No comments about A Taste of Burgundy.

5 comments about Mediterranean Color: Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Greece.

1. Jeffrey's migration from architecht to painter now photographer has imbued his work with a unique sensibility. As a Becom collector Ihave come to appreciate the quality of his eye and the intensity of the Cibrachrome process of printing. I was quite delighted with Jeffrey's ability to write as well; though readers should know that this is primarily a photography book written by a photographer and his wife. He has several galleries around the world that show his work, and though expensive, his work is worth the price! I expectantly await his next book on similar topic, but location of South America. Long Live Jeffrey Becom



2. This book is about Architecture, Color, and how we see the world. It's not about how to be a tourist in the Mediterranean. Unless, of course, you would like to be a tourist who really "sees" what is in front of your eyes when you walk down that picturesque village street. Jeffrey Becom has a killer eye. His camera isolates a detail from our normal panoramic vision of a building or a street scene. When we contemplate this detail our sense of beauty, aesthetic organization, and how the world works is expanded. His capability to see these details while wandering the countries bordering the Mediterranean allows us normal humans a greater appreciation of the sensibilities of work-a-day Mediterannean peoples. The contemplation of Jeffrey Becom's work also inevitably causes us to look at our own world differently. I see things now when I walk down the street that I didn't see before I looked at Becom's work.



3. Wonderful book and great writing. Beautiful images of architecture, color and life. I highly reccomend. A must have for anyone who has traveled there or for anyone who dreams of doing so. Jeffrey Becom's photographs are a feast for the eyes and his tales are engrossing. One must also look at his other book Maya Color - stunning as well!



4. I bought this book looking for a lush picture book of inspiring photos of mediterranean homes. It is not. Although the photography is nice, it is primarily of colourful buildings abroad.



5. I was expecting a beautiful book of photos full of inspiring mediterranean colours. This book had a lot of text and wasn't what I expected. Might be interesting but haven't got the time to read it.

No comments about Old Provence (Lost and Found Series).

No comments about Nice / Barcelonnette, 061 (IGN Top 100).

3 comments about Food Lover's Guide to France.

1. I found this book in Paris, translated into French, and so was very surprised after a few weeks of using it to finally notice that it was not written by a native Parisian. Ms. Wells makes very detailed comments about each restaurant's menu, service, as well as ambiance and history. The write-ups of the restaurants and other food places are interspersed with brief articles on French lifestyle, cheeses, wines, customs, and other foodie points of interest that I wouldn't have thought to look up but which I found extremely interesting. I had bought it simply as an aid to finding decent food but as it turns out, The Food Lover's Guide is also a wonderful mini-guide through French life and history.



2. PW knows her stuff. I bought this after going to PAris several dozen times and found that most of what I liked she had recomended, as well as many many places that I didn't know.

   The only problem was that every where I went, even to places I had never seen a tourist in, were now full of tourists with her book on the table, ordering the exact meal she had recomended.

   a truly powerful pen




3. Not so sure she is fair about who she rates highly. I went to a few places that were way below average. I do like like some of her sidebars.

No comments about Making a Living in France.

No comments about The Best Places to Buy a Home in France: A Survival Handbook (Survival Handbooks).

3 comments about Paris.

1. This is a thoroughly enjoyable book full of insight, witticisms, and full-page photos of the City of Lights. The author speaks candidly and casually of the city as one would of a dear friend, including charming anecdotes of his days there. Mentions are made of the usual tourist spots: the Eiffel Tower, the Moulin Rouge, et cetera, but also little known spots and out of the way places. The myriad of pictures throughout the book only serves to heighten the sense of being there: you can almost feel the well-worn cobblestone beneath your feet as you stroll the streets, hear tourists and natives alike conversing en francais at corner cafes, smell the freshly baked bread from the boulangerie patisseries, and see the sunlight glinting off the Seine. A must-read for anyone who has been or simply dreams of visiting Paris.



2. Just got this book and have only been through it once. I'll go back again and again, because I'll probably never get to actually visit Paris. The aforementioned out-of-focus photos do exist but for my purposes they are not troubling. A couple of two-page spreads annoyingly place the center of attention right on the crease. But it still gets 5 stars from me. I love the writings, too.



3. As they say on ebay, Buy it now! I spotted this book in a display at Saks, tried to purchase it there, only to find that I had to buy the whole library and bookshelves that went with it. So instead of the $48k, I bought it at Amazon alone. I am a lover of all things Parisian and this book is just breathtaking. Assouline lives up to his reputation. The photos are incomparable to anything I could snap with my didgital camera on vacation last spring.

3 comments about South of France, 7th (Country & Regional Guides - Cadogan).

1. Cadogan Guides are in a category all by themselves. Sick of the usual blandness you encounter in almost all travel books? Pick up any Cadogan Guide and you'll be entertained even before you travel. The authors are cheeky, to be sure, but I appreciate their willingness to interject their own preferences and opinions, and save me the trouble of visiting a ho-hum attraction. Rather than providing endless pages of glossy photos and reviews that rate most everything as just as good as everything else, Cadogan Guides are packed with dense information and helpful maps. Save the glossy photos for us to take, thank you, and give us the information, please.



2. Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (12/06)
   
   France has long been one of my favorite countries, and the south of France must be one of the most beautiful places on this planet. If you've ever had a chance to spend some time there, I am certain you will never forget the colors and the scents of that wondrous region.
   
   Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls have written a phenomenal guidebook to this extraordinary region, filled with an incredible amount of useful information as well as some of the most sparkling travel writing that I have read in quite a while. Just listen to this:
   
   "By 19 BC, the fountain of Nemausus could no longer slake Nîmes' thirst, and a search was on for a new source. The Romans were obsessed with the quality of their water, and when they found a crystal-clear spring called the Eure near Uzès, the fact that it was 48km away hardly posed an obstacle to antiquity's star engineers. The resulting aqueduct, built under Augustus' son-in-law Agrippa, was like a giant needle hemming the landscape, piercing tunnels through hills and looping its arches over the open spaces of the garrigues, and all measured precisely to allow a slope of .07 centimetres per metre. [...] ... the Roman engineers knuckled down, ordered a goodly supply of neatly dressed stone from the nearby quarries at Vers, and built the Pont du Gard, at 157ft the highest of all Roman aqueducts and, along with the span in Segovia, the best preserved in the world. ... No matter how many photos you've seen before, the aqueduct's three tiers of arches of golden stone without mortar make a brave and lovely sight...."
   
   If a description like this does not whet your appetite to see the Pont du Gard, I truly do not know what could. You can nearly see the Roman engineers scratching their heads, trying to figure how to design the aqueduct; and hear them arguing about whose solution is best...
   
   In addition to such brilliantly vivid descriptions, the guidebook offers all of the usual and necessary information for a visitor to the area, with listings for over 600 places to stay, over 450 places to eat and drink, plus lots of practical information, 60 area and city maps and more. The 26 color photographs in the first section will certainly introduce the amazing colors of the region, but you will have to visit in person to get the scents and sounds of it right. Two sections that I liked particularly well were the "Further Reading" section at the very end of the book as well as the great sections on where to taste and buy the local wine, which can be found throughout the book.
   
   I would recommend "South of France" highly to anybody who wishes to explore the South of France in more depth. And if you are unable to go there in person, this guidebook could help transport you there by simply reading a chapter and closing your eyes.



3. I have purchased several books for my trip to Europe, and this is my favorite one. It is very practical and fun to read! I especially enjoyed the background/history sections (even though I'm not a history fan)-- they provide for such an amazing context. There is lots of humor and neat facts that you can share with friends while reading. Made the planning part of my journey so much more enjoyable!

No comments about Firecrest Round the World.