Customer Reviews

The Road from the Past: Traveling through History in France

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Whether you've visited France, dream of visiting France, or simply feel like indulging in a little armchair travel, this book will delight you. Ms. Caro travels through history and takes her reader along with her. Her love for her subject is evident, and her wonderful writing style and talent for bringing history alive make this book a joy to read. Over the past decade I've read many travel books, but I can say without hesitation this is my favorite.

Mrs. Caro has managed to deliver a plan for a trip to discover the best places in France and yet provides the reader with interesting , formative and delightful insight into French history. The human element is always present , and her trip could be anyone's trip,the author's obvious knowledge of history gives a real feeling for the stones she describes,and yet take on a life to themselves through her decriptions and explanations. Mrs Caro has managed to make the trip interesting, informative and above all respectful of events and the time line is simply fantastic. This book is worth the investment not only for the historical part which is a gem, but as a planning tool for a discovery trip. I speak from experience for I used her book to plan my 7 weeks trip in France last fall.It was a success , and in many ways thanks to the suggestions found in this lovely book.

If you plan any kind of extensive visit of France to see its many historical treasures, you must read this book before setting off. Caro recommends a tour that is chronological, thus allowing you to appreciate how this marvellous country really developed. From the Roman ruins through the Medieval period to the chateaux of the Loire, Versailles and finally into Paris, this will give you spectacular, thoughtful background to help you organize a truly meaningful tour. Unfortunately Caro does not cover the country's pre-historic sites of interest, such as the alignments of Carnac in Brittany (which predate Stonehenge), so you'll have to content yourself with just the 2000 years she does discuss. Simply put: An outstanding contribution to travel literature, one that I wish I could find for other destinations!

This book was a pleasure to read - insightful, interesting and well written. If you enjoy understanding the history of what you are visiting, this book is definitely worth your time. Read it in advance AND take it with you to France to re-read as you visit these wonderful places. My only regret is that her journey (and the history lesson) ends too early. Perhaps Ms Caro's next journey will take us from the French Revolution through World War II.

As my wife and I prepare to go to France (Dordogne) for a walking tour with 'Country Walkers', we were advised to read up on French history. This book was recommended. What a great read! I just searched Amazon for more books by the same author and was dissappointed to see that she has no more listed. I would love to travel to France with her. Karen Brown, beware!!

I started reading this book a few days before I left for a trip to France earlier this month. On a whim, I took it with me, and became so fascinated that I changed my itinerary and added destinations from Ms. Caro's Road. They were wonderful, and her insights added so much to the experience! I intend to return soon with Ms. Caro's book udner my arm to continue her tour.

The concept of the book is unique but alas, for most of us impractical: touring France from south to north following the historical development of the French nation-state. The book begins in Provence with the Romans and ends in the Ile-de-France with Louis XIV. So, for example, the tour of Provence does not include Avignon because it's historical importance is medieval not Roman. Not to mention the part it played in the development of impressionism.

I found the parts about the Albigensian Crusade and the Hundred Years War of great interest. However, the author apparently has a fetish for the decadent aristocracy because about a third of the book is dedicated to the various Henry's and Louis, kings and aristocrats,their assorted concubines and [...] and the chateaus they built. I suppose that some will find it interesting. I thought it was quite boring.

Preciously and annoyingly written ("[t]hat first visit to the Dordogne region was permeated with a magic I still remember as though it were yesterday"; "I can't explain what happens to the quality of light in the Loire Valley between Amboise and Blois"), Caro goes on for pages at a time reciting her trite reactions to French buildings and locales. Using Amazon's "search" function, you will see dozens of references to "Bob," "restaurant," "car," and "waiter," for example. There are more references to French waiters (stereotypically negative) than there are to bastides, for example.

Life is too short to read about someone else's mundane driving errors, or poorly described meals in order to make it to what is a quick and eclectic discussion of French history, seemingly ordered by a pre-set tourist itinerary. There's no real need to read about Bob and Ina's rushed meal at a fancy restaurant in Carcassonne in order to make the two o'clock castle tour. Once you get through that, however, you get to read about the tour guide, "dressed like a reject from the hippie movement of the sixties" in "a rumpled T-shirt and dungarees, [whose] blond hair was coiffured in oily shoulder-length curls--a style [Ina] is not particularly fond of in men."

This seems to be a "how-I-spent-my-summer-and-deducted-it-all" travelogue more than a serious effort at providing a travelers' history. We get someone else's tour reviews, bad lunches, good lunches, missed exits, oversleeping. If you are looking for Ina's history, with some observations about France tucked in, this may be for you.

What a wonderful book, especially the chapter on Paris (the Summer of 1991), the wonderful details on Roman, Medieval, and Renaissance France, and the personal anecdotes about her and him. Hell, the picnic on the Pont du Gard was practically titillating, although it is somewhat challenging to imagine the oh-so-proper Robert with the effervescent Ina. Still, Way to go Ina. Thanks for the effort.

The Road from the Past: Traveling through History in France is an outstanding literary book and travel companion. My husband and I took the book with us on our tour of the Loire Valley and the Dordogne region. The documentation of the history and special sites were an immeasurable help to us on our three week journey. We love knowing everything about places when we are visiting. The book gave us the history and much more. We gave this book also as a gift to our friends who also enjoy driving through France.