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FRANCE - MAPS AND GUIDES
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I do still rely on the green Michelin guides for basic background touring
information for France. If you’ll be staying in one region
only, purchase the specific book for your region. If not, the book
for France will do. And now the green guides also include some restaurant
recommendations, making the book doubly useful. |
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For superb restaurant recommendations for France, the Red Guide can’t
be beat.
Pre-Order: Michelin Red Guide 2009 France: Hotels & Restaurants - 100th Edition (Available May 15, 2009)
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Michelin maps are the best for driving around France. Buy
the regional maps if possible so you have all the smaller roads on them. |
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FRANCE - COOKBOOKS
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Patricia Wells: Bistro
Cooking, At
Home in Provence, The
Food Lover’s Guide to Paris, The Food Lover’s Guide
to France, etc. Patricia Wells is the former food writer for
the International Herald Tribune. She visits local and regional
restaurants and shares with the reader classic French cooking as well as
tips on where to find the best produce, her favorite markets, and great
local restaurants. An invaluable resource. She also has cooking
classes at her house in Provence. |
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FRANCE - BOOKS
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by Breton. Native Pierre-Jakez Helias vividly describes daily life in Brittany from
the turn of the century to the 1950s. This book offers an excellent
description of what life was like for the Breton peasant when the area
was more Breton than French. Read it in French if you can. |
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by Adam Gopnik. In 1995, this New Yorker author moved
to Paris with his young family. The book is a series
of chapters describing how he and his family adjusted to life in the City
of Light. His insights into the French psyche are definitely worth reading. |
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by Alan Furst. Furst is a superb writer of suspense novels many of
which take place in France at the beginning of WWII. He paints a
detailed picture of Paris and the French during this tumultuous
time. There is as much history as suspense in these. |
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(also: Toujours Provence, Hotel
Pastis) by Peter Mayle, highlight
the flavors, sights and pace of living in Provence. Mayle
single handedly created a contemporary tourist frenzy in the Luberon. |
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by Laurence Wylie. This well-known and real-life account of life
in a rural French village in the 1950s gives an anthropological insight
to a simpler time in Provence. Although not identified
by its real name, the village is, in fact, Roussillon, the Luberon village
famous today for its ochre-colored cliffs. |
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by M.F.K. Fisher. This is a charming short book by the famous food writer
based on the year she spent in Aix en Provence with her
children. Each day as she would pick up the children from school,
they would go to their local café where the “boss dog” and
her children became friends. Also read her other books about living
and cooking in France. |
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by Alphonse Daudet are famous French short stories describing the simple
country life in Provence in the late 19th century. Daudet
lived in a windmill in Fontvieille in the Bouches du Rhone, and the wind
mill can be visited today. Read this in English or in French! |
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by Calvin Trillin. This is a series of short essays discussing Trillins’ own
philosophy of traveling. As one of his favorite things is traveling
to the south of France and visiting French open-air markets,
he has many charming vignettes that any traveler to Provence will enjoy. Trillin
is a frequent contributer to the New Yorker. |
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by Julian Barnes. Famous to the British, Barnes often writes about the
French vis à vis the British. Here, his short stories bring
to life the French and France. It is a stirring collection. |
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ITALY - MAPS AND GUIDES
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These regional guides are great for Italy even though they are published
by a French firm. If possible, buy the book that is specific for
the region you’ll be visiting. If not, the general book for
Italy will do. |
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Touring Club Italiano maps are the most detailed ones for Italy.
These maps have even the smallest roads on them. Buy the one for your region
if possible. |
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Michelin Maps are also good. Always buy the regional ones
if you can. They show more roads and are helpful once you’re
off the highway. |
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ITALY - COOKBOOKS
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Patricia Wells is not only famous for
her books on French cooking, but deserves praise for this book on Italian
cooking at well. Her recipes offer typical dishes based on actual
recipes from local restaurants. |
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by Harry Cipriani. Want to learn classic Italian cooking that tastes
incredible? Reading this book is like taking a trip to Venice. These
recipes, although sometimes time-consuming. always result in perfect Italian
dishes that make you feel you are in Italy. |
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ITALY - BOOKS
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by Tim Parks. Parks wrote this book about living in Italy. As
the American husband of an Italian wife, he observed the cultural differences
he encountered. His subsequent book An Italian Education is
a light-hearted discussion of how Italians bring up their children. Both
well-written, charming and insightful. |
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by Giorgio Bassini. This famous book is the story of a Jewish
family in Ferrara, Italy and what happens to them and
their provincial life as fascism takes over Italy. The story follows
the young people and their friendships which cross economic and religious
lines. It’s a story of growing up and addressing the realities
of mature life. |
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by Giuseppe Lampedusa. Chronicles the time in Sicily when
Garibaldi invaded Sicily. It chronicles life on this island before
it was part of Italy. A classic part of Italian literature, it was
made into a film The Leopard with Burt Lancaster and Alain Delon. |
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by Frances Mayes. One could think of this as the Italian version
of Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence. Mayes purchases
an old Italian house in Cortona, Italy, and the book
chronicles her experience in renovating the house and establishing a life
for herself in this typical Tuscan town. |
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by Donna Leone. This is one in a series of terrific mysteries about
Inspector Guido Brunetti, who lives his typical Venetian life while solving
crimes. This is a fun series where we can imagine daily life in Venice. |
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by Ian McEwan. It seems everyone gets lost in Venice,
but what happens to the main characters in this delicious book is shocking. Disturbing
as it may be, this gem by McEwan transports the reader to Venice. |
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by Thomas Mann. This classic tale deals with the issues of love,
beauty, youth, age and death. A widowed, middle-aged gentleman goes
the Lido in Venice and becomes infatuated by a young boy
he sees at the hotel. |
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