No comments about An Imam in Paris: Al-Tahtawi's Visit to France (1826-31).

1 comments about Exploring Woodland: Peak District & Central England: The Woodland Trust (Exploring Woodland).

1. Lovely guide with numerous maps and color photos, describing dozens of woodland areas in Derbyshire and areas close to the Peak District. Provides directions and descriptions in particular of the kinds of trees and vegetation in each woodland area, with reference to birds, butterflies, streams, ponds, trails etc. Small book, not much more than 100 glossy pages, portable enough for travel.

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.

No comments about Passport France: Your Pocket Guide to French Business, Customs & Etiquette (Passport to the World) (Passport to the World).

3 comments about Frommer's Road Atlas France, Fourth Edition.

1. Took this atlas on a 2,000 mile journey all over France - great, great, great atlas! Thanks to this book, we ended up visiting places where people don't see a live tourist for years. Almost all of the little local roads were marked on the map. The size of the book is just right - not too big (compare and contrast with the hardcover edition of the Michelin Atlas, a tome about an inch think weighing about 3 pounds). The atlas is very easy to use, and the best thing is that sites to see and vista points are also marked...



2. I've made >20 visits to France all together. Here are my reviews of the best guides....to meet you r exact needs.....I hope these are helpful and that you have a great visit! I always gauge the quality of my visit by how much I remember a year later......this review is designed to help you get the guide that will be sure YOU remember your trip many years into the future. Travel Safe and enjoy yourself to the max!
   
   Frommer's
   These are time tested guides that pride themselves on being updated annually. Although I think the guides below provide information that is in more depth or more concise (depending on what the guide is known for), if your main concern is that the guide has very little old or outdated information, then this would be a good guide for you.
   
   Lonely Planet
   Lonely Planet has City and Out To Eat Guides. They are all about the experience so they focus on doing, being, getting there, and this means they have the best detailed information, including both inexpensive and really spectacular restaurants and hotels, out-of-the-way places, weird things to see and do, the list is endless.
   
   Michelin
   Famous for their quality reviews, the Red Michelin Guides are for hotels & Restaurants, the Green Michelin Guides are for main tourist destinations. However, the English language Green guide is the one most people use and it has now been supplemented with hotel and restaurant information. These are the serious review guides as the famous Michelin ratings are issued via these books.
   
   Fodor's
   Fodor's is the best selling guide among Americans. They have a bewildering array of different guides. Here's which is what:
   The Gold Guide is the main book with good reviews of everything and lots of tours, walks, and just about everything else you could think of. It's not called the Gold guide for nothing though....it assumes you have money and are willing to spend it.
   SeeIt! is a concise guide that extracts the most popular items from the Gold Guide
   PocketGuide is designed for a quick first visit
   UpCLOSE for independent travel that is cheap and well thought out
   CityPack is a plastic pocket map with some guide information
   Exploring is for cultural interests, lots of photos and designed to supplement the Gold guide
   
   MapGuide
   MapGuide is very easy to use and has the best location information for hotels, tourist attractions, museums, churches etc. that they manage to keep fairly up to date. It's great for teaching you how to use the Metro. The text sections are quick overviews, not reviews, but the strong suite here is brevity, not depth. I strongly recommend this for your first few times learning your way around the classic tourist sites and experiences. MapGuide is excellent as long as you are staying pretty much in the center of the city.
   
   Time Out
   The Time Out guides are very good. Easy reading, short reviews of restaurants, hotels, and other sites, with good public transport maps that go beyond the city centre. Many people who buy more than one guidebook end up liking this one best!
   
   Blue Guides
   Without doubt, the best of the walks guides.... the Blue Guide has been around since 1918 and has extremely well designed walks with lots of unique little side stops to hit on just about any interest you have. If you want to pick up the feel of the city, this is the best book to do that for you. This is one that you end up packing on your 10th trip, by which time it is well worn.
   
   Let's Go
   Let's Go is a great guide series that specializes in the niche interest details that turn a trip into a great and memorable experience. Started by and for college students, these guides are famous for the details provided by people who used the book the previous year. They continue to focus on providing a great experience inexpensively. If you want to know about the top restaurants, this is not for you (use Fodor's or Michelin). Let's Go does have a bewildering array of different guides though. Here's which is what:
   Budget Guide is the main guide with incredibly detailed information and reviews on everything you can think of.
   City Guide is just as intense but restricted to the single city.
   PocketGuide is even smaller and features condensed information
   MapGuide's are very good maps with public transportation and some other information (like museum hours, etc.)
   
   Rick Steves' books are not recommended. They may be an interesting read but their helpfulness is very poor. They don't do well on updates, transportation details, or anything but the first-time-tourist routine and even that is somewhat superficial on anything but the mega-major sites.



3. At first I was like, "no way can they pull this off." But after skimming through the first few pages, I could see that they really put their heart and sole into this atlas. After a few pages with roads intersecting all over them, they immediately go into that whole Bush, Africa, AIDS, pharmeceutical, McDonalds, Beatlejuice, potato gun scandal.
   
   A true classic.

No comments about The Silent Traveller in Paris.

1 comments about Lourdes (Literary Classics).

1. LOURDES tells the story of a four day pilgramage to the famous shrine in the late 19th century from the point of view of an abbe who has lost faith. He accompanies a childhood friend and her father as they seek a cure for her paralysis and pain. The abbe is no believer in miracles and his story is about the faith of those who have no where else to turn. Still powerful today, as many turn from a science-based medical establishment, when it offers no cures, to faith healings which heal, if not always the physical symptoms, the anguish and pain of hopelessness, this book explores the hearts and minds of the faithful with respect and insight. Zola's descriptions of trains and hospitals full of the diseased hopeful are overwhelming to read. His mixing of the political, the spiritual and the personal is well-balanced and provides a great tale. You will find the story of Bernadette and the Lady of Lourdes here, but if you are looking for inspirational reading about miraculous cures, you should look elsewhere. This book is about the very human side of a place usually known only for its miracles.

2 comments about The Heart of France.

1. Anyone who knows Victoria Magazine would expect this book to be a dreamy visit to the most interesting places in France. You will not be disappointed! It is a perfect venue for armchair travellers to read while sipping a warming cup of tea. For those planning a trip to this magic land, the flawless photography and commentary makes one want to pack and leave immediately. This book is a perfect gift for someone you love who loves travel, but pick up a copy for yourself, too. Everyone deserves a flight of fancy now and then!



2. A very pretty little book just full of lovely photos and easy to read text. One of those books about atmosphere and beauty you will look at again and again for inspiration.

2 comments about The Gardens and Parks at Hampton Court Palace.

1. 
   Todd Longstaffe-Gowan, Gardens Adviser to Hampton Court Palace and Vice Chairman of the London Historic Parks and Gardens Trust, and photographer Vivian Russell have combined their considerable talents to offer readers, most especially garden enthusiasts, a stunning journal of the gardens and parks at Hampton Court Palace.
   
   Not only is Hampton Court an historic landscape covering 2,000 acres, bounded on its south and east sides by the River Thames, it is also a site of great antiquity indicating that there were settlements in the site dating back to the Bronze Age. However the estate began to form very much as it is seen today in 1086. It was in 1514 that Hampton Court was leased by Cardinal Wolsey, until he became persona non grata at court and was forced to leave by Henry VIII.
   
   As soon as the estate was under his care Henry began a 20 year building, the like of which had not been seen. Since that time various royals have left their marks upon the estate as it has been used as a guest house. Queen Victoria declared that the palace "should be thrown open to all her subjects without restriction, and without fee or gratuity of any kind.." While this order was not deemed wise by many, the palace did become a popular vacation resort.
   
   The gardens were neglected during World War I, but by 1919 improvements were being overseen by a committee of horticultural and landscape garden experts. Since the early 1990s major restoration work has taken place within the palace which has been coordinated with landscape improvements. Today, the estate stands as a "great emblem and monument of English history," and attracts over a million visitors every year.
   
   Thanks to Longstaffe-Gowan and Russell for making it also available to armchair travelers.
   
   - Gail Cooke



2. A well organised and attractively produced book giving a scholarly account of the history of these magnificent and much loved Gardens. Hampton Court Palace is the finest of English Renaissance gardens and of great importance to any student of horticulture and garden or landscape history.
   The avenues and the venerable ancient trees of the parks along with the even older pruned and pleached trees of the formal gardens are among the treasures of the gardens. Along with the newly restored privy garden, the statuary and the architecture these are well illustrated with photos and drawings ancient and modern

No comments about Secret France: Charming Villages and Country Tours.