South from Paris

For readers of Wild and Eat, Pray, Love, the remarkable story of one woman's walk from Paris to Avignon-and her reckoning with the father, country, and life she thought she knew.



Bruce LeFavour stood tall in the eyes of his youngest daughter, Cree: He was a joyful bear of a man, a chef who fell in love with France during an Army stint in the 1950s, pioneered nouvelle cuisine in the '70s, and opened a renowned restaurant in the '80s. Cree grew up on stories of his treasured journeys through France, eating, drinking, and writing a book about its trails. When he died, he had yet to walk his dream route: Paris to Avignon.



So Cree goes it alone, taking Bruce on his final walk by delivering his ashes to his favorite vineyard. Her father might have gone leisurely, detouring to wineries, resorting to bike or car when weary. Cree has a different style. Repeatedly clocking twenty-mile days, walking stubbornly through the heat while subsisting on cheese, bread, and beer, Cree struggles to reconcile her father's apparent joy in life-the pleasures of cooking, eating, drinking, reading, and travel-with his complicated role in hers.



South from Paris is a tribute to France and an honest, at times heartbreaking, memoir about a daughter's relationship with her father.