No comments about The Gites Guide 1997 French: Farm & Village Holiday Guide : Self-Catering Holidays in the Famous Gites of Rural France Including "Super" Gites and Gites ... (French Farm and Village Holiday Guide).

No comments about Frommer's Portable Paris 2009 (Frommer's Portable).

2 comments about Frommer's Portable Paris 2007 (Frommer's Portable).

1. Since these Portable Guides were published in late 2006, one might believe that the information contained herein is timely, reliable, and cutting edge. Regrettably, one would be wrong on all counts. This Frommer series is one of the worst ever, and the Paris edition may have the distinction of being the prototype for how NOT to write a travel guide. Much of the information provided is simply incorrect. And while all travel guides (including this one) have disclaimers about the mercurial changes that are part and parcel of international travel, some of the information provided has been out of date or just plain wrong for over two years. Discredit goes not only to the authors but also to the editors for allowing such slovenly research.
   
   The hotels chosen for inclusion in each Arrondissement are baffling. Hotels of great acclaim and historical significance are omitted entirely, while hotels, such as the Hotel de 7e Art, where "rooms are cramped and outfitted with the simplest of furniture" are given play.
   
   Restaurant choices are equally eccentric, given that Parisian cooking is world-renowned. Even if the intent was to provide dining experiences that were "out of the mainstream", the dishes selected for recommendation, particularly in some of the smaller bistros, are the worst possible menu choices. Did anyone actually EAT this food?
   
   It may well be impossible to adequately provide meaningful coverage of a city the size and diversity of Paris in a scant 177 pages. But this guide lacks any consistent perspective and, after reading it three times now, it is still unclear to me for whom this book was intended.
   
   Buying this guide will completely confuse a first time visitor and thoroughly frustrate a frequent visitor. That being the case, why bother?



2. We used this book on a recent trip to Paris. Some of the places recommended in this book do not even exist anymore. The description of the Paris Zoo sounded great, so we took the metro quite a way out of Paris to spend the day there. The elephants, tigers and lions are long gone. Many of the exhibits were old, overgrown, and deserted. When we asked the employees about the large animals, they responded that the animals had not been at the zoo in many years. I don't think this zoo will be open much longer.
   
   We are going to Vancouver this summer. We have not been there in 5 years, so I assumed that I needed to buy a new edition of "Vancouver with Kids". Before I bought it, I checked the date of publication. Guess what? It was 2001! So all I had to do is go home and pull-out the same edition that I had used 5 years before.

2 comments about Adventure Guide Paris & lle-de-France (Adventure Guides Series) (Adventure Guides Series).

1. Hunter Travel Guides Adventure Guide to Paris & Ile-de-France by Heather Stimmler-Hall is certainly THE guidebook we wish had been published before our last trip to Paris. This 450 page book is so well organized and indexed as to teach you everything you want to know about French history and Paris itself before you arrive. With tips of how to plan your trip within your intended budget and to meet your expectations and all you need to know about documents etc., this guide is tops. The book helps you get oriented to Paris and its environs, taking each neighborhood and section and detailing places to stay, eat, and cultural events and activities nearby. There are extensive guide sections to shopping and entertainment, culture, and getting around. Additionally there are about 100 pages devoted to side trips for special sites not to miss near Paris, such as Versailles, Fountainebleu, and others. In the final pages of the guidebook you'll learn t he necessary phrases in French to help you get through our stay without too much confusion; however, there is no guide to pronunciation of the phrases. This Adventure Guide, like others from Hunter Travel Guides, is THE ONE you'll be so glad you selected. (...)



2. Written by the editor of the Secrets of Paris newsletter, this book offers great advice on how to experience Paris and the Ile-de-France "like the natives do." Thorough coverage of travel practicalities placed in a well-written context make this a must-have for repeat visitors and new arrivals.
   ParisVoice Magazine

5 comments about Frommer's Tuscany & Umbria.

1. I found this book practical and usefull from the beginning - We havn't gone yet but the car rental information alone saved us $100 on a 4 day rental. It's a little heavy compaired to our other book but it looks like it covers Tuscany and Umbria thoroughly.



2. This book was extremly usefull and accurate. As an example we could visit the Brolio Castle because we read that you have to find a rope, hang to it and wait until somebody opens the door. Two tourist who arrived before us this not entered...they did not carried the frommers.... All the directions, tips, locations of hotels, rating of resturants, where hundred percent accurate. I will never travel without my frommers. Congratulations.



3. This was a wonderful guide with witty, opinionated, (accurate in my estimation) comprehensive comment on the many sights and scenes that Tuscany has to offer. We used this guide constantly and exhaustively in the one week we recently spent there. The restaurant and hotel recommendations were uniformly splendid and we were fortunate to discover a new town and a new pasta shape when we ate pici in the hilltop town of Montepulciano, where we would never have considered staying but for this guide. Although I would also have liked to have had a guide with pictures of the attractions, the attraction of this guide makes it well worth that slight quibble. I would highly recommend it to anyone going to the region and I will certainly use it, or a newer edition, upon my hopefully soon return.



4. If you're going on the whirlwind "Rome-Florence-Venice" tour, don't bother with this book. It isn't for you.

   If you have a week or 2 to spend in central Italy, buy and read the whole book before you leave, and carry it with you everywhere.

   My wife and I spent a month in Italy, and 2 weeks in Tuscany and Umbria. We had Rick Steeve's, Eyewitness, and Frommers with us. In large towns with good tourist infrastructure (Assisi, Sienna, etc) we found most of the books comparable. In the smaller towns where we usually spent our nights (Spoleto, Montepulciano, Sovana), only Frommers was worth looking at. We consistently found their hotel rooms most closely matched up with the written descriptions in the book, and their recommended restaraunts, while not as cheap as Rick Steve's, were very good.

   Particularly if driving (which is really the only way to see this region), the maps and directions far surpassed the other 2 books. Great maps of almost every town, no matter how small. The only deficiency was the lack of marking of the inbound and outbound roads on the map. Once I figured out where I was entering the town from though, the maps in this book could take me anywhere.

   In the final analysis, all 3 books were useful, but we used each differently. We looked at Rick Steves and Eyewitness each morning, but carried only Frommers with us during the day. When we go back, this will be the only book we take.




5. Warning to readers! We bought this book in March 2004. A more recent edition (called Florence, Tuscany & Umbria) came out in January 2004. This edition was written in 2001 and still quotes prices in lire! We're returning the book and swapping it for the other one.

2 comments about Loire, 3rd (Country & Regional Guides - Cadogan).

1. My husband and I are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel once or twice a year. I always plan for our trips by buying and studying 3 guidebooks, one with lots of pictures, the Blue Guide to the site in question, and if available, the Cadogan guide. Most guide books contain practical information and cover the major tourist attractions almost like a top-ten list. The Cadogan guides, written by individuals who have lived in the region, delve much deeper, providing coverage of smaller, little known places that are fun to find and explore. I know of no better way to discover and experience local life and color. We are independent travellers, almost always booking flights, cars, and reservations on our own on the web. We also enjoy delving into places off the beaten track. The detail in Cadogan is much more encompassing than that in any other guide we have used. The driving directions are usually right on the money. Its literary, architectural, and historical information is particularly helpful. We have discovered many little known gems because of these guides. If you prefer group tours that stop for short periods at several locations, Loire and other Cadogan books are too detailed. But if you have the time to wander a bit, these are the guides for you.
   Regarding Loire specifically, we visited the valley in March, when many of the major chateaux were not yet open for the season. Using this guide, we found more than enough wonderful places to explore. Chateaux, troglodytes, restaurants, art, history, Joan of Arc, Eleanor of Aquitaine, scenic vistas.... An added bonus is the enjoyment of rereading the guide to stimulate memories of where we've been. Can't recommend Loire highly enough.



2. I stumbled on a copy of this at a local used book store and picked it up for some background reading on the cheap. When my husband and I left on a bike trip through the Loire, with only two panniers a piece on our bikes, this was the only book I took (besides a bike book with our route). It was invaluable! It covered all the little sights we passed on the way and gave us fascinating background of every place we went. We learned so much from it that it really added to our adventure. I never wished I had another book. Now I look for a Cadogan Guide for every trip we take. This author though is particularly good. We are going on another bike trip soon and I was delighted to see that he is also the author of their Brittany Guide.

No comments about La France Gourmande: A Food Lover's Guide to French Fetes and Foires.

No comments about Starting a Business in France (Starting a Business - Cadogan).

1 comments about Village Walks: Provence: 50 Adventures on Foot (City Walks).

1. Each walk has only 1-2 paragraphs of information-- not nearly enough to really know what you are looking at and why. I guess if you have a big guide book too--where you can look up the importance or meaning of the stops on the walks--these cards at least provide you with a small map.

1 comments about The Angel Tree: The Enchanting Quest for the World's Oldest Olive Tree.

1. Food fans of the humble olive will find here not another predictable olive cookbook, of which several are on the market already, but a unique history of the olive tree and a documentation of the quest for the world's oldest olive tree. Strangely enough, a fender-bending encounter between landscape architect Dingwall-Main and a rich Frenchman in Provence led to this horticultural exploration, which could have been featured in our gardening section, but deserves coverage here for its fine focus on olive tree and olive growing history in France, Spain and other European nations. The Angel Tree is simply enchanting.