Editor’s Note

Thoughts from the Editor

It was a sunny day late in the spring of 1998 when my friend Pierre and I arrived at his parents’ home in Carry-le-Rouet, southern France. We were exhausted from six weeks of travel through India, Italy, Switzerland, Monaco, and France. Traveling through a new city nearly every night had drained our eager bodies and minds. Stopping here was a welcome rest.

Upon arriving, Pierre’s family greeted me with all the hugs and cheek kisses you might imagine from a loving French mère et père (mama and papa). We had finally come home.

Afternoon brought a beautiful, sun-soaked day of swimming in Pierre’s pool, which overlooked the Mediterranean Sea. For a nineteen-year-old kid from Central California, this was a perfect way to wind down a long, eye-opening journey. There’s no easy way to describe a trip that takes you from the slums of Mumbai, to skiing the Swiss Alps, and ends in the French Riviera. I needed time to reflect.

That evening Pierre and I feasted like long-lost sons. We told stories and ate a delicious meal perfectly paired with “a nice red wine from the North.” Laughter, fresh-baked baguettes, wine, joy, glad memories, and contentment marked the magical night. Deep connection was packed into a few hours, and I was completely charmed by southern France and my new French family. Their parting gift to me a few days later: a bottle of the same wonderful red wine we had shared together.

That bottle traveled with me back to California as a memento of my journey and the people I’d met. On the flight home, I decided to save this bottle until my wedding. I wasn’t even dating anyone at the time. But the romantic in me wanted to recapture that beautiful evening in France and share it with the person I’d spend the rest of my life with.

Beauty has that way about it. When we experience something wonderful, we want to share it with the people we love.

Seven years later, my brand new wife and I sat on our bedroom floor for the first time, exhausted from the day’s events. We had finally come home. And so, on my wedding day, I opened the wine that had been carefully stored and moved and saved for this moment. I shared the story of where that bottle came from with my beautiful new bride, and together we toasted to our future.

Nothing connects us, brings us together, or transports us like food and drink shared with those you love. This month we’ve prepared a celebration of food for you, to bring you together with your loved ones to laugh, eat, remember and enjoy the moments you have together. Bon appétit.

Cheers,

Eric Riley

Executive Editor Lifestyle Magazine

President / Owner Topograph