5 comments about The Olive Farm: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Olive Oil in the South of France.

1. Initially, this book caught my eye because the story takes place in the French town where I was born and raised.
   While I found interesting and informative to re-discover my hometown through the eyes of the writer, I was totally captured by the many sides to this book: the story about a foreigner adapting to a different culture (which I can relate to, having made my home in the USA...), a international love story between a French man and an English woman (I am French and my husband American), the author learning to become a stepmother, the huge task of nursing back to life a beautiful property which had been abandoned by its previous owners....
   There are lots of stories within the main story... All so well written, I lost track of time a lot while reading this book...
   I also, through her descriptions, recognized some of the characters!! (small town... VERY small town!!)
   It was a true feast and I am ordering the sequel as soon as I am finished writing this review!!
   Get this book, it will literally absorb you into its own world... Getting a glimpse of the South of France without leaving your armchair should be enticing enough... I could smell the lavender in the breeze, hear the ciccadas, and almost taste the local foods I so miss here in the US...
   I recommend it to you all without any reservation!



2. Ms Drinkwater writes a uncomplicated and enjoyable tale of her adventures in old houses,the French, olive oil and love. She brings the same pleasantness to the written word that she did to the small screen in All Creatures Great and Small.



3. The Olive Farm is a well-executed memoir in the fashion of Under the Tuscan Sun and A Year in Provence. In it, actress Carol Drinkwater and her fiance, Michel, a film producer, impetuously purchase a rundown olive farm in the south of France and begin the process of restoring it to comfort and fecundity.
   
   This memoir will not disappoint-- Carol and her fiance face the difficulties of limited finances, needed repairs well in excess of initial estimates, and frustrations with the local workforce. All of these, of course, are transcended by the satisfactions of nursing the olive trees into production and the triumphs of beginning to restore the farmhouse to its previous grandeur.
   
   This ground has been trodden before, but Carol Drinkwater tells her tale engagingly, drawing likable portraits of her family, friends and neighbors in Cannes. Sit back, relax and enjoy the journey to Drinkwater's Cannes.



4. This is a wonderful book. If you have ever dreamed of running off and creating a brand new life filled with love, laughter and more than a few bumps along the way then this is a book that you'll love. In fact, I recommend all her books-they are that good.



5. The other night I was listening to an audio commentary which featured Robert Hardy and Carol Drinkwater. During the commentary Carol mentioned she had authored a series of books about she and her husbands experience rennovating/operating an olive farm in the south of France. Intriged by what Carol had said I checked the first book "The Olive Farm" out from the public library and began to read. First of all I must say the book is a delightful read. Carol has the ability to communicate on paper in the form of easy conversation, as two friends would have over a cup of tea. You will laugh and cry along with Carol as you read her story of restoring "Appassionata" to its former glory. I would love to see the BBC make a television series out of her books, they are a total delight!

3 comments about Harpercollins Language Survival Guide: Greece: The Visual Phrase Book and Dictionary.

1. I have 5 other phrase books and I think this is the best!!!!! It's colorful, big and easy to understand. This is the only book that I have seen in Greek with pictures to help you. It also has a greek/english and english/greek dictionary. I love it :)!



2. This book is the single best value of anything I've purchased for my vacation to Greece. Not only is it absolutely jam-packed with useful touristy vocabulary (everything from "Where is the hotel" to "I'm allergic to peanuts"), the pages are filled with actual photographs of signs, menus, phone booths, bus schedules, etc in Greek so that you can see what kind of things you'll have to decipher. Words and phrases are written both phonetically (with accented syllables bolded) and in Greek script, so that you can recognize them written or spoken.
   
   It's an especially valuable guide for foodies such as myself because of the extensive "Menu Guide," essentially a dictionary of common (and not-so-common) foods. There's useful tidbits throughout about such things as when shops are open or how to use a phone card. And to top it all off, it's compact and it's dirt cheap: two things every tourist loves to hear. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.



