Reviews (23)

Try the recommendations in the book, they are spot on
My wife and I now have over 15 Eyewitness Travel Guides...obviously we like them. There are several reasons, and the Paris guide points these out quite well:
A seeing eye
If you are a grown-up and want context for your travels, this series brings it.They figure, reasonably for me, that you already know how to shop and that club-hopping is not the be-all and end-all--and that, if it were, you would probably be able to suss all that out.
Good for Planning
The Eyewitness guides are known for their full color photos which make them an interesting read for armchair travellers.However, they are also known for being a little light on travel information, and this holds true for the Paris edition as well.You get lots of great photos of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and of the art treasures of the Louvre, so this guide is actually a good one to get in the early stages of planning your trip.The full-color photos will help you to decide which areas and sights you would like to see most.However, when you're ready for more serious information, you'll have to look elsewhere.Perhaps this book would be good for those who are travelling with a package tour, but those who are travelling independently will need to get another guidebook.Basically, if you can only afford one guidebook, then I recommend getting something else, but if you have the cash to buy two or three guidebooks, then you won't regret adding this one to your collection. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - France    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. Travel / Europe / France   

Reviews (23)

A limited view of Paris
I bought this map, having read the previous reviews. And am returning it because it gives a much too limited view of Paris. It literally cuts out whole neighborhoods -- the north end of the 18th, most of the 19th and 20th, the 12th arrondissements(including Belleville, Menilmontant), most of the 13th, 14th, 15th arrondissements including Montparnasse, the Cite Universitaire, etc.
Extremely well done
The map is a single folded length of heavy, laminated paper.On one side is the central part of the city on the Seine, and the northern and southern portions beyond that are on the other side.It is extremely durable (it survived in my hip pocket as I walked for many miles without so much as a mussed corner), waterproof, and easy to read.All the museums, churches, squares, and even some of the major stores in Paris are marked on it.One panel has a metro map of Paris which is better than what you'll pick up in the subway stations, though it doesn't have a map of the SNCF lines outside of Paris.
A good map is hard to find!
When we travel, my husband and I like to visit places that are "pedestrian friendly".We enjoy walking and hiking just about everywhere we go.For this reason a good map is as essential as a comfortable pair of shoes.The "Streetwise" series of maps (we've used the ones for Prague andVienna as well, last year) is excellent.One advantage is that they give you a fairly good idea as to what distances are from one point to another.We plan to visit Paris soon, and this map will definitely be going with us. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - France    2. General    3. Reference / Maps    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. France    7. Maps    8. Maps, charts & atlases    9. Paris    10. Paris (France)    11. Reference    12. Travel / road maps & atlases   

Reviews (39)

Good fun!
I simply don't get the poor reviews! This book is absolutely HILARIOUS! The title, naturally, is a parody of "A Year in Provence" (right down to the font style, I believe.)
It's not Merde, that's for sure.
I bought this book awhile ago, inexplicably moving it to the bottom of my unread book pile in favour of other books. I just never felt in the mood for it. Rather interesting book outside my normal genre of reading. So, this weekend when I was bored out of my skull, I finally decided to give it a try.
A little tedious after a while
I guess I didn't get it.Parts were funny then it got a little tedious.Read it if you think you'll get it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure    2. British    3. Fiction    4. Fiction - General    5. France    6. General    7. Humorous fiction    8. Paris (France)    9. Tearooms    10. Travel    11. Travel / Europe / France   

Editorial Review

Who hasn't dreamed, on a mundane Monday or frowzy Friday, of chucking it all in and packing off to the south of France? Provençal cookbooks and guidebooks entice with provocatively fresh salads and azure skies, but is it really all Côtes-du-Rhône and fleur-de-lis?Author Peter Mayle answers that question with wit, warmth, and wicked candor in Read more

Reviews (117)

A Vacation for the Mind: A Year in Provence
This book has something for everyone.The anecdotes are charming, funny, and full of deliciously descriptive sentences.I read some passages aloud to whoever will listen.This is the 2nd book I've read by Peter Mayle. I also read "A Good Year" and am currently reading, "Toujours Provence!"Mayle's books are refreshing and delightful to read.

