- When Julia Child arrived in Paris in 1948, a "six-foot-two-inch, thirty-six-year-old, rather loud and unserious Californian, she spoke barely a few words of French and didn"t know the first thing about cooking. "What"s a shallot?" she asked her husband Paul, as they waited for their sole meuniere during their very first lunch in France, which she was to describe later as "the most exciting meal of my life". As she fell in love with French culture, buying food at local markets, sampling the local bistros and taking classes at the Cordon Bleu, her life began to change forever, and My Life in France follows her extraordinary transformation from kitchen ingenue to internationally renowned (and loved) expert in French cuisine. Bursting with adventurous and humorous spirit, Julia Child captures post-war Paris with wonderful vividness and charm.