3. This book is a great guide for non-Greek speakers visiting Greece. I speak Greek, but still find it useful. The photos of the signs are especially helpful. Words are written in English, Greek & phonetic.

3 comments about Guide to Greece, Vol. 1: Central Greece.

1. One of the most interesting classical Greek texts. If you are interested in ancient Greece, you must read PAUSANIAS ! Of course Pausanias' series in the Loeb classical library are the best. And I don't agree with the policy of Penguin Classic's translator. However I recommend the book for English-speaking people who cannot read Classical Greek.



2. Yes, my title alludes to Shelley's poem about ancient Egypt, but the Greece that Pausanias describes has in many ways suffered a collapse as notable as that of Ozymandias. Looted before his time by Macedonians, Romans, and warring Greeks, it has since suffered from religious upheaval, antiquities collectors of various types, and, not least, the demolition of ancient structures to obtain building materials and limestone (for fertilizer). The notes to Peter Levi's translation (which is in two volumes -- if you order it, be sure to get both) gives many instances of these loses. This is not for someone planning a visit to Greece in the immediate future, nor easy reading for the curious (although browsing can be fun), but it is a remarkably valuable contribution to modern knowledge of the ancient world.
   
   Sometime during the reign of Hadrian, a very well-read Greek set down a description of the Greek mainland, paying attention mainly to pre-Roman structures and works of art. A long tradition of German scholarship has denied that Pausanias ever left his library, ignoring English "amateurs" who had little trouble following him on the ground. Those interested in this controversy, or uncertain of whether they want to commit themselves to a work of this size, can now turn to Christian Habicht's first-rate introduction to the book and its critical reception, "Pausanias' Guide to Ancient Greece." Habicht also evaluates existing translations, including this one.
   
   There is no substitute, however, for the riches lying within what looks like a dry account of buildings and natural wonders.
   
   First of all, Pausanias had the good sense to avoid retelling the best-known stories and historical episodes, and give space to lesser-known material. It is thanks to manuscripts of his work that we have, for examples, the stories of the Messenian struggles against Sparta (a fascinating mixture of history and patriotic romance), and some of the more obscure episodes of Athenian history under Macedonian rule.
   
   Secondly, Pausanias provides otherwise unknown versions of many classical myths, explaining exactly where they were told, and how they were connected to the local cults. This is an extremely valuable source for Greek mythology as part of a living culture, instead of a literary theme. From time to time we get a glimpse of rituals, and frequently we learn of abandoned cults and forgotten shrines -- it is sometimes hard to remember that the ancient world was subject to profound changes, even before the rise of Christianity or the Barbarian Invasions. (Come to think of it, Pausanias includes interesting details of a Celtic invasion of Greece which is seldom mentioned in modern general histories.)
   
   Finally, if read with great care, Pausanias provides an extraordinary amount of detail about the physical realities of the ancient world. Used with intelligence, it has been of enormous value to archeologists. On the other hand, the descriptions are sometimes extremely obscure, due to unstated assumptions as well as textual corruptions, and the application of Pausanias to the evidence of excavations has often been controversial. (Habicht is, again, a good introduction to the issues.)
   
   Although Levi's translation is not always ideal (the distribution between two volumes is eccentric, and some passages, such as the list of Spartan kings, are shortened) , and the line drawings which illustrate it are sometimes as frustrating as they are helpful, it is a handy, relatively inexpensive, and mostly very reliable, contribution.



3. This edition is a good translation of Pausanias. The placement of the sites in the modern Greek landscape and reality is also accurate, judging from the places that I am familiar with.

5 comments about Extremely Pale Rose: A Very French Adventure.

1. i tell you, this book was the surprise hit of the summer for me. i picked it up as i like travel and drink and liked the premise of the challenge in the story. i thought it'd be a gentle read that i'd dip in and out of, but i found i couldn't put it down. you get really involved in the characters as they search through france on their quest. before you know it you've found out a great deal about wine, france, how comic/kind/annoying/helpful the french can be. i didn't expect it to be as amusing as it is - from beginning to end, it kept me chukling to myself. it was beautifully written and i think anyone who's ever dreamt of searching for a better and more uplifting alternative to their daily drudge should give it a go. uplifting! more please, mr ivey!



