For anyone who adored The Sweet Life of Paris, where David Lebovitz recounts his mouth wateringly humorous journey through the city of lights, will without a doubt delight in l’appart.   While The Sweet Life reveals the sweet and not so sweet aspects of living in Paris, best selling author and food writer David Lebovitz’ new memoir unravels the complex cultural layers of Paris that only residents are exposed to.   After residing in Paris for ten years, David decides to take the next serious step in his relationship with his beloved Paris and turn yet another dream into a reality by purchasing and remodelling his very own apartment in his soul city.  Little did David know what a bureaucratic, legal and cultural ordeal he would be signing up to and the layer cake of disasters that would ensue in order for him to make his dream Paris apartment come true.  While The Sweet Life of Paris takes the reader on a journey through the pretty rues, market streets, dreamy pastry shops, boulangeries and chocolate boutiques, l’appart takes the reader on a more behind the scenes and less desirable tour of Paris where we follow David and his adorable partner Romain on an, at times, trepidatious journey to locate materials.  Claude, the not so qualified contractor, who David hires to renovate his apartment, turns David’s sweet life upside down with delays and empty promises sending him on one disastrous and frantic mission after another to chercher for non existent materials all over town and triggering melt downs in Paris’ infamous IKEA.  While Claude sugar coats the countless disasters he and his motley crew continuously fabricate with his never ending false reassurances of pas de probleme, David’s life becomes somewhat of an American reality show where circumstances become so incredibly disastrous and surreal that they take on an almost comedic appeal.  Despite the disasters and being exposed to the dark side and nature of Paris, David remains charmingly optimistic and manages to maintain a sense of humour about this mysterious and beautiful city and her equally fascinating residents.   By being exposed to the difficulties of living in Paris, David comes to a stronger realisation of why he fell in love with and chose to make the city of Paris his new home and what makes Paris and Parisians so truly marvellous.