French Illusions:
From Tours to Paris

French Illusions from Tours

Author: Linda Kovic-Skow
Publisher: Self, at Dreamland Press
Release date: April 29, 2015
Pages: 244
ISBN: 978-0988464049
also available as ebook
Genre: Nonfiction – memoir

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MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS BOOK

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A few years ago, I reviewed the first volume of this series, French Illusions: My Story as an American Au Pair in the Loire Valley. This second book, also based on the author’s journal, takes off where she had stopped in her adventures at the end of book 1. Here is to nice time in France.

Not to reveal too much in case you have not read book 1 yet, but to sum up, Linda’s big life dream was to become a flight attendant. To do so, she had to prove her fluency in French. What better plan than go spend some time as an au pair in France? and better still in a region full of wonders: the Loire Valley. Well, things didn’t turn out too well with her au pair family (read all about it in book 1).
But Linda is not the type to give up easily. So in Book 2, you follow her, helped with friends, finding a new place to live and signing up at the renowned Institut Touraine (to learn French) in the city of Tours.
She also has some love adventures with a couple of boyfriends. Here again, things are not as easy and rosy as expected.
To make things worse, she constantly struggles with money; fortunately she has parents in the US who back her up and transfer her funds on a regular basis, even to help her spend an extra 6 weeks in Paris at the end of her stay.
This is a fun book about the life of an American girl in her 20s, in the years 1979-1980. It is a lot about friendship and good food, but also love, sex, drinks, night life and drugs. There are a few pages on tourism, one castle in the Loire Valley and a bit on Paris.

EN DEUX MOTS :

Mémoire, assez légère, sur la vie d’une jeune américaine plutôt gâtée, dans la vallée de la Loire puis à Paris.

VERDICT: Fun memoir of a young American girl in France. Good food, drinks, and friends help when life gets tough.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT

Linda Kovic’s story continues in From Tours to Paris – the final book in the French Illusions series based on her diaries from 1979 and 1980. Still determined to learn French and fulfill her dream of becoming an international flight attendant, she puts her disastrous stint as an au pair behind her and revels in newfound freedom in the city of Tours. She finds lodging, enrolls at a French institute, and spends eight glorious days with Adam before he leaves for the holidays. When he returns, his shocking announcement propels her in a different direction, eventually leading her to Paris. Join Linda as she struggles with money, faces challenges at school, and learns some tough lessons about love and life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Linda Kovic-Skow is a best-selling author in travel in France.
Originally from Seattle, she currently winters in Gilbert, Arizona
and spends summers on a boat in the Pacific Northwest Waters
of Washington and British Columbia.
She earned an Associate Degree in Medical Assisting in 1978
from North Seattle Community College
and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration
from Seattle University in 1985.
She has been married for 30 years and has two daughters.
An enthusiastic traveler, Linda also enjoys hiking, boating, gardening and socializing with friends. French Illusions: My Story as an American Au Pair in the Loire Valley, was her debut memoir. The sequel, French Illusions: From Tours to Paris, recounts the rest of her adventure in France.