird - isn't the author's prose and experience what you read a story for. Yes, except for when the story gets extremely detailed on a drink the reader (me) could care less about: wine.
I confess, I do not like wine. I'm sorry. I can't drink many wines due to an allergic reaction I get, so I've just cut them out entirely. To dull the pain from this poor relationship, I cuddle up with beer and whiskey - not a bad trade off, really. But back to Stern's book...
Since I do not drink wine, many of the character notes, arguments, and climactic moments in the book held little interest for me. If you love wine or want to know more about wine, pick this book up. If you could care less about wine, but love travel stories, pick up this book. If you care for neither, I would have to say leave this one be and read another title from Stern.
That being said - what I really enjoyed about Bouquet, besides the amazing scenic descriptions, was how Stern does not shy away from detailing the bad aspects of travel. The couples get in fights, they check into bad hotels, their car breaks down - she speaks of it all and I love her for that. There is nothing worse than a travel story that glosses over the bad that comes with the good. We all know travel cannot be 100% cream and roses. You get sick, tired, fussy - it happens to the best of us. Coming from Stern, these moments become funny and normalized. They make you feel like less of an asshole for when you find yourself in similar situations in "idyllic locals."
In reading this book I fell in love with Stern's writing and I will definitely be giving her other books a read. I've heard good things about Ten Days of Christmas, which I think would be a good book to read over the holidays. Now to find a copy in one of my libraries...
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