A Saturday at the Saint-Chamas Bookstore
He is a unique bookseller who runs a very special bookstore. Located in the small town of Saint-Chamas, on the edge of the Etang de Berre, in Bouches-du-Rhône, the shop surprises with its smallness, but seduces with a very cozy atmosphere. An old sofa and two armchairs invite you to relax while a table serves as a tea room. A section of wall is covered with new and second-hand books, here reading is accessible to everyone.
One day in November, she invited me to come and sign my three large books, assuring me of the presence of one of her most loyal customers who had ordered two of them. I was asked to be there around 11 a.m. and stay until maybe 3 p.m.
The lure of a good coffee did the rest. So that Saturday, I went an hour from home to sign the two books that this cooking lover had purchased. Arriving safely at port, I first discovered a stack of seven books balanced on a stool. The bookseller informed me that some customers had made some purchases, but since they could not be there, they wanted me to write them a few words.
If the number of books sold surprised me, once again a very small store in a small town, I was going to discover that I was not at the end of my surprises…
While I was trying to thank these unknown readers, my attention was attracted by people entering with their arms full of a basket or an icebox and who, while greeting me, quickly went to the back of the store. The number of passers-by, almost at lunchtime, made me think that the shop also served as a relay point for some fresh produce business.
I was continuing with the requested signatures when Christelle asked me to please follow her to the back. Stunned, I discovered around ten smiling people standing behind three tables prettily set with dishes of all kinds: there hard-boiled eggs in the shape of a swan, spring rolls and samosas, there a salad, and then on a stove an immense dish of chicken in sauce. On the last table, tarts, flans, cakes and creams were proudly enthroned.
It then occurred to me that these people had all prepared an egg or chicken dish in honor of my two new books. Christelle Avon had organized a festive, joyful potluck lunch, filled with kind attention. We tasted, among other things, Gaston Gérard chicken, hard-boiled eggs ready to take flight, a melting and generous omelette, samosas and spring rolls, coconut flan, apple pie, chocolate cake, nay, there was a profusion of dishes and generosity!
Astonishment and overflow of emotions passed, we helped ourselves in a joyful hubbub.
During these tastings, the conversations were going well, we talked about books, cuisine and cookbooks! It was the return of coffee and tea accompanying a farandole of desserts. I learned that the bookseller had gotten up at six in the morning to cook a potato omelette, that another had been worried since the day before about the dose of rum poured into her flan, another detailed the recipe for the Gaston Gérard-style chicken that he had prepared with mastery!
Tongues were loosened, minds opened, there was a strong sense of happiness now at “Feuilles et thés”. So many of my books were sold that day, in addition to those ordered, that the stock was exhausted with a satisfaction shared threefold between bookseller, author and readers. But above all we knew, if we needed to be convinced, that there are small bookstores independent of everything where an enchanted interlude is offered to us once the door is pushed open.
Mireille Sanchez, cookbook author
Editor’s note: An extract from the latest works by Mireille Sanchez is provided at the end of the article.
Photo credits: Bookstore Leaves and tea
By Guest Author
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