Jean Underhill profile

Jean Underhill was born in Chicago and began her life of travel by following her parents to California at the age of five. When she reached high school her French teacher, imbued with an impeccable Parisian accent, made sure she would become a Francophile by introducing her to French literature and the music of Charles Trenet. After graduation from college with a degree in political science and a minor in history, Jean married, began a career in university administration, and began plotting a first trip to Great Britain and Europe. She and her husband (a physicist since turned computer wizard) soon made the first of many trips, initially concentrating on England and followed by brief sojourns in Paris, Rome, and Florence. It was not until ten years later that they made their first trip to provincial France, and they have never looked back. Since that time they have covered much of France, with repeated trips to Burgundy, the Drôme, and Provençe. Last year the Underhills were blessed with temporary neighbors from the area near Cannes, who introduced them to French family life, moules frites, and joie de vivre. This extended family is now back home; visiting them will be yet another reason for the Underhills to return to France as frequently as their family of cats will allow. Jean's interests include reading, opera, French wines, and cooking, especially food in the French fashion. She also enjoys planning travel for friends. Her husband likes eating French food, drinking pastis, and playing boules every chance he gets; he is the family's designated photographer.