2. EXTREMELY PALE ROSE: A VERY FRENCH ADVENTURE will appeal to any who love France and French food and travel. It recounts the author's journey as he and his family travel the south of France in quest of rose wines. Rose is commonly viewed as a poor man's wine, but the paler it gets the more the Brits relish it and the more the French scoff. A translation problem sends Jamie on a quest for the palest rose in France, and their visits to wineries, rose-producing regions and local byways provide a lively, fun story of a hilarious quest.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



3. Extremely Pale Rosé is a wonderful book for anyone who loves Provence or for anyone who wants to learn more about this special part of France. I'm one of the former and reading this book made me wish I was back there right now. Jamie's writing style is easy to read and the story holds your interest. There's lots of good, accurate information and you really feel you get to know Jamie, Tanya and Peter as you go along for the ride on their quest. Once you open this book and start reading, it's easy to forget the world around you. So, pour yourself a nice chilled glass of Provencal rosé and lose yourself in this fabulous book.



4. This is a very entertaining and quick read. I learned loads about French rose wines while reading it.



5. 
   While in Provence one summer, a French lady mistook a conversation about Jamie Ivey's niece Rosie for a conversation about rosé. In a quirky way, this conversation leads James Ivey, his wife Tanya and their friend Peter to a journey to find the palest rosé in France. This is a marvelous road book with three distinctive characters visiting the main rosé-producng areas in France: Champagne, the Loire, the Jura, Bordeaux, Dordogne, the Rhône, Provence, Languedoc and Corsica.
   
   Ivey is a lapsed attorney and his first book is written in an offbeat way. The three wander through tiny bars, local bistros, wine fairs, many chateux and vineyards, and wine shops. There's an important sideline: Peter's attempts to find particularly smelly cheeses. This is charming British style travel writing from someone who clearly loves France, wine, food and people.
   
   Ivey claims that according to French lore, rosé should be the pink of a baby's skin. These two extracts will demonstrate the extremes you will encounter in these pages:
   
   "Why is pale rosé so popular", asked Tanya?
   "Because people like you don't know a good wine from a bad one."
   
   Tim: "Historically, rosé was a dreadful wine. It used to be made from re-wine leftovers. It would be put in a forgotten vat in the corner of the cave and sold for next to nothing to anyone foolish enough to buy it.
   
   "But that's not true any more. There's not a great winemaker in France who hasn't learnt his trade by producing a good rosé. It's the hardest wine to make, much more complex than red or white. France is making some fantastic rosé now, and it's real wine that can accompany food. Anyone who is still snobbish about it is wrong."
   
   ____
   
   The authors have now created an excellent blog describing their further adventures in the wine world; Google extremelypalerose . The subtitle of the blog tells the tale: "From London lawyer to Provencal wine merchant,author and now travelling salesman - the continuing story of pale pink wine and life in the south of France."
   
   The introduction to the blog carries on the appeal of the book:
   
   "Just to update those who have read Extremely Pale Rose: A Very French Adventure, Tanya and I are now running our own wine business in the south of France. We live near the village of Lourmarin and our shop front is the local markets. When we started trading in October last year one of the locals observed that we would be "living on love and cold water." They were right. We survived a long cold winter and sold practically no wine. But we made friends with the other market traders and secured our pitches in three local villages for the summer and now at last the tourists and the sun have arrived."
   
   Robert C. Ross 2007 2008

5 comments about London A-z (Street Atlas).

1. This is the map that every single Londoner uses, so that should tell you something. I lived there for 4 years and my copy was dog-eared! I won't repeat what other reviewers have already said (all things true). I will only say that if you refer to it while overseas you must call it the "London A to Zed" (the last letter of the Brit alphabet is not "Zee")!



2. I purchased this book for my first trip to the UK. It was a time saver. Every area of London's city center (and beyond) is available in this book. The streets are easy to find, because there are detailed maps (in order)for the first half of the book. You have to remember that London is a VERY LARGE metropolis. One million people living in the city in 1900! Anyway, the second half of this book contains (in alpha order) how to find roads(10 Downing Street!), lodges, gardens, pubs........There are over 130 pages (four columns on each) of indexed street names. A lot of the sights that are popular with tourists are almost obvious on their corresponding map/page. Some are very obvious.
   
   CONTENTS:
   *Key to Map Pages
   *Map Pages
   *Enlarged Central Area
   *Index to Streets
   *West End Cinema & Theatre Maps
   *Underground Map
   
   REFERENCE:
   *Motorway
   *Dual Carriageway
   *'A' Road
   *'B' Road
   *One Way Street
   *Map Continuation
   *British Rail line and Station
   *Underground Station
   *Fire Station
   *Hospital
   *House Numbers
   *Information Centre
   *National Grid Reference
   *Place of Worship
   *Police Station
   *Post Office



3. For first time travelers, visiting the standard top sights in London, London A to Z was too long, too heavy, and the maps were cluttered and difficult to read.
   Way too many fine details, but not enough good, easy-to-find advice. Buy the London Mapguide for an easier, clearer, and more useful basic guide for all but the most demanding tourist travel.
   London A to Z might be useful for the tourist who searches out the most obscure and difficult places, or for a London Resident who needs a reference work.



4. This is the ultimate set of maps of the city. Very clear and self-explanatory. If you are exploring London on foot, you will find yourself on tiny streets that don't appear anywhere else but in this book. The maps in the tourist books don't give you this level of detail. You can buy this book, in a variety of sizes- small if you want to fit it in your pocket, or larger to see the details more easily- from most newsstands in London, so don't worry if you leave on your trip without it. In fact, examine the different sizes at a newsstand, see which suits you best, and buy it in London.



5. I found this guide very overwhelming & difficult to read. I got so confused looking through the 288 pages (which also makes it heavy). Would be great for someone living or staying for an extended period in London. Maybe handy, too, if you would like to get off the beaten path. Full of details that I really didn't need.
   
   It appears to be an excellent guide but for your average tourist, I would suggest you use the London Mapguide. It is much easier to navigate with plenty of useful information. It is also smaller than the AtoZ, making the Mapguide a more practical choice to tote around the streets in your bag.
   
   The Mapguide is also a better deal, this book is a little expensive for a tourist visiting for a only few days. If you're going to invest this much money in a map you should be using it over & over. At least that's how I feel now that I have paid that much & never used it once while I was there.

5 comments about Dublin (Eyewitness Travel Guides).

1. I bought this book based on previous DK purchases I had made and found it to be terribly out of date! This book was bought for my fiancee who was travelling to Ireland from the USA to visit myself and my family. Being Irish and living and working in Dublin I found the most basic information to be incorrect, most notably the currency which has been the Euro for the last 6 years. Other transport information also should be ammended in relation to the new overground rail system, called the Luas, that has vastly improved commuting for one side of Dublin to the other. on the whole this book does manage to portray Dublin as a city with an historic background that has to been seen to be appreciated. Also some of the references to attractions outside Dublin appear to make the rest of Ireland look less modern which gave the impression to me that it is more rural and agricultural than it actually is and may not be the most appealing to visitors! Anyway I hope this review just helps to point out some glaring mistakes that should be fixed. On the whole the quality of this DK book was well above other publications that I have read.



2. If you are planning a trip to Dublin this is a must have book. It outlines the city and gives excellent recommendations on where to stay and eat. The way the city is divided up in the book is the perfect way to plan your trip and can be divided into really three days. It has some outlying things but if you are going around Ireland I would use the Eyewitness book on Ireland and pass on this one.



3. If you are planning a short trip to Dublin this is a must have book. It covers excellent restaurants and wonderful places to stop and shop. The essential sights are all listed by region and are explained in enough detail for one to decide if they want to visit. If you are going for a longer period of time I would recommend a bigger guide but I would still get this one to walk around with.



