1 comments about The Generous Earth.

1. Phillip Oyler's "The Generous Earth" is a lyrical poem in prose to a world we have lost. Written in 1950 about his discovery and settlement into the river valley of the Dordogne in France after the First World War, Oyler's skill at observation and the ability to describe with beautiful language what he has seen and felt carry you back to that time and place. Moreover, it makes those of us not born to the land, and especially not to the mechanized agribusiness operations we see here in the States, understand the true meaning of being one with the earth and its cycles of life. The peasants of the Dordogne (the term is used with pride by them and the author)understand the rhythms of nature, the land and its people. Oyler's narrative captures their wisdom,joy and pride in their hard work as they go about the daily routines that define their lives. He rejoices in their care and support for each other; how they share their labors communally for individual benefit; and the way in which they celebrate the passages of life. He comiserates with the elders who see the seductive forces pulling their children away from the farms and the impact of mechanization on the land. Yet it is the book's descriptions of food, conviviality and appreciation of nature that preserves an image of this life gone by and help the modern reader to understand a lifestyle that had more to offer than mere existence. In the end, this book passes along wisdom that took generations to discover. We need it now more than ever.

No comments about Insight Guides Eating in Paris: Restaurants, Bars, Pubs and Cafes (Insight Eating Guides).

No comments about Paris (Photopocket City).

3 comments about Insight Guide France (Insight Guides France).

1. I keep coming back to this book. It gives me a virtual tour of France. The pictures are beautiful and the articles are excellent. The only improvement I can suggest is that there can be some suggested iternaries for people interested in areas such as wine, food, architecture...



2. I have used this atlas so many times it's falling apart. I take it every time I travel to France because I rent a car and want to visit small villages and to see beautiful countryside. It's easy to get off on the roads less travelled to experience the hidden pleasures. With this atlas, it's easy to chart a course and never be lost. I also use it when I read about a village or someone tells me about one, and I want to know exactly where it's located. Many obscure villages will appear on these pages. For travelling the way I do, it's an excellent resource. Bon voyage.



3. The Insight Guide is a wonderful series, and one that I recommend to all my friends (I often give them as gifts) when they are planning trips to different countries.

   The Inisght Guide on France is filled with useful information and wonderful photographs. This book alone could keep you busy for years exploring all that it offers about France!

No comments about Festivals in Scotland (Scothe Books-Children's Activity Book Series).

No comments about Brussels (Cities of the Imagination).

4 comments about Insideout Paris City Guide (Paris Insideout City Guide).

1. My husband and I have just come back from our first trip to Paris, and used this guide in conjunction with the DK Eyewitness travel guides to plan our trip. This little book is a JEM! It is small enough to fit in an inside coat pocket and keeps you from looking like a total tourist dragging around a large travel book everywhere you go. This book has it all-two fold out maps that detail the city center that we used extensively. The maps are small, and pop out and then neatly fold back. Inside the spine of the book is a small pen that slides out, so you can take notes as you go along-the note section could have had a few more pages, but this is such a small thing, it almost isn't worth mentioning. The book itself includes sections on what to see, that includes short descriptions and the location on the accompanying map as well as opening and closing times on many of the sites; where to eat, including prices and short descriptions; places to shop, a directory of hotel listings with prices and short descriptions; entertainment, and where to buy tickets for events; a practical information section, which include numbers for transit, car rentals, embassy numbers, medical care information, tour and cruise numbers, a listing of annual events, and at the back a small metro map, which is extremely important and a one page section on useful phrases, including the numbers, days of the week, words that you would use or hear daily and words that you will see in restaurants. Talk about a comprehensive little guide. Oh, and it has pictures to boot!!!! The guide is approximately 3x5", about half an inch thick, and also includes a pop out compass. You couldn't ask for a better guide to take on the streets with you.
   
   I most definitely will seek this guide out the next time I travel in Europe or in the states. I understand that these guides are available for many major US and European cities.
   
   My recommendation is buy the DK Guide to read in your hotel and plan your basic trip and then buy this little guide which gives you a very good value for the amount of information and guidance you will receive, and you will have everything you need to create your own adventure.



2. I rarely review anything, but i feel so strongly about this that i would recommend it to anyone. This little book practically made my trip to Paris. The metro in Paris is nice, but to really experience this beautiful city you need to wander, get lost, discover new places. Walking along the back roads with a few friends is one of the best experiences possible in this city. At night, as long as you arent walking on one of the big major roads the streets are gloriously empty. That is a great contrast to the touristy hustle and bustle of the major monuments, and greatly relaxing.
   
   Also, there is a new version of this book out that corrected the little problems i had with the last one. The fold out maps that make this book work were kinda hard to read in the night but in the new version there is a little light in the pen. Also the one i had didnt have maps of the sacre coeur/monmartre area. That lead to a little confusion in that area, but the new version includes a broader map, so now i have two. I had to get one of the new ones.
   
   Definatly get this if you are going to Paris. It is worth every penny.



3. We would have bought this book just for the map, it was so worth it! We had other bigger books with more detailed info, but we took this book everywhere with us because who wants to carry a travel guide around Paris?! We loved the map and used it so often the pages almost started to rip. Just one word of caution, watch the map scale as things in Paris are farther apart than they seem. But this book is a definate must have for any traveller who doesn't want to look like a complete tourist. I'm looking into getting more of them for our next trip!



4. This little book got my four sisters and I around Paris in 4 days and nights. It was a lifesaver. We were especially thrilled with the the metro map inside. That came in extremely handy. It's a great resource that fits into a small bag. All of their tips and suggestions were right on the money. Glad I had this!

2 comments about A Motor-Flight Through France.

1. A book of this title ought to be about the wind rushing through one's hair as the countryside flashes past. Instead we read only a tedious & obsessive account of church architecture, which renders the book's title extraordinarily misleading. It puzzles me how a writer with such immense human understanding can write a travel book with absolutely no mention of any encounter another human being; either native Frenchmen or her fellow traveller, Henry James. She wasn't to know this since cars were such new technology, but travel in cars cannot do otherwise than totally seal off the traveller from his environment. This was a huge and sadly missed opportunity to describe travel at the dawn of the motoring era: before traffic jams, before towns bordered by terrible bland industrial parks and out of town shopping malls, before ring roads, freeways, and ubiquitous Macdonalds.



2. Edith Wharton has written two books worthy of being read by everyone, "The Age of Innocence" and "A Motor-Fight Through France." Ms. Wharton was a wealthy New Yorker and in a day when most could not afford to do so (before WWI) she set out by automobile with her husband and her friend Henry James to tour the French countryside. This might not seem a "big deal" today, but visualize a country where one could only travel by train and out of the way places were inaccessible except by wagon or oxcart.

   The book contains descriptions of several trips. One trip takes the reader in a big swoop from northern France to southern France and back. She visits the home of Madam Dudevant (George Sand) and a number of churches and other buildings of historic interest. There are only a few old photographs in the book, so one might need to consult another source to fully enjoy her descriptions of various places. I've taken a few courses on French arcitecture and visted France several times and I still had to consult other books--but it's worth it. Some of the French countryside has been altered and some of the older places are gone. The most memorable visits are to Nohant, home of George Sand. It is obvious Ms. Wharton considered Sand a spiritual mentor.

   In her other books and articles, Ms. Wharton covered Spain, Italy and points of interest in the Mediterranean. She later visited the front during WWI and became a war correspondent for an American newspaper. This book covers the halcyon days before the carnage when the world was younger and more innocent.

No comments about Florence (City Guides - Cadogan).

No comments about Pierre Loti: Travels with the Legendary Romantic.