3 comments about Top 10 Normandy (EYEWITNESS TOP 10 TRAVEL GUIDE).

1. Concise, time-saving and fits in your carryon nicely. Certainly follows the porfessional and reliable series well. We used this guide the most (out of several)during a January trip to Normandy. Highly recommended.



2. Not that anyone can use everything in this book, but there are certainly lists to help anyone with their trip to Normandy. Good additional book, not to be your only reference.



3. I agree fully with the previous reviewer -- this book is not enough to be a stand alone guide to your trip to Normandy, but it is a spectacular compilation of things to do across the region.
   
   There are numerous lists of everything from little villages specializing in crafts, food, and whatnot such as pottery, cheese, copper cookware, and more, to the top 10 D-Day sights and top 10 D-Day museums, to the most picturesque villages in the countryside and coast.
   
   If you're interested mainly in D-Day sights, I found this book useful, because it had a few pages dedicated to the best museums, and key sights. Most people have a limited amount of time, and especially if you're driving yourself around, it's extremely helpful to have this reference of the "must-sees" along with the "nice to sees" time permitting.
   
   We used this book lots during our 5 days in Normandy this May to plan what we wanted to do and see, and used a more detailed book (Lonely Planet Normandy was great) to round out the practical details. (Oh, yeah -- if you're driving, better bring a GPS! I think we'd still be lost in the bocage somewhere if I hadn't had that life-saving device with me!!)
   
   This book lacks details like contact info and opening hours for museums, but makes up for it with a wealth of suggestions, useful facts, and great pictures (a strong suit of all the DK Eyewitness books).
   
   Bottom line, get this, plus Lonely Planet or a guidebook of your choice, and you will have a great trip!

3 comments about Secret London: Exploring the Hidden City, With Original Walks And Unusual Places to Visit.

1. I love this book! It has detailed instructions to find (and history of) little known spots in London that are marvelous. There are several color pictures and hand-drawn maps to help guide you on your walk.

   Some of the fascinating bits of London that you can track down with this book are the rooftop gardens in Kensington, the underground tube stations that are no longer used and the rivers that have been tamed and paved over but still peek out here and there.

   Even long-time residents will find new insight into their favorite city. Every time I go to London I search out one thing from this book and I'm always glad I did. For tourists, if you bring this book and an A-Z, and a copy of the latest Fodor's or Eyewitness, you won't want for anything else.




2. One of the outstanding "Interlink Walking Guides" series, Secret London: Exploring The Hiddin City: Exploring The Hidden City, With Original Walks And Unusual Places To Visit is a travel guide especially for the walking tourist determined to explore the greatest sights of London, including obscure treasures such as rivers long buried, ancient buildings, and sites where anyone can enjoy free lectures. Full-color photographs, extensive descriptions, street maps clearly illustrating the route of the walk, contact and opening time information, and much more fill this handy travel guide for the visitor who wants to see it all.



3. Very interesting book. I haven't read all of it but what I have read was great. I am using it for research at this time and will hope that in the future that I get the chance to visit all I am reading about. Good for the money!

5 comments about Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guides).

1. This guide is great when considering what sites and places to visit. It covers most any city you might find yourself visiting. It does a great job of describing the sites and the history behind them. Does not help with city transportation. Lightly covers the character of each city. I do enjoy the pictures and diagrams in the book. I highly recommend having another guide book that covers more logistics. I used this book along with Rick Steves Europe 2007. They were great companions to one another. My other complaint is that I am a student with a budget. This book does not cover many (if any) cheap places to eat or sleep. It does tell you which places charge admission, but does not tell you the admission price. It is a great book when accompanied by another (like Lonely Planet or Rick Steves.)



2. It's a good book, but the maps are not very good, covering only parts of central areas and there aren't subway maps. Moreover there isn't anything about hostels!



3. These books are great - very informative, lots of pictures, and the printing is of very good quality. I bought two travel books prior to a trip to China and came back for this one when planning my trip to Europe; much preferring Eyewitness Travel Guides!



