TIME

The flavors of France

“ON SUNDAYS, THE BOULANGERIE BELONGED TO Lyon.” This is how Bill Buford describes his new favorite spot in the neighborhood where he moved with his family in 2008. In the latest memoir from the former fiction editor of the Buford has relocated to the gastronomic center of France to master cooking the country’s cuisine. Soon he discovers the boulangerie, a local touchstone run by beloved baker Bob, which attracts patrons from all walks of life each weekend. There’s the crowd that strolls in looking for warm nourishment after a night out. Hours later, early risers wait for buttery breakfast treats, cash in hand, in a line winding out the door. These images recall a world that feels far away amid stay-at-home orders: strangers a welcome reminder of simpler times.

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