4. Although Eyewitness Travel Guides may offer more visual guidance than other guide books, they are still quite terrible. Maps are difficult to read and information is inconsistent.



5. I have been a fan of the Eyewitness Travel guides for a number of years; their emphasis on a visual format (especially their cutaway diagrams of selected sights) is extremely useful, while their recommendations of restaurants, pubs, and shops have never steered me wrong. I have found this to be true time and again when I have taken it to Dublin, where the guide really opened up the city for me to explore it.
   
   While it is true that much of the information within this guide is also contained within their larger Ireland (Eyewitness Travel Guides), it should be pointed out that they are NOT the same. While the Ireland guide contains most of the same information, the Dublin guide provides more details and some additional sites that were left out of the larger Ireland version. My advice is to stick with the Ireland guide if you are planning on traveling beyond Dublin to explore the island, but if you are staying around the city and its surrounding environs, this is the guide to buy.

5 comments about Waterproof Iceland Map by ITMB (Travel Reference Map) (Travel Reference Map).

1. I really like this map. I wanted a good road map to help us circle the island by car in the week that we will be there on vacation. It is large, has excellent detail and even has some hiking trails on it. Major sight-seeing and "must see" attractions are idicated as well. I recommend it.



2. This map was OK - lacking detail, but all right if you just want a basic, comprehensive overview. I drove about half the Ring Road - but ended up relying far more on the free maps from the rental car company, tourist info centers, gas stations, etc.
   
   But note: Even if it's not this one, you'll definitely want a good road map for the trip. Don't leave home without. (Price will be double in Iceland.)



3. The map was described as waterproof, which maybe it is, but i was expecting something more plastic and durable. This is still a paper map. Otherwise, the map looks great in terms of a resource for traveling around Iceland.



4. Map looks good and quite detailed. Am taking my trip in August so will see how accurate it is on the F roads! Map is not plastic covered as anticipated. By waterproof I think they mean that it will not disintegrate, but may still tear.



5. i purchased this map to plan photographic trips around Iceland. This maps shows everything that is needed for a road map. It shows major and minor roads along with icons for waterfalls, geysers, hot springs, and much more. Another feature I really liked is that the map shows the regions of Iceland that can make it easier to find something. The only downfall of the map is that it started to tear on the creased from using is so much. I would've thought that a map stating that it is waterproof would be made of a more durable paper.

3 comments about Central Europe (Multi Country Guide).

1. This book is really good if you don't want to buy individual books for each country you are visiting.
   It has information on travel to and from each country, sights to see, accommodation, food and other interesting cultural references.
   It has been a great planning tool for my upcoming trip.



2. I found the book to be too much of a repeat. It had incorrect information (the Munich card was discontinued the first of the year and announced last year), Munich internet cafe at trainstation is closed, another one is now 24x7 - all for over a year.
   
   Train connection information is limited at best.
   
   Does not give the NAMES of the bus-tram-subway stops in any city.
   
   Disability access information is very lacking in this book and series. I wonder does LP have a writer with a movement disability?
   
   I am usually a fan of lonely planet books but this one felt like a money and space waster.



3. This is well written, like most most Lonely Planet country guides. I read through the pertinent sections for countries I was planning to visit, and while there were suggestions for each major city, there was little depth. Maps are also on the skimpy side. "Central Europe" may not be representative of the several regional Europe guides Lonely Planet has recently released, but its coverage is very brief for a number of countries. For example, "Central Europe" has fewer pages devoted to the entire CZ Republic than the CZ Republic guide has devoted to Prague alone.
   
   So this guide may serve you well if you are on a driving or backpacking vacation without having done a lot of background research; you could pull it out to see the one-paragraph-highlights of the major city you are approaching.
   
   But if you have a more specific itinerary, I'd instead suggest getting the books to match specific cities and maybe a road atlas if you are driving.

No comments about One Hundred & One Beautiful Towns in Italy: Shops and Crafts (101 Towns).

No comments about Links of Heaven: A Complete Guide to Golf Journeys in Ireland.