Short Escapes In France, 2nd Edition: 25 Country Getaways for People Who Love to Walk (Fodor's Short Escapes in France) [Paperback]

Bruce Bolger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 1996 | Series: Fodor's Short Escapes in France

Fodor's Short Escapes in FranceShort Escapes in France
25 Country Getaways for People who Love to Walk

Discover the Undiscovered
Follow in the footsteps of Julius Caeser and Claude Monet, Honoré de Balzac, Jean de Florette, and Peter Mayle.  Explore copses, caves, chateaus, vineyards, and tidal inlets. Discover sea views, harbors, parks, and charming medieval villages.

Escape for a Day or More
Every walk can be completed in a few hours.  Or you can linger for a few days in one of the recommended B&Bs or inns.

All the information you need
Walking directions and maps, nearby inns, pubs & restaurants, picnic spots, how to get there by public transportation

"How we decide whether a guide claiming to discover special places tourists never see really does is to ask: Has it found our own personal favorite spots?  In this case the answer is 'Yes'.  Curse those perceptive authors." -- New York Daily News

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Fodor's Short Escapes in FranceShort Escapes in France
25 Country Getaways for People who Love to Walk

Discover the Undiscovered
Follow in the footsteps of Julius Caeser and Claude Monet, Honoré de Balzac, Jean de Florette, and Peter Mayle.  Explore copses, caves, chateaus, vineyards, and tidal inlets. Discover sea views, harbors, parks, and charming medieval villages.

Escape for a Day or More
Every walk can be completed in a few hours.  Or you can linger for a few days in one of the recommended B&Bs or inns.

All the information you need
Walking directions and maps, nearby inns, pubs & restaurants, picnic spots, how to get there by public transportation

"How we decide whether a guide claiming to discover special places tourists never see really does is to ask: Has it found our own personal favorite spots?  In this case the answer is 'Yes'.  Curse those perceptive authors." -- New York Daily News

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Fodor's Short Escapes in FranceINTRODUCTION

This guide is for everyone who would like to escape to the peace of the French countryside and soak up a more complete sense of the way life once was, and is today.  It will take you away from the tourist crowds to unique places with spectacular vistas and remarkable histories.  You can stroll alone through an ancient forest, walk along the towpath of a centries-old canal, or picnic without neighbors on the grassy banks of a peaceful river.  You can continue the mood at a recommended restaurant in a picturesque setting and then complete the experience at a charming country inn, a bed and breakfast, or even a rural hostel.

Short Escapes brings you to special places little known even to the French.  According to your tastes, you can tramp around historic landmarks, plunge deep into farmland and forest, or just sit undisturbed for hours looking down at gentle waves lapping against a shore.  Through the quiet, you will be able to feel what it might have been like when Celts and Romans ruled France, when the Cistercians founded their medieval abbeys, and when the great impressionists set up their easels in the 19th-century countryside.  Many of the book's suggested walking tours cover country roads and footpaths used for hundreds or even thousands of years.

The 25 experiences in this book are all within a day's journey of France's major tourist spots, and some are accessible by train.  Each experience is centered around a walking tour, which can be anything from a short stroll to a five-hour walk.

Short Escapes is more than a travel guide: It's designed to awaken the traveler's senses to the moods and flavors of a place and its people, and to help evoke a real sense of the past and present. We hope that the 25 experiences will have the same uplifting effect on you as they had on us.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Fodor's; 2 edition (April 30, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679030719
• ISBN-13: 978-0679030713
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,521,967 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun ideas for day trips from Paris, July 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Short Escapes In France, 2nd Edition: 25 Country Getaways for People Who Love to Walk (Fodor's Short Escapes in France) (Paperback)

Thanks to this book, I had a wonderful experience at Auvers-sur-Oise ("cradle of impressionism"). It showed me where to go and how to get there. Unfortunately, the train trip took much longer than the 1 1/2 hours mentioned in the book. The connection at Pontoise alone was at least an 1 1/2 hour wait because of delays. Then a transfer on a bus was necessary. However, this was no fault of the authors and the book's walking tour was excellent. Great book if you want to explore!