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Rating: 
Summary: A great place to start, but you'll need more
Review: If you breeze through France on a package tour, you'll probably never realize there's a wild part of France anyway. On the other hand, trekking 200 miles cross-country on foot or bike might be totally beyond your ability. "Wild France" is designed for travelers who fall somewhere in between these two categories. While it lists information about outdoor activities (like walking, biking, etc.), it doesn't go into a lot of detail about things like trails, roads, and lodging -- information you'll need. Instead, it lets you glimpse the wide variety of France's national and regional parks so you can decide which ones you might want to visit. It's useful for planning your trip, but come departure time, you'll probably opt to leave it at home.The maps, for instance, will get you to the vicinity of a park, but you'll also want to buy more detailed road maps or even topographical maps. The photography is excellent and will help you decide what you want to see, yet at the same time, the book isn't overloaded with it. The book is 220 pages long and spends about 20 pages on each of the regions it covers (Brittany and Normandy, the Northeast, the Alps, Central France, the Loire and Burgundy, the Pyrenees, the Atlantic Coast of Gascony, the Eastern Mediterranean and Corsica, and the Western Mediterranean). All in all I found it a great book to help me plan my trip to southwestern France, but if you can spring for the money, look for some detailed regional guides (the Rough Guides are almost always strong on the outdoors, and aren't necessarily as rough as they sound). Lonely Planet's "Walