1 comments about Cool Restaurants Paris (Cool Restaurants).

1. I would love to review this book, if I could only get it! The website says it is "in stock" but the shipping date when I ordered it was December. I have seen it in stores, so it isn't as if it hasn't been released. Very suspect.

No comments about Michelin Ile-de-France: Paris & Surrounding Areas (Michelin Maps).

2 comments about Insiders' Guide to San Antonio, 3rd (Insiders' Guide Series).

1. We bought this book for a trip we took to San Antonio last week. It's adequate at best. In no way should the prospective buyer be deceived into believing this is an "Insiders' Guide" in any meaningful way. Key restaurants favored by many locals we met were not even mentioned in the book and it's clear the authors hadn't even visited sites the book incorrectly describes; e.g. imagine my surprise after taking a taxi to the Japanese Tea Gardens to find that, despite the lovely description of it in the book, it had been completely drained of all the water it once surrounded (and that its many paths and bridges navigate around and over) for many, many years!



2. This is a very good guide to San Antonio, the author at least seems to know the city. The guide focuses on the things that make this city so special. The guide is easy to navigate, well thoughtout and thorough. San Antonio is one of the unique American cities, along with San Francisco, New Orleans, and New York City. I love this city, it is so layed back and friendly, it exudes that hill country charm. It's a big city, that does not feel like one. The German, Hispanic, and Anglo cultures melt together here and form a uniquely american city. This is a very good guide to one of America's urban treasures.

2 comments about Paris by Metro: An Underground History.

1. Delaney's Paris By Metro is nothing short of an etymological delight! The book has a brief description of EVERY Paris Metro station and although it checks in at only about 70 pages it is loaded with information.
   
   I've been to Paris several times and using the Metro is always one of my favorite experiences. I've caught myself on more than one occasion wondering from where these strange and foreign names for the stations were derived. Chemin Vert, Oberkampf, Varenne, and a host of others were just as mysterious when leaving Paris as they were when I arrived. But with this book all the mysteries have been solved!
   
   There is no "Look Inside" feature as of yet for this publication so I'll give you a few of the details of the layout of the book.
   
   It's very portable, nice looking, and weighs next to nothing. A traveller could probably fit it into a back pocket, but I think it's more suitable for a backpack or a purse. The first several pages deal with some of the particulars of using the Metro. You'll find a clear 2 page color map of the entire Metro, a brief explanation of how to use the system, a brief description of the different types of trains, lists of places to visit and shop that are easily accessible by the Metro, and a method for understanding the different terms used in France for various types of roads, streets, squares, and plazas.
   
   The heart of the book begins on about page 7 with a chapter devoted to Line 1, followed by 13 additional chapters, averaging about 5 pages each which ultimately cover all 14 Lines of the Paris Metro. The entries are very concise, and I'll give two examples here using the aforementioned stations:
   
   On page 49:
   
   Line 8
   Chemin Vert
   The name (green path) derives from the fact that the street in question passed through the market gardens in existence a few centuries ago.
   
   On page 32:
   
   Line 5
   Oberkampf
   Born in Bavaria in 1738, Christophe Philippe Oberkampf was one of France's leading linen printers and was an important figure in the cotton industry.
   
   As you can see, the entries are very matter of fact and although some are a bit longer than these examples most are very short and to the point like the ones above.
   
   This book may not be for everyone, but anybody who loves the Paris Metro and is intrigued by the names they see on the system map will surely enjoy reading this book. It's also the kind of book that drops names for further research. It's a great gift idea for a Francophile or somebody who is planning a trip to Paris. Maybe you should just get it for yourself, you know, something to have around your home when you're longing for the most magical city in the world.



2. I should have paid more attention to the product description and noted how many (or few) pages were in this book. I thought perhaps it might be a fascinating in-depth study of the Paris subway system, similar to Chrisian Wolmar's excellent "The Subterranean Railway" (about the London underground). I was wrong. It's a very thin hardback in which the author gives short (usually 1 paragraph) stories of how each Metro station got its name. The book is organized by the numbers of the subway lines, and contains some nice color photos (but there could have been much greater variety). I learned some interesting facts about the people and places who have been immortalized in the Metro, but I expected a lot more. No history of the Metro itself, and many stories that could have been fleshed out in more detail. This could easily have been an extra chapter stuck at the back of a Rick Steves travel guide, rather than a separate book.