Delicious reading, creme brulee for your head!
I read this book as a follow up to "Almost French" which I thoroughly enjoyed. I wanted more but that author hadn't written anything else (yet?) so I looked to the back cover where there were some recommendations. I am so glad I did!
A Hilarious Vicarious Journey to France
Englishman Peter Mayle and his wife realize what most of us could only dream about--life in the French countryside of Provence.Food and the hearty French life are the themes that run through this book as the Mayles undertake renovating their 200 year old farmhouse.
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Subjects:  1. Essays & Travelogues    2. Europe - France    3. France    4. Homes and haunts    5. Mayle, Peter    6. Provence    7. Provence (France)    8. Social life and customs    9. Travel    10. Travel - General    11. Modern fiction    12. Travel / Europe / France    13. Reading Group Guide   

Editorial Review

Rick Steves, author of 21 guidebooks and host of the television series Travels in Europe with Rick Steves, has spent 100 days a year traveling Europe, every year, since 1973. If any American knows Paris, he does, and his self-imposed mission is to make the city just as accessible to those of us who don't have the good fortune to spend months there at a time. Read more

Reviews (65)

Bundle with Party London & Paris
What a blast I had. I used my Rick Steve's to do some chill off the beaten path things and then grabbed my Party London & Paris guidebook to have the most fun and social days and nights. What a great combination.

Very helpful
This book is very detail oriented.In this book we found answers to all our questions during our stay in Paris.

Excellent, Informative, and Entertaining, too
It was not my first visit to Paris.I scoured Amazon for guidebooks.I bought three, and the apartment I stayed in had a library of left-behind guides.Steves' Paris 2006 was by far the easiest to use (fantastic index), most interesting to read, and his commentary was exceptionally helpful in making touring decisions.And while my Michelin guide became another addition to the apartment's travel guides, THIS book came home with me.It's informative and entertaining to read at home, too.Supplement it with a good map (the handdrawn maps are great for zeroing in on an attraction, but the colored maps of The Paris Mapguide are essential to be sure you get there). These two, easily-carried items and you'll have a great time in Paris. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - France    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. France    5. Travel & holiday guides    6. Travel / Europe / France   

Reviews (28)

Sets the record straight
Everyone knows this event was controversial.It is the tasting that allowed premium U.S. wineries to begin the meteoric rise in quality (and price) that we see today.Arguably, it is what launched the globe's infatuation with the "New World Style".
Great story of an event that changed the world of wine
This is the story of the wine tasting event that put California and Napa Valley on the elite winemaking map.For those who don't know, in 1976 a British wine merchant stage a blind tasting of elite French wines against California wines.The judges were all French and expected to judge in favor of the French wines.But, the California wines scored much better and suddenly French dominance of winemaking was being questioned everywhere.George Taber was the only journalist at the event and wrote a small article for Time magazine.This is his story of what happened that day and the impact it had on the world wine industry.
Excellent read for winos
Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Beverages - Wine & Spirits    3. Business/Economics    4. California    5. Cooking    6. Cooking / Wine    7. France    8. History    9. Industries - Hospitality, Travel & Tourism    10. Paris    11. Wine And Wine-Making    12. Wine industry    13. Wine tasting    14. Cooking / General   

Subjects:  1. Europe - France    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. France    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Europe / France   

Subjects:  1. Europe - France    2. Pictorials    3. Scenic Photo Collections    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. France    7. Travel & holiday guides    8. Travel / Pictorials   

Subjects:  1. Calendar    2. Calendars & Diaries    3. Non-Classifiable    4. Subjects & Themes - Travel - World/Europe    5. Photography / Travel    6. TRAVEL / Europe / France   

Reviews (11)

French in 10 Minutes(?) a Day
While it might take more than 10 minutes a day, It does seem to take a systematic approach to learn a language. The book contains worksheets that helps to get the point fixed in your mind by seeing, saying (it starts you out with both the word and it's phonetic equivalent to help), and writing the word under discussion. The book also contains stickers that can be applied to items around your home to remind you of the word used to describe that item. There are also flash cards that can be used to test your knowledge and keep you sharp. It works well to do it with a partner, but you might want to each get your own book.

ExcellentWorkbook for the Beginner
As a beginner to learning the French language, I find this workbook very easy to use.It makes learning interesting because it incorporates fun activities that keep it from being tedious and boring. The pronunciations make sense, and the book starts off with key words that are frequently used.Placing the word labels around my house has been a great way to practice every day.

Best way to learn french!
Other books start off with random words and have no flow but this book starts you off with the basics and helps you learn the most important words first. This book is easy to follow and it is actually effective. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Conversation and phrase books    2. English    3. Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books    4. Foreign Language Study    5. French    6. French language    7. Language    8. Self-instruction    9. Textbooks for foreign speakers    10. Travel / Europe / France    11. Europe - France    12. Language self-study & phrasebooks    13. Travel   

Editorial Review

In 1995 Gopnik was offered the plush assignment of writing the "Paris Journals" for the Read more

Reviews (132)

Love this book!
I wanted this book to go on forever.I found it to be a very comforting, curl up in front of the fire, listening to jazz kind of book.Maybe I relate to it because I have to boys and adore Paris, I don't know... but I really enjoyed it.
4.5 stars is a good read, as long as you are not expecting something it's not.
It's not an atmospheric travel memoir; it's not a memoir of youth (except in so far as a father relates to his young son); it's not "Almost French".
Beautiful writing, warm, personal narrative, intimate story telling
Contrary to many of the reviews provided for this book, I have cherished this book as one of my favorite books on France.I lived in Tokyo, Japan as an expat for five years and felt an immediate kindred spirit with the author.I found my own personal experiences to be not that different from his own and related to many of his experiences on a deep, personal level.His gift of prosaic writing is a rare and wonderful treat within the travel essay genre, and I was delighted to be invited in to such an intimate and personal account of life in Paris.While most travel essay books are written by amateur writers, offering shallow accounts of brief stays in foreign lands, this book combines the rare writing talents of Adam Gopnik along with a fascinating, intimate portrait of Paris, a city that offers so much but which reveals so little for most of us who don't have the time to absorb and observe and experience what he was able to enjoy and write about for the rest of us. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Americans    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Customs & Traditions    6. Editors, Journalists, Publishers    7. Europe - France    8. France    9. Gopnik, Adam    10. Homes and haunts    11. Paris    12. Paris (France)    13. Personal Memoirs    14. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Reviews (1)

so hip it's one revelation after another
Wallpaper Magazine --- the bible of all that is cutting edge in international design/fashion/travel/interiors --- is celebrating its 10th birthday.
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Subjects:  1. Europe - France    2. Europe - General    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. France    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Europe / France   

Reviews (1)

Our Most-Used Source
This book is worth the price and the last-minute shipping that we needed to get it to us before our flight to France.We referred to it constantly.We used it to select which drives to take on a given day, and it is of great value here.Readers may disagree with some of the star-ratings on certain sites (and sights), but this is to be expected and one should calibrate oneself against the views of the author.For example, we would rate Aix-en-Provence lower, Nimes lower, and the upper Vaucluse in general higher.Once you see where your tastes lie (Roman ruins more interesting than Vacqueyras tasting?) then you will know how to use the book to its best advantage.Highly recommended. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Automotive - General    2. Automotive Transportation    3. Europe - France    4. Travel    5. Travel - Foreign    6. Travel Guides    7. France    8. Travel & holiday guides    9. Travel / Europe / France   

Reviews (2)

Rockin' Walks
I bought these cards just before my first trip to Paris in December. My thoughts and a few lessons learned:
Pick a card and have an adventure!
My husband and I received these walking cards as a gift before our first trip to Paris. The cards are are larger than a deck of cards-I believe about 4x6 and have a map on one side and then a walk on the otherside, which starts at the top with a description, followed by the Metro stop that you will need to get off on to start your adventure.The card then lays out your walk, including sites to see, (both on the beaten path and off), cafes or restaurants to visit and areas of interest.Each card leads you back to the closest metro stop.
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Subjects:  1. Cards - Playing / Tarot    2. Europe - France    3. Travel    4. France    5. Travel / General    6. Travel / road maps & atlases   

Reviews (6)

Not for a person going by rail!
I absolutely hate to give a Rick Steve's book a bad review but in this case I am going to have to. I will preface this however that if you have access to a car this book is proably great for you!
You're going to LOVE FRANCE!
I'vemade >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!
Great descriptions but limited coverage
I brought this book with me on a recent trip to Paris, the Loire valley and Brittany. Whenever we could, we used the recommendations for places to go and stay and eat from the book and never came away dissapointed.The book does a great job of getting you to the best sights and avoiding the crowds. Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - France    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. France    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Europe / France   

Subjects:  1. Diet / Health / Fitness    2. Europe - France    3. General    4. Travel    5. France    6. Personal appearance & beauty care    7. Travel / Europe / France   

Subjects:  1. Europe - France    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. Travel Guides    5. France    6. Travel & holiday guides    7. Travel / Europe / France   

Reviews (15)

a unique perspective
Considering the wealth of information about Lance in other venues, this is a refreshing and unique perspective of the Tour with Lance as more of a backdrop and unifying theme.Definitely a more humanistic side is examined, and it satisfied my interest in more about the "behind the scenes" of the Tour.Reading Mr. Dugard's articles during the 2006 Tour were similarly incitefull and prompted me to read his book which was equally educational and entertaining.

3.5 Stars... Pleasant read about experiencing the Tour up close
The 2005 Tour will always be remembered as Lance's last grand stand in the Tour de France, winning an improbable (and most likely never to be equalled record) 7th straight win. It made for great TV viewing (as I experienced it).
Great Book About The Tour Experience
Marty Dugard does a great job capturing the ambience of this amazing race in print.I've been to the last 10 Tours and what I remember most about my trips to France are the kinds of episodes Mr. Dugard shares with his readers in this book.For those who love the race, it's more than just 189 guys in tight pants crawling up the Galibier; it's the countryside and the food and the spectators and the publicity caravan and 342 days of looking forward to the next Tour.Dugard captures all of it.I'll be there again this year and CHASING LANCE has already got me stoked. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (2005)    2. Armstrong, Lance    3. Cycling    4. Cycling - General    5. Cyclists    6. Description And Travel    7. Essays & Travelogues    8. Sports    9. Sports & Recreation    10. Tour de France (Bicycle race)    11. France    12. Sports & Recreation / General   

Reviews (3)

Make the Most of Your Trip
I prefer guidebooks that aren't just mammoth listings of everything (hotels, restaurants, sights).This compact book hits the target with its highlights and its walking tours.
Surprising gem of a guide book
This guide book was a last-minute impulse buy before we headed off on our 10 day trip to France.We surprised ourselves by using it almost exclusively to navigate around this wonderful region of France.Short 'n sweet descriptions of all noteworthy towns in the region helped tremendously with deciding where to head next.We used the walking tours in Aix-En-Provence, Avignon, and Arles, and felt them invaluble in getting the most out of our time in each city on our brief trip.We also visited many of the tiny scenic villages recommended in the book."Provence Made Easy" is accurate, well-written, concise, and fun to read.(Fits in your pocket!)We also had Lonely Planet Provence with us and ended up using it almost exclusively (and seldom) for accommodation and restaurant information.For trip shaping, this small, handy book was it.We used this book in conjunction with "Walking In Provence" by Janette Norton and felt that together these two books offered us a unique, authentic view of the region.We wished we had Andy's book "Paris Made Easy" when we arrived there for the last two days of our trip!Thanks, Andy!

The Best Sights and Walks of Provence and the French Riviera
This handy pocket guide to the best sights and walks of Provence is all you need to make your visit fun, memorable, and easy. Inside you'll find short opinionated descriptions of both well-known and off-the-beaten-path sights; detailed walking tours with street-by-street descriptions; and great outdoor markets - plus a travel-planning section to help you arrange your trip!
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Subjects:  1. Europe - France    2. Travel    3. Travel - Foreign    4. France    5. Travel & holiday guides    6. Travel / Europe / France   

Reviews (58)

Almost mediocre
As an American with shoddy French skills who has been living in the Il de France for the past six months, I found this book incredibly superficial at best and whiny and self-indulgent at worst.First of all, to call this book a love story is ridiculous.Frederic has less presence in the book than her pedigreed dog (or was THAT the "love story"?). From what I read, poor old Frederic seemed no more than a ticket to stay in France, rent free, because she had nothing better to do.
Really funny and interesting
I LOOOVE this book, it has made me laugh to tears. I am half French-half Latina, leaving in the US with my American husband, so I totally relate to Sarah as an uprooted expat. But also, as a French, I find her analisys on French people really accurate. This book is a MUST read for bicultural couples, it can shed a - often desperatly - needed light on their struggles, plus it is deeply entertaining, Sarah's style is witty and fun, and her analisys is profound. This is one of my favorite books! But, I must add that people that have never lived abroad may not get it...

Loved this book
This is a wonderful book.Anyone who has ever been to France, plans to go, thought you could emulate the French style or ever thought you could be mistaken for a French person (not possible), or loved two countries, this is the book to read.I wish it were longer so that I could have stayed with Sarah to learn more of her experiences in that beautiful country.As a result of reading it I will pay more attention to the clothes I wear and get rid of some schmockties (sp) I thought were OK.This book is a little gem.I will recommend it to all my friends but I will keep my own copy to read again. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Europe - France    5. General    6. Personal Memoirs    7. Travelers    8. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs