No comments about Karen Brown's France B&B, 2007: Bed & Breakfasts & Itineraries (Karen Brown's France Charming Bed and Breakfast).

4 comments about Louvre: Portrait of a Museum (Abradale Books).

1. Whether you've been to the Louvre and want to protect and enhance your memories or you just want to see the most beautiful works of art ever collected this is the perfect book! It gives you history, background info and of course amazing pictures! You're next purchase will be plane tickets to Paris!!



2. A true masterpiece. A fresh look at one of the world's most extraordinary museums. I received this book as a gift, and I have truly enjoyed it.



3. This is a great book. It covers all the art departments of the Louvre and does it in a very concise manner. But it has a peculiar presentation format - too many sidebars and info boxes etc mixed-up with the main text, small pics breaking-up the main text too often, and many times it is not easy to match the sidebar to the pic intuitively.



4. I bought this book for my son before I visited the Louvre because he was majoring in art. A few years later, I went to Paris and visited the Louvre. It was great to look through the book after having been there! It's still his book, but it was so wonderful to have it around after experiencing the incredible galleries in person! If you're going to the Louvre, my suggestion would be to really go through this book FIRST... then go to the Louvre! There's so much there it's overwhelming. I wish I'd planned out my visit there after going through the book.

No comments about International Mountain Rescue Handbook.

No comments about Paris, Restaurants & More.

2 comments about Lighthouses of France: The Monuments and Their Keepers.

1. This massive hardcover book is the perfect compliment to it's big brother (North Atlantic Lighthouses. Both these books are the collective works of the worlds best lighthouse photographer (Jean Guichard). This is the man who uses analogue techniques and is not a Photoshop convert. (He's the man who brought you the famous photo of the lighthouse keeper who nearly gets hit by the wave.)

   The difference between this book and "North Atlantic Lighthouses" is that North Atlantic deals with the... ...North Atlantic(USA, Canada, Iceland, Scotland, England and Wales, Ireland, and France) while "Lighthouses of France" deals with... ...French lighthouses only.

   BUT, If your like me then the French lighthouses are the most attractive, alluring and charming lighthouses in the world. Lighthouses such as the famous La Jument (the mare), Le Four (the oven), Pierres Noires (Black Rocks). The book displays historic pictures which you won't see elsewhere (e.g. shots of relief of the keepers at Ar-Men.) You will also get the entire sequence of the wave and the keeper at La Jument. (Including the shot that everyone wants to see, "the aftermath", this is the shot that shows the keepers fate. It's located on page 92, my tip is take a close look at the doorway.

   Generally lighthouse books such as this have text accompanying it explaining the various lighthouses. Most books are very factual giving details such as tower hight, beacon type/colour, signal time, ect... (this is what happens in the other book North Atlantic Lighthouses, where the text is by Ken Trethewey). The information in that book is generally very interesting although it comes up a very distant second to the magnificent photos.

   Well in Lighthouses of France the text (by Rene Gast) is no distant second. Hell it's right up there on par with the photos. The text doesn't deal with the lighthouses directly. It mainly deals with the keepers and their interactions with these beacons of the sea. You'll get a taste for what it was like to build, man and maintain these monuments.

   The stories that are retold will astound, amaze and horrify. Find out what it's like to be one of the two keepers at Kereon on December 16th, 1989 at 6:10pm. When the two portholes in the kitchen were hit by an enormous wave,(where they were watching TV at the time) during a horrific storm. Read on as all the furniture is washed out the front door. A quote from Jean-Pierre Lecuq "we could hear the breakers forming about five hundred meters out. It sounded like a thousand bulldozers coming to crush us, then came the deafening crash of the wave exploding against the tower, which in fifteen years' service I had never seen shudder like that."

   Basically RIVETING reading JAW DROPPING Photos. BUY IT NOW... A TREASURE...




2. If you're like me and are captivated by the famous photograph of a lighthouse keeper standing in the door of an old stone lighthouse, and the lighthouse itself, both of which are about to be engulfed by a HUGE wave, you'll be captivated all over again by this book. The photo was one of several taken of a lighthouse known as "la Tempete," off the coast of western France, that was made into a series of posters, some of which grace a lot of walls around the world, including mine. I had to have the poster of the lighthouse keeper's perilous moment, and when I found out about this book, I had to have it too. I'm glad I did, because it tells the fascinating story behind the "la Tempete" photos, and showcases more of Jean Guichard's life work, the lighthouses of France and his artistic shots of structures that are on that country's registry of historic buildings. A great book to have and enjoy, even if you're like me and only mildly interested in lighthouses, but engrossed by the story behind THAT photograph.

1 comments about Best Walks in the Lake District (Best Walks Guides).

1. When planning a recent trip to the Lake District, I needed information on good hikes and this was just about the only guide I could find that looked like it might be helpful. The basic structure of the book is not bad as it breaks hikes into three main categories based on difficulty. I might quibble with some of the ratings but since the author reveals the mileage and elevation change you can judge for yourself whether you're up to the challenge regardless of the rating. The individual hikes are described in very thorough detail and I found that this was very helpful as trails may fork with no signs. Good directions are also given for accessing the trailheads.
   
   The faults with this book are not severe but definitely detract from its overall utility. First, the color photos included from the hikes are the quality of mediocre snapshots. I found myself flipping through and wondering if any of the hikes would be worth the effort is that was all I'd see. The publisher really needs to get better quality photos to represent what you might see on the trails. The other issue I had was that the author does little to stress that one trail is any more beautiful than another. I realize that this is in the eye of the beholder to a certain extent but we all know that in any scenic location there will end up being a handful of spots that nearly everyone finds especially lovely. If such places exist in the Lake District, you won't find out about it in this book. That's a shame because it's a huge area that no visitor can possibly explore in full during an ordinary vacation and I would have greatly appreciated some help in prioritizing places to explore.
   
   Despite the drawbacks I mention, this is still a book worth buying. The Lake District is simply huge with hundreds of miles of hiking trails. This book at least gives you the means to find some of the best and helps you stay on track when you're there. If it isn't perfect, it is still quite useful and I was happy to have it on my trip.

1 comments about 360 Degrees Paris.

1. For 85% this book is breathtaking and fascinating. No doubt, it's a new look on usual things in Paris. Paris is my most favorite city in the world and I collect photo albums about it for a long time, thus I can assure you that it will be a good deal to buy it. Its weaknesses: there are usual things (though from unusual point of view, 15% of the book is devoted to some interiors of shops and bars(do you want to pay for product placement?, the disk is attached to this book, which includes some digital panoramas, included in the book (however, my Quick Time Player did not manage to find some files (most interesting I should admit) though it seems they are there).

1 comments about Paris in 3D: From Stereoscopy to Virtual Reality 1850-2000.

1. I received "Paris in 3D" for Christmas and what a wonderful surprise! This book is exciting before you even open the front cover. The front of the book has a beautiful lenticular of the Eiffel Tower. But the wonder does not stop there. Each page reveals beautiful 3-D images which can be viewed with the viewers enclosed in the book. The paper is high quality and the reproductions are gorgeous! As if this weren't enough, the book is engrossing and full of interesting information. I have been interested in 3-D photography for six years. This is the kind of book that I would be comfortable recommending to anyone who loves beautiful, well produced books, regardless of their knowledge or interest in 3-D photography. It is truly a collector's item that the whole family would enjoy viewing.

No comments about The Mont Blanc Range: Classic Snow, Ice, and Mixed Climbs.

No comments about Walking in France (Walking Guides).