4. it is a good book, which give you more information, photo, picutre, and image of all interesting places in europe... for the traveler I would like to suggest you to buy this book coupled with lonely planet... with both book you will have a complimentary information and give you more idea to select the best place to visit, and see....



5. I bought both this and lonely planet and have used lonely planet more because this book is full of pictures but doesn't give you all the info you need. Also, I ended up buying each indiv city guide as well because this one only scratches the surface!

5 comments about French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew.

1. I am ready to go back to France after reading this book. Anyone with a love of good France, light humor and beautiful countryside of France, should read this book.



2. In this wonderful look at Gallic Culture and Cuisine, British Francophile Peter Mayle visits several food fairs and celebrations in the French countryside and takes us along for the ride in this tale that is part travelogue/ part food guide. The tales are usually funny, interesting and mouth watering. I nearly drooled on some of the pages reading his description of the elegant dishes that were served.
   
   I've never learned so much about Frog Legs, truffles, snails, or cheeses. I only regret is that he missed the festival celebrating the sausage that my Canjun relatives call Boodat.
   
   Conviently there is an appendix with addresses and phone numbers for anyone contemplating a trip to France to attend one of the festivals themselves.



3. As a former (and once-again) food writer, I must say this book is deliciously entertaining. I'm still in process of devouring the entertaining writing. Very well done. Any serious foodie will enjoy it!



4. This book chronicles the adventures of Peter Mayle through the French country-side armed with knife, fork and corkscrew. His delightful sense of humor is present through out his epicurean journey. He attends amazing food events. There is the religious celebration of the black truffle. the marathon where every stop is hosted by a winery ( complete with tastings through-out the 26.2 miles!!) and the "interesting" fair of the ESCARGOT! You will understand how seriously the French take their food when you read this book..or do they just like to have fun!



5. "It was a pleasure just to be alive." ~ Peter Mayle, on his experience in France
   
   Peter Mayle's "French Lessons" is an engaging book about French cuisine. He takes the reader off the beaten path to vicariously experience new discoveries. Along the way we find cooking advice (what type of pan to use when making an omelette), health spas, festivals, beaches, marathons and cheese eating competitions.
   
   In one adventure Peter Mayle takes the reader to a Catholic mass which celebrates the expensive black truffle (they are auctioned off before lunch). His vivid prose enlivens the imagination. Through his writing we experience all the nuances he is enjoying.
   
   As someone who makes her own croissants I am always eager to read about French cuisine. This is a warm cozy read, the type of book you curl up with in the winter or read in the summer in the shade.
   
   If you love Peter's books I know you will adore: The "A Year in Provence" Movie.
   
   ~The Rebecca Review
   Once I spent a weekend in Paris

5 comments about City Secrets: Rome (City Secrets).

1. This was a very useful guide. I would highly recommend it to those who hope to learn more about the Rome that larger tours would miss.



2. If you're looking for a guidebook, this probably isn't the best choice. The book reads like a series of short essays and opnions about Rome sights, but doesn't provide much practical information. I wasn't able to get through the entire book even though it's small. The gray print makes it difficult to read in any less than perfect light. There may be some interesting facts in it. I just wasn't able to make my way through the payges to get to them.



3. City Secrets is a jewel. We enjoyed both the content and the style of the authors, all grant winners at the American Academy in Rome. The book directed us to sites and places to eat we would not have discovered otherwise.



4. I don't recommend this book for the average person. The type is teeny tiny and in pale greyscale against a vellum background; very artsy but impossible to read. The content is comprised of personal opinions by academics and artists.



5. this is not a travel journal as much as a history book. I will keep in my library because I love rome and will return again. Read this in advance of your trip and get a moons book for carrying with you. this is great advanced reading with great off the beaten path stuff but read ahead of time and take a more generic book with you and some notes rather than carrying this as extra weight. Also if you thinking about rome (why think...do it) read this to get excited about how rich in history and architecture this great city is then book your tickets and go.

No comments about Poland (Country Guide).

5 comments about La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind.

1. Another useless generalization, and a series of stereotypes, for the Anglo-Saxon audience that, however, seems to love this type of literature. The usual trivialities written by somebody who seems to understand it all (good for him). As usual, realities are different, more complicated, and moreover more varied. The South is once more treated with superficiality, lack of real understanding, and a subtle prejudice, as it is usually the case in this type of books written by northerners. It can make an amusing reading, for sure, but do not assume anything written in it is what you will actually see in Italy. It is just like somebody wanting to explain you as Americans really are in a few hundred pages with the only authority of being American (and maybe just from New York), and still pretending to understand it all.



2. I wish I had read more reviews before purchasing this truly dreadful book. I can only assume that the various newspaper critics that are quoted on the back cover were personal friends. He states correctly in his appalling offering that it appears to have become a pass time of uninspired anglo saxon authors to write about Italy. He should have known better than adding to the marass of garbage himself. I would recommend Matt FreiItaly - the Unfinished Revolution, Tobias JonesThe Dark Side of Italy. Travels Through Time and Space Across Italy or for entertainment Bill Bryson Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe or Tim Moore's Continental Drifter.



3. La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind
   I, for one, love everything Italian. So it's easy to see why I picked up this book with its very engaging, colorful cover. In the past I have read many funny books and articles on everything from Italian driving to trying to get a phone installed in your new Italian apartment.(Forget it!) So when I picked up this book I was ready for a humorous read. Well, what a tremendous disappointment. The writing is flat and uninteresting. One finds themselves reading along and reading along waitng to get to the good part, but hey, there is none! Skip this book completely and everything written by this author, Beppe Severgnini. Sorry he's just way too boring and NOT FUNNY!!



4. As an Italian I enjoyed the book greatly. It is witty, inteñigent and very true.



5. While this book claims to be a "hilarious tour of Italy", and that it covers "thirty places in ten days", and while its table of contents contains titles such as "day two: in Milan", "Day seven: in Naples", "Day eight: in Sardinia", giving the impression that the author is covering all these places, the content barely contains ANYTHING at all related to them, suggesting the author has not left his seat nor even had the grace to research his destinations in "google earth".
   
   At the start of every chapter supposed to cover one destination or the other, the author sometimes mentions a few very general things about it, without any "commitment" to a concrete description of anything, and, after which, he launches into talking about topics such as cars parked in a certain way, how italians regard this or that, italian attitudes and beliefs towards something or the other, etc..etc.. The repetition of the name of a specific destination in the first pages of "its relevant chapter" seems to serve the sole purpose of make-believe that the author is talking about that particular destination, while he is, in fact, talking about very general things that could apply anywhere in Italy!
   
   The fact is, this book is NOT about any of the destinations it promises to portray, it is about the author's view of Italians. Why he packaged the book as to pretend it tours the country north to south, is open to conjecture. My guess would have been, "either he is not very clear in the head, or, he is deliberately misleading"; however, reading on the back cover that he has worked as a columnist for places like the newspaper "corriere della sera" and "the economist" eliminates the "not-clear-in-the-head" bit. He is simply misleading. His book is the equivalent, in the writing world, of the "tourist menu", which, anyone who has been a tourist knows, is usually a rip-off.
   
   Had the author been HONEST about his intentions and not pretended the book was something it wasn't, I'd have given it two stars. Apparently, the "tour of Italy" pitch held the promise to sell more. That such a "tour" did not exist, did not seem to perturb his conscience one bit, apparently, he trusts his own powers of bluff too much and the intelligence of the readers too little to believe that they will actually notice there was no tour.
   
   Taking inspiration from his writing, in his referencing of certain practices as manifestations of "the italian mentality", I'd venture to say that his bluff is probably testimony to the magnitude of his mother's faith in him, and how that affected his faculties of judgement with regards to everybody else. Or, maybe there is no inflated faith in his own powers, but that he just doesn't care, as long as the book sells. Certainly writing headings that promise coverage of all the mouth-watering destinations of Italy would sell, and, who cares that the product does not deliver once the money is had?
   
   This is worse than a "tourist menu", it is the equivalent of ordering a plate and get something completely different in its place, only after having paid in advance with no money back guarrantee.
   
   Then, a word to his "sense of humor": it is SO forced that it can easily bring about adverse side-effects to the reader. Had the author let go of what seems like a compulsion to be funny, maybe he'd have actually managed to hit on something funny every now and then, as it is, there is nothing at all "natural" about his "humor", you can feel the effort reeking off his lines, an effort that is infectious and exhausting, resulting in the very opposite effect of what natural humor would have produced. There is a very clear self-consciousness about his "jokes", you could almost see between the lines the words "see how funny I am? See how smart I am?" (Yet another symptom of the power of MAMMA's faith in her son?)
   
   The most annoying bit, however, was an alleged "letter from Britain" on the last pages of this book, supposedly from "British friends" with whom the author "toured those ten days", and who are making remarks about all the gems of insight and wisdom he imparted upon them throughout "the tour". By some fascinating "coincidence", both the writing style of his "British friends" and "their" sense of humor are the exact labored ones as his, even the range of vocabulary and expressions are the same...hmmmm.... readers are not supposed to notice that either...
   
   Ah well, I guess it all fits now, imaginary friends go on imaginary tours, which we, in turn, are supposed to imagine...
   
   The book's intended market are italian airport shops, promising a "piece of Italy" to visitors who crave more, but where what they actually get is the worst of what Italy sometimes offers its countless lovers, the "no-promises-shall-be-kept" bit.

5 comments about Walking London: Thirty Original Walks In and Around London.

1. I wanted to get to know the city in more than the typical touristy way, and this book made it possible. The walks were really the highlight of my four weeks of study in London; I met so many interesting, friendly people and saw so many things that might not have been destinations in and of themselves but were memorable as part of the walks. I was a college student (female) traveling alone when I used this book, and it gave me the confidence to explore many places that I wouldn't otherwise have ventured to, simply because I had some sense of what I could expect when I arrived. One of the most amusing moments was when I bumped into another walking tourist at the Portabello Road market...he also had a copy of the book and was following the Notting Hill tour on the same morning that I was.



2. So much good information. Can't wait to start walking! So many walks, so little time!



3. This book is wonderful for doing walking tours of London on your own and seeing the neighborhoods close-up rather than just the gloss over the tour companies give. The variety of the walks in this book is excellent in length and variety of things to see. We needed to use another map to get us back on the walking tour in a couple of places but mostly that was because we were staring at the sights rather than following the tour directions properly. The times given for the tours are definitely at a leisurely pace that allows for plenty of time to look at the shops and sites along the way. Showing starting and stopping points at the Tube stops made the walks very easy to get to.



4. London is a wonderful city for people who like to walk. It's flat, central London isn't all that huge, there are gobs of beautiful parks and there are even some public toilets in the parks, benches and drinking fountains. "Walking London" is a fine guide to a series of multi-neighborhood walks and well worth buying. It would be better if it were available in an electronic form that could go on an iPod since carrying a book this size along on a walk detracts from the walk somewhat. Even so, buy the book and copy the pages for walks you intend to take.



5. This book looked like a great idea, and certainly had a number of walks that looked interesting, but after we got to London we didn't end up taking any of them. One drawback is if you wanted to take a walk you'd have to drag the whole book with you. It really needs tear out pages. Part of our problem was the weather - cold and rainy, not a big surprise for London in April - didn't really make walking all that attractive. The other problem was our 13 daughter wasn't all that into any of the walks listed. It would probably we useful for adults and a trip when you can expect nicer weather.

No comments about Top 10 Istanbul (EYEWITNESS TOP 10 TRAVEL GUIDE).

No comments about Michelin France (Michelin Map).