3 comments about The Wine and Food Guide to the Loire, France's Royal River: Veuve Clicquot-Wine Book of the Year.

1. I had the book along with us the weekend I proposed to my fiance, and it was absolutely phenomenal. Great background on both food and wines that are local to the area, along with plenty of suggestions for itineraries for wine tours. My only complaint is that she should have included a few more phones and addresses for some of the restaurants and vineyards she recommends, since it can be hard to find some of her marquis suggestions. Excellent book overall with a clear passion for her subject matter!



2. This book was very helpful in our tour of the Loire Valley. We used it to visit wineries in both Chinon and Vouvray. As there are quite a few places to visit, Ms. Friedrich's commentary about each vignoble and her rating system were very useful.

   One place in particular we did visit was SCEA Charles Joguet in the Chinon region. We mentioned the nice write-up he received in this book, and he said that he had the book and that Ms. Friedrich only lived right around the corner, this story really brought the book and the region to life for me. His facility includes a cave towards the back of the property where we tasted several wines and purchased some as well. As a professional, he took the name and address of the English friend, who resides in France, with whom we were visiting, in order to add her to his mailing list. He then told me how to purchase his wines in Pennsylvania.

   Without Ms. Friedrich's book we would never have gone to this property as it is off the beaten path, but well worth the visit.

   If you're headed to the Loire and want to do more than the usual tourist visiting of the chateaux then this book is indispensable.




3. Do you long to travel deeper into "la France profound" than even the best package tour? Do you like exceptional wines but realize you will never have seen many of the best ones on a winelist in the U. S.? Where are those great small restaurants and country inns that don't make it into the Michelin guide? Which are the typical (and best) cheeses of the region? Where are the best places to buy local breads and specialty baked items? Jacqueline Friedrich's 1998 Wine and Food Guide to the Loire is truly enlightening on these points.

   We used her book to develop our own 14 day tour of the Loire Valley and, thanks to many of her tips, it was "a trip of a lifetime". Buy and read this book; take notes; rent a car...! With this level of authentic local information, you can make magic.

   We culled what appealed to us from the book and every single thing we used was "spot on" and special. As examples, we stayed at the Domaine de Mestre, an elegant farm house run by the local mayor (his wife is one of the best artisinal soap makers in France) and we felt like we knew them a bit before we arrived thanks to this book. We visited the Troglo'tap in Turquant, where dried apples are still made using time-honored hand techniques in an ancient tufa cave workshop. We never would have found places like these without the book. Without the author's honest but evocative descriptions, we would not have had the faith to look for and enjoy these or many other places we visited.

   The wine information is copious and detailed: a reader can, purely by reading the text, select wines that accord with ones own preferences. Armed with notes from this book, you can find the wines you would not want to pass over on a winelist just because there were so many names and who knew which ones to pick out?

   In short, this book is a tool for travel. It is beautifully written but it is not a memoir. Select the places and details that interest you. Because of the small size of the localities where some of the best things are located, it was not practical to include a map with the book. Get a specialized one for the Loire Valley and use it as a companion to the text. This book is a classic of travel reference.

4 comments about Bella Tuscany & Under the Tuscan Sun (2 Book Set).

1. The two books in this set can be read independently of one another, but read together provide a rich tapestry of the author's romance with Tuscany, and the author's major life change adventure embracing the future as she embraces her Italian home. One need not necessarily be a Tuscan scholar, or a Tuscan devotee, or even a Tuscan traveler to enjoy the colorful and appetizing narrative centered around the author's purchase and initial rehabilitation (in Under The Tuscan Sun) of a once-graceful long-abandoned farmhouse in the Tuscan hills. The plans and projects she and her husband make for resurrection of the once-lovely old building on ancient footings in forgotten gardens strike yearning chords in every fantasy spinner's heart. The project unfolds in some successes and some failures as we also see the author's resurrection of buried dreams in her own life similarly unfold. The metamorphosis becomes much more concrete, much more focused and visible, like the author's struggle to learn Italian, in the second book of the set, Bella Tuscany, in which she includes more of her inner life and more interaction with her Italian neighbors, even tucking some favorite recipes into various chapters as they become better acquainted. Her travels through Tuscany in search of fixtures, furnishings, towels, tiles and dishes become charming tours of Italy on and off the beaten track, and a way of life which seems to open the heart and coax the spirit forth. These two passionate journals resonate in those places where each of us still muses about finding our dream - or dreamhouse - someday, whether an Italophile or not. The books lack much hard economic analysis or any real social or political feeling for Tuscany; they document a continuing personal journey. Great reading to encourage the reader to reach for the adventure and find herself.



