Why a Booktrail?
2000s: Set in fictional Lansquenet-Sous-Tannes but inspired by Nerac in Aquitaine
Chocolat
What you need to know before your trail
A tasty booktrail in more ways than one – a novel about a small French town turned upside down by the arrival of a bewitching chocolate confectioner, Vianne Rocher, and her spirited young daughter.
Vianne Roche blows into Lansquenet-Sous-Tannes, a (fictional) sleepy French town but apparently based on the real village of Nerac in Aquitaine.
She brings with her daughter Anouk, as well as a dose of witchcraft, and an imaginary pet rabbit Her dreams is to make fine confectionary and to see into people’s souls – good food is the food of the soul – and so she sets up a chocolate shop. Before long she is stirring up a lot more than just her latest recipe…
Travel Guide
A book about France and chocolate/ What’s not to love?
Plus the name of the character Vianne is a town within the Lavardac commune and the town of Lavardac where the fictional Lansquenet is probably inspired by.
Having been to this region many a time, we would hazard a guess that the village is inspired by Nérac, on the river Baïse, as a little French birdie tells us that Joanne Harris spent some of her childhood holidays here and it’s also very close to a tiny village called Vianne. Could these be clues?
What the novel does so well is to capture the French passion and love for food – food can solve all problems much like the British cup of tea. And they’re right when they say food feeds the soul as the number of bakeries,cafes and chocolate shops I visited in the region are as much a part of the landscape as the hills and the villages themselves.
There is a artisanale chocolate shop here called La Cigale! and photos on the site of Joanne Harris
Streetview Maps
C) Nerac and the bridge
D) Nerac and the Chocolate Shop!
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information:
Twitter: @Joannechocolat
Web: joanne-harris.co.uk
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