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Rating: 
Summary: Exquisite and 100% perfect
Review: After reading every travel guide I could get my hands on concerning Paris, France, finally I've found one that actually quenches my thirst and feeds my hunger! This is the Bible of Paris. The little details are so fascinating and exquisite, you can read this book over and over again. If I were stuck on a deserted island, as far from Paris as possible, I'd still want this to be one of the top five books I took with me. It would keep me going for a long, long time. Don't go to Paris without it. In fact, don't go to the doctor's office without it-- perfect to take everywhere.
Rating:
Summary: Exquisite and 100% perfect
Review: After reading every travel guide I could get my hands on concerning Paris, France, finally I've found one that actually quenches my thirst and feeds my hunger! This is the Bible of Paris. The little details are so fascinating and exquisite, you can read this book over and over again. If I were stuck on a deserted island, as far from Paris as possible, I'd still want this to be one of the top five books I took with me. It would keep me going for a long, long time. Don't go to Paris without it. In fact, don't go to the doctor's office without it-- perfect to take everywhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Dense, difficult, and informative
Review: Around and About Paris, Volume 1, reads pretty much like a medium-quality textbook; it's dense (*tiny* print and very small amounts of white space), it's informative (*filled* with trivia and fascinating - as well as not-so-fascinating - facts), and it's obtuse in places. The book does provide lots of information and some very nice Paris walks, but you'll have to sieve through a lot of junk to get to the meat of it.The book's most serious problem, at least for me, is the writing. I suspect, though I don't know, that the author's English was a second language. The sentences are at times torturously constructed. Often, subjects and verbs are in places where a native English speaker probably wouldn't put them; sometimes one or the other is even missing - when you parse the sentence, you realize it's actually just a very long fragment, with lots of clauses that confuse the issue. Sometimes, too, it isn't clear what a modifier is supposed to be modifying, or which noun a pronoun refers to. In the worst cases, the meaning of a sentence cannot be divined at all because an error has been made at a crucial point. Some careful, detailed editing could've made this book a lot easier to read and use - and more informative, too. However, there is still a lot of information in Around and About, even if you do have to work to get at it. The maps aren't the clearest in the world, but they're good enough, especially since prominent landmarks are marked. And the walks themselves provide an interesting take on Paris; the idea of walking through history is a great one. Parents with older children could probably use this as a resource for some very educational traveling, though I would recommend that the adults do the reading and then condense and prune somewhat for the kids. All in all, despite the book's flaws, it's a nice supplementary resource for people visiting Paris - or those studying French history. You will, however, also want more conventional guidebooks or textbooks unless Paris and its history is already very familiar ground indeed.
Rating:
Summary: A Personal Guide Showing You Paris
Review: How would you like to have a personal guide as your companion when visiting Paris? A guide that will not only give you a brief history of each and every "Arrondissement" from the first to the twentieth, but as the author states, "a journey into the depths of Paris" and "an invitation to scratch beneath its surface of dazzling vistas and imposing monuments and to probe into the souls and lives of the restless people." Author Thirza Vallois's three volumes entitled AROUND AND ABOUT PARIS accomplishes all of the above and more. Most other guidebooks pertaining to Paris are merely directories that list where to stay and eat with a little history and antidotes thrown in. Vallois's tomes do not contain any listings of hotels, restaurants, phone numbers or web sites. They are, however, similar to information contained in college textbooks and would probably be suggested readings if a course were to be given entitled "Paris 101." Not only are they invaluable tools for the traveller to Paris but also for those of us who are so called "arm chair" travellers and who never intend to leave home. Each chapter is devoted to a distinct Arrondissement describing their unique history and character. These introductions are followed by comprehensive descriptions of the walks you must pursue. After all Paris is made for walking! Very often when visiting Paris we are too much concerned with the usual tourist attractions such as the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and various other well known sites. Consequently, we tend to loose sight of the history and background information concerning the area where we may be lodging or the areas where we are taking our promenades. We are also ignorant of the many "nooks and crannies" that make Paris a city of romance, drama, triumph, tragedy, crime and passion. Vallois has lived in Paris for over thirty years. For eight of those years before writing these guides she "journeyed into the depths of Paris, walking its every street, reading in libraries whatever came my way" as she mentioned in an article appearing in Paris Kiosque No wonder the guides are so comprehensive and detailed. To appreciate Paris is to understand its history and culture. Thanks to authors such as Thirza Vallois we can explore Paris with a greater understanding and enlightenment. Please note that their are three books: Volume 1-concerns the 1st to 7th arrondissements: Volume 2- 8th to 12th, Volume3- 13th-20th Norm Goldman Editor Bookpleasures.com
Rating:
Summary: A Personal Guide Showing You Paris
Review: How would you like to have a personal guide as your companion when visiting Paris? A guide that will not only give you a brief history of each and every "Arrondissement" from the first to the twentieth, but as the author states, "a journey into the depths of Paris" and "an invitation to scratch beneath its surface of dazzling vistas and imposing monuments and to probe into the souls and lives of the restless people." Author Thirza Vallois's three volumes entitled AROUND AND ABOUT PARIS accomplishes all of the above and more. Most other guidebooks pertaining to Paris are merely directories that list where to stay and eat with a little history and antidotes thrown in. Vallois's tomes do not contain any listings of hotels, restaurants, phone numbers or web sites. They are, however, similar to information contained in college textbooks and would probably be suggested readings if a course were to be given entitled "Paris 101." Not only are they invaluable tools for the traveller to Paris but also for those of us who are so called "arm chair" travellers and who never intend to leave home. Each chapter is devoted to a distinct Arrondissement describing their unique history and character. These introductions are followed by comprehensive descriptions of the walks you must pursue. After all Paris is made for walking! Very often when visiting Paris we are too much concerned with the usual tourist attractions such as the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and various other well known sites. Consequently, we tend to loose sight of the history and background information concerning the area where we may be lodging or the areas where we are taking our promenades. We are also ignorant of the many "nooks and crannies" that make Paris a city of romance, drama, triumph, tragedy, crime and passion. Vallois has lived in Paris for over thirty years. For eight of those years before writing these guides she "journeyed into the depths of Paris, walking its every street, reading in libraries whatever came my way" as she mentioned in an article appearing in Paris Kiosque No wonder the guides are so comprehensive and detailed. To appreciate Paris is to understand its history and culture. Thanks to authors such as Thirza Vallois we can explore Paris with a greater understanding and enlightenment. Please note that their are three books: Volume 1-concerns the 1st to 7th arrondissements: Volume 2- 8th to 12th, Volume3- 13th-20th Norm Goldman Editor Bookpleasures.com
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely the most fun and interesting historical account!
Review: I have never been able to appreciate history until Around and About Paris! Ms. Vallois has brought centuries of Paris history to life in the fun and interesting way she tells its stories. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about Paris than what's housed in the Louvre.
Rating: 
Summary: What makes Around and About Paris your bible to Paris?
Review: I hope to have brought Paris to life in a way that enthralls and delights my readers, both the armchair traveler and the walking visitor, and provides them with a detailed knowledge of the city which exceeds that of most Parisians. The fast moving style and the sense of fun of the book disguises a depth of historical fact that is normally only found in academic tomes.
Rating:
Summary: turning your next visit to Paris into a revelation
Review: My name is Thirza Vallois, a long-time resident in one of the most mythical cities in the world - Paris. I first would like to thank Amazon.com for giving me the opportunity to express myself about my work and to communicate directly with my potential and future readers - it's a brilliant idea on your part, Amazon! You have created a bridge between the author and the readers, and isn't writing largely about building such bridges? Of course one might write just for oneself, for the pleasure or need of self expression, but this is certainly not the case with the kind of books that I have written. I have written "Around and About Paris" especially for you the readers, especially for the lovers of Paris or the future lovers of Paris, with the genuine desire to put at your disposal all my expertise and insight, all the conclusions I have drawn about Paris and the French after many years of exploration, research and analysis - at the lowest estimate it took me 8 years to write these books - all my passion (both love and fury) regarding a city which is part of my blood and of which I am considered to be a world expert. So much so that tv stations, radio, magazines, cultural institutions, airlines and the like, throughout the world, invite me regularly to contribute to their projects and work on Paris. Because I know Paris inside out, I am often exasperated and frustrated to see how much most of you leave out and miss while you are visiting it, because you don't know where to start and because the information you are given by your regular guidebook is limited to the touristy aspect of Paris. It doesn't enable you to really get to know and understand Paris and the French. It's usually all just dry facts. My books give you the facts too, but they give you much more. They are like a piece of tapestry, into which are interwoven both past and present, and you, dear reader, are part of this fantastic fabric. As you walk through the streets of Paris the history and the mystery unfold little by little before your curious or incredulous eyes.And all your senses are awake, and so is your mind, and so is your imagination. I will walk you through places of magical beauty, but also to places of moving squalor, I will walk you through every bit of Paris, I will unravel every bit of its story and will dive with you into the very depth of its soul. I promise you , dear reader, that by the time you reach the end of your journey, you will never see Paris the same way again, and you will change your entire approach to the art of travelling.You will agree with me that travelling is largely about capturing the atmosphere of a place, which hangs about in the streets, not in museums. Museums conserve, the streets live. You will also agree with me that travelling is about understanding the people and they too hang about in the streets. You will become a creative traveller - isn't life about being creative? So is travelling. So read the introductions to each arrondissement by your cosy fireplace and comfortably seated in your armchair, then catch the plane to Paris, put on your walking shoes and go into the streets. You may be tired at the end of the day, but you will be delighted, and we will have a lot of fun together. I'll be walking with you right through, and I have made sure the journey will be an entertaining one. One piece of good news: even if you can't make it to Paris in the near future, you can think your way into Paris in the company of "Around and About Paris". They are just as suitable for armchair reading. Bon Voyage!
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