2. Being able to lose yourself in a book, is a completely unique experience that is usually reserved for fiction. Under the Tuscan Sun, a non-fiction book absolutely does this. It reads like a novel that you cannot possibly put down.

   At the same time it is real - you are there using every sense that you possess.

   As a guest in the author's house, you sweat, your muscles ache and you get dusty as the rennovations take shape. You want to soak in a long hot bath after reading several pages.

   You shop side by side with her at the market, smelling, hearing, touching and tasting all that Italy has to offer.

   At her table you do not feel compelled to go to the fridge for a snack, but feel completely stuffed, like you have really eaten the meals she has described.

   What a wonderful place to lose your self, but Under the Tuscan Sun.




3. Having lived in Italy myself for 4 years Frances Mayes brought me back to what I call my second home. I laughed and cried, but mostly my heart ached to be back in this wonderful country she so beautifully describes. Frances words make you hear, fell and smell everything she describes. You don't read her books you live inside them. I followed up Under The Tuscan Sun with Bella Tuscany - having taken them both on a ski trip. Read Under the Tuscan Sun on the way up out loud to my husband(9 hours driving,- made him want to return to Italy also) and opted to pass on a day of skiing to read Bella Tuscany. Thank you for taking me home! Molti ringraziamenti per così tempo divertente Frances!



4. When I learned the first book had been a best seller and inspired a movie, I purchased this box set with both books. In addition, I also live in Italy so I was sure this would be a great set for me to read. Wow, I really called this one wrong.
   
   Mayes is a good writer and she certainly writes with all five senses, but most of the content in these two books was just plain boring. After spending over twenty bucks on this set, I had to force myself to read both. Mayes rambled on and on. Her memoirs just simply are not that interesting in print. My daughter brought the movie home after I finished reading the first book, and I wasn't at all suprised to find that the movie was only loosly based on the book. They almost completely changed the whole thing, and it was pretty good.
   
   The recipes certainly were the best part of the books, but they were written in paragraph form. It definately would have been much nicer if they were printed like a typical cookbook. Also, I wish some pictures would have been included in the books. Maybe some before and after shots during the renovation for example.
   
   Well, at least my purchase helped Mayes pay for her endless remodeling projects on not one but two homes. I'm familiar with the prices for real estate in the San Francisco area, and they are impossible for most people. Furthermore, I hope Mayes was able to complete renovations on her Tuscany home before the dollar began its downward spiral.

3 comments about When in France, Do as the French Do.

1. Useful for people planning to live in, do business in, or merely visit France. Or even an armchair traveller interested in customs and mores elsewhere.

   Steele gets it right. Many of his comments are also revealed in some of the best books about living in France such as Sarah Turnbull's 'Almost French' and Adam Gropnik's 'From PAris to the Moon'.

   Steele has sections on a whole range of subjects: arts, business, daily life, food and drink, identity, language, philosophy, politics, and more.

   Discover the answer to questions such as: when should you mention a person's family name in greeting? how should you attract a waiter's attention? where was Napoleon Bonaparte first buried? what French fast food chains are there? why don't French people smile as much as Americans? when in a meeting do you hand over a business card?




2. I wanted this book because my husband and I are planning a week's vacation to Paris. I found this book pretty much useless for our purposes. The book is arranged in one-page primers on various subjects. The vast majority of the subjects are about French history or music or whatnot. There is some information about business etiquette that could potentially be useful for the business traveler.

   But I find the title to be a misnomer. It isn't a book about doing things the French way. There are very few cues on how to avoid faux pas. This is not a useful book for the average traveler, and I'm sorry I bought it. I've considered returning it, but am not sure the $9 I paid for it is worth the hassle of packing it up, sending it off, etc etc.




3. This book provided a cultural understanding. I work for a French-owned company, and after reading the book, had an expanded appreciation for the way the French see things. I also can understand why Americans may see the French as unfriendly and/or rude. I recommend the book to people who want to increase their knowledge of French culture, history and norms.

No comments about Let's Go 2009 France (Let's Go France).

1 comments about Knopf Guide: Croatia and the Dalmatian Coast (Knopf Guides).

1. I took three guides on a three week trip to Croatia in 2006: Lonely Planet, Bradt's, and this one. I used the first two to learn about where to stay and eat. I used the Knopf guide to truly learn about Croatia's amazing natural and cultural offerings.
   
   The authors cover in much greater depth the historical, cultural, natural, and archaeological sites of lovely Croatia than any other guide book. It was an invaluable resource for choosing the best places to go and what to see and visit in the country.
   
   The book itself is a pleasure to use. It's gorgeous, well-designed, illustrated, and written. The maps were superb and the most practical and useful of any of my guide books.
   