2 comments about National Geographic Traveler: Paris, 2d Ed. (National Geographic Traveler).

1. An excellent book for pre trip planning or leaving in the hotel room to check out the next days sights or review what was seen that day. Great photos, good detailed explanations of major sights. Unlike a Knopf book there is not a lot of pages dedicated to history or architecture or plants and animals. For the major sights like the Louvre the book will walk you through (11 pages devoted to the Louvre). Not strong on shopping or nightlife or less well known sights, the maps to the front of each geographic section are an overview but not great for street by street navigating.
   An excellent book, good reading, great photos, not the book to take into the streets, but a definite book to have if you are going. Also great for an armchair traveller.



2. I thought this was a very useful guide to start with. It covers everything from history and culture to how to get around Paris and of course what to do and see as well as where to eat, etc. The pictures are absolutely lovely, and the Paris metro guide in the back comes in handy. The maps could be more detailed, though. For those who can manage French, I would suggest buying an actual guide in French like Le Guide du Routard. No pictures there, but a lot more information.

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.

5 comments about Best Buys and Bargains in Paris: (Yes, They Do Exist!).

1. This is a fun and useful book that has fed my many fantasies of traveling to Paris. When Jeanne Feldman writes of shopping for clothing in the "Fourteenth Arrondissement," you want to be there and see just what exactly the "Fourteenth Arrondissement" has to offer! Did you know that you can get a tax refund if you spend x number of dollars in a Parisian store? Feldman explains how this works, and much, much more.

   Paris is normally thought of as an expensive place to live -- and of course it can be -- but the author shows you how to circumnavigate this popularly conception of Paris. It may make an expatriate of you, as it apparently has of her.

   The book is divided into convenient chapters, so that whether you are eyeballing food, clothing, perfumes, supermarkets, wine, flea markets or more, she will send you to the right places once you read the right chapters. Because her prose is to the point, you won't be bogged down with unnecessary details. The book will fit conveniently into your day-pack or handbag.

   A satisfied consumer, Larry Fike )




2. I am not a shopper. My best friend put my feeling about shopping into words once, saying, "I regard time spent shopping as time that I am dead." Even so, I found the guide highly entertaining, very funny, and enlightening about cultural differences and similarities. I can see that it could be an invaluable guide for demon shoppers as well as phobic shoppers like me. I also like that it is so unapologetically idiosyncratic. Jeanne Feldman's personality comes through in the narrative -- very practical about getting a good deal and very astute in making observations about American and French ethos in the Agora.



3. From the very beginning of Jeanne Feldman's Best Buys and Bargains in Paris you realize that she is acutely aware of the cultural differences at play in France. Her advice is sure to make your shopping experience the pleasure it is meant to be and should appeal to everyone, from tourists eager to do a little shopping in Paris, to long-time expats who will certainly find some old and new favorites.



4. I didn't use this book at all. I found it disappointing. Instead of grouped by district it was grouped by category so if you were in a certain area it was hard to tell which stores were in that district.



5. As a frequent visitor to Paris and a dedicated schlepper I had high hopes when I read about some places that I didn't already know about in this book. Little did I know that 10 out of 12 places no longer existed and the 2 that did exist were extremely disappointing. I wasted many metro tickets, precious time in Paris not to mention the exhaustion/frustration factor. The author doesn't do her homework and the poor reader is the victim. I rate this book a minus 5 stars!

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.

1 comments about Paris, Shops & More.

1. I love this book. Can't believe you get so much for the great price. The shops are grouped into arrondissements and a map is drawn with the shops noted. There's vital information such as hours of operation, website address, & perfect description. The photos are superb. I didn't need to take photos of the stores myself as the book did it perfectly for me... and on matte paper! I can't stress how great the photos are in this book. All the Taschen books are fabulous. This book is really packed with everything you need. As they say, a photo is worth a thousand words and this book is packed! This book's vibe is today's Paris; It really makes you feel like you're there. If you like verbiage, than this book is not for you.

No comments about Paris: City Highlights.