First things first, please allow me to apologize for having gone MIA.

All the little seeds I’ve been planting over the past seven years all seem to be flourishing at the same time. I feel truly lucky. Opening the new O Chateau wine bar has been a lot of work and has not allowed me to blog as much I wanted to. It’s been great fun and response from both clients and the press has been tremendous – so that’s fantastic.

Amongst other great recent time-consuming developments, I’ve also recently started to shoot a TV series about wine that will soon air in France and in a number of other countries (more details coming soon…). In short, the show will be about a silly French sommelier traveling through the wine regions, exploring and sharing his passion… I’m still in the midst of filming this, which is loads of fun but also keeps me away from my computer a fair bit…

Good news all around these days as “Stuff Parisians Like” (the book) is coming out next week on Tuesday, July 5th. I just received today the first copies and cannot tell you how excited I am. Book looks beautiful. Many improved articles from the blog, plus a lot of fresh content, including new articles about Barack Obama, Expacts,  Clint Eastwood, La Place des Vosges, Money, Les Bons Vivants, Saying Trop, Interns, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, La Fleur de Sel, Le Métro… and others. The book is illustrated with photos of Paris and Parisians that I took, so please be lenient).

On this special day for me, I’d like to thank each and every one of you. This book would never have been published if it wasn’t for your fantastic encouragements and response to my articles. I’ve put a lot of work into this book, and hope you won’t be disappointed with it.

Should you want to buy it, please note that for another 4 days, you can order it on Amazon with a 40% discount. Great pre-launch deal!!

Anyway – so many good news, it’s nuts!!

So all work and no play making Jack a dull boy, it’s time to get together and celebrate.

I’ll be out and abouts in July on a little book tour stateside and hope to get a chance to meet and thank many of you in person.

So – the plan is:

Tuesday, July 5th – PARIS: The book’s coming out!!

Book signing & celebration in Paris at O Chateau from 6 to 8pm. You’re all invited. Then party at O Chateau all evening to celebrate the book release, my birthday and the 7th anniversary of O Chateau (all happening on the same exact day randomly enough: July 5th that is). So RDV at O Chateau – 68 rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau in the 1st arrondissement as of 6pm.

Thursday, July 7th – NYC:

5.30 to 7pm – Book signing at: Rizzoli Book Store. 31 West 57th St. (between 5th and 6th avenue). New York, NY 10019. Ph: 212.787.5704. Complimentary white wine and Prosecco will be served. View Evite.

Friday, July 8th – PHILADELPHIA:

5 to 7pm – Book signing at: The Spiral Bookcase. 112, Cotton St (that’s in Manayunk) Philadelphia, PA 19127. Ph: 212.482.0704

Thursday, July 28th – SAN DIEGO:

7 to 8.30pm – Book Signing at: Upstart Crow (along with chefs Bernard Guillas and Ron Oliver Beats). 835C West Harbor Drive (that’s in Seaport Village) San Diego, CA 92101. Ph: 619.232.4855

Saturday, July 30th: LOS ANGELES

From 1-3pm – Book Signing at: Chevalier’s Book (bookshop owned by one of O Chateau’s former clients – love that). 126 N. Larchmont Blvd. (that’s in Hollywood) Los Angeles, CA 90004. Ph: 323.465.1334

I’m still working on arranging wine tasting classes in the San Diego, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara areas late July/early August. So I’ll keep you posted on that (should you be interested in attending, just write a little comment and I’ll make sure to shoot you an email when all details are pinned down). I wish I could visit other cities but since the publisher isn’t paying for anything for this trip, I had to keep budget within reason. La prochaine fois…

Alright, sorry for the lengthy post. I’m all over the place today!! I truly hope you like the book. Please don’t hesitate to spread the word about it. Makes for a great gift for anyone with an interest in France. Also, should you have journalist or blogger friends that might be interested in mentioning the book, just let me know and we’ll make something happen (team work, team work!!).

My life has gotten to be completely random over the past few months.

Lots of good things.

Feels nice to share – especially with those who made it all possible.

Hope you like the book – and hopefully I’ll see you soon in Paris or elsewhere.

O.