   The book is as useful on the ground as it is for pre-trip planning and dreaming.

No comments about Living the Sweet Life in Paris: Adventures of an American Pastry Chef.

3 comments about Around and About Paris, Vol. 2: From the Guillotine to the Bastille Opera: The 8th-12th Arrondissements.

1. Because Mrs Vallois has a love affair with Paris; because she devoted part of her life to this "cause", she is totally convincing. When you read her descriptions of hidden details on houses nobody noticed before, you understand that Mrs Vallois deserves the right to consider herself as co-owner of "the spirit of Paris". Because this "spirit" is something that was invented by the French to be shared with others, feel free to become a "courtisan". Mrs Vallois books are well documented (no need to say). It's like reading an architectural manual plus an history encyclopedia. All this while walking in charming places. I hope the next books will keep this knowledge embedded in a living style and that Thirza will add more illustrations. Buy this book. It will never look old-fashioned!



2. Great book!
   and now,
   Gentle Readers:
   
   You may have noticed that Amazon made some changes to its website. For more information, view that tube place at /watch?v=PvLilHUaDic.
   
   From June 11 - June 17, I, like many other reviewers on Amazon, did not post any reviews and did not make any purchases. This was the only means we have of showing Amazon how much we detest the new reviews format and the overloaded and confusing product pages.
   Amazon revised the product pages (if one looked very, very closely) to allow public input re the redesign. Now I am told, although I do not yet see it, that the "improvements" are being scaled back to a more palatable, user/shopper friendly format.
   
   Thanks and Stay Tuned!
   
   /TundraVision



3. As someone who has haunted Paris for decades, I can say that there is no more wonderful companion than Thirza Vallois. Her three volumes of Around and About Paris, covering every arrondissement with both erudition and joy, are almost as deep and rich and rewarding as the city itself. They are to be carried about for consulting on foot, and read in your armchair for pleasure and information you will not find in the run-of-the-mill "guide." These books are for explorers and dreamers, scholars and lovers. If you want to know Paris, you can not do better.

No comments about StyleCity Paris, Third Edition (Style City).

No comments about Michelin Map No. 524 Aquitaine (France), including map of Bordeaux - Scale 1cm : 3km.

5 comments about A Corner in the Marais: Memoir of a Paris Neighborhood.

1. This book reminded me of William Murray's City of Soul, about Rome. Karmel is obviously in love with his Paris and it is infectious.

   The narrative about Karmel's first trip to Paris, then how he moved to Paris and bought an apartment in the Marais was intriguing, although his detours into the history of the neighborhood were less interesting. I found I wanted to know more about Karmel and his wife than about who had lived in his street two hundred years ago.

   And the photographs! There are some marvelous black and white Atget photos in this book and although there really isn't much going on in them, these studies of shadow and light are worth the price of the book alone.




2. man this book gets boring at times. it's more the history of the neighborhood and medieval and renaissance parisian life as it took place around the author's apartment building. Maybe the other books I've read about Paris are overly sentimental, but this book does little to invoke the romance of the city of lights.

   for instance: there is an entire chapter devoted to a legal wrangle which took place over the non-payment of taxes on the home, in which various people bickered over the ownership in the 17th century. this should have been at most a paragraph.

   there are some fascinating descriptions of period toilets,17th century french bathing habits, and 13th century house construction. the length of space devoted to meaningless crap is stunning.

   some bits of it are interesting. i love the marais, and thought it would give a sense of the personality of the area, particularly as the cover makes it seem like quite a warm book. it isn't. but if you want to know about feudal french land taxes and Cardinal Richeliu's preferred urinal (the fireplace), then this book is for you.




3. This is a great book to read while in Paris. With the book in hand, we easily found many points mentioned in it (and it answered some questions we had had while walking around the Marais on our own). It's very much a "labor of love" by someone who became intrigued by a small slice of history that, coincidentally, sheds some light on the broader picture over a long period. Anyone who enjoys history will envy the author's dig through old documents and records searching for even tangential mentions of his building, and the people associated with it. (Also recommended, for entirely other reasons: "Paris to the Moon," by Adam Gopnik.)



4. I loved this book, especially as I was staying a few doors down from his apartment in a hotel and it made my visit enhanced by his descriptions and thoughts.



5. I can't believe I actually skimmed through a particular chapter, I never, ever do that. It tried to bore me to tears with a tedious description of a wrangle over the ownership of an apartment 200 years ago!!! I love this area of Paris, and was hoping that the historical content of this book would leave me delighted... sadly not.
   There are some interesting descriptions of life at the time, however the book tends to only touch on the interesting bits and rave about the mundane. I kept hoping it would improve as I pressed on... unfortunately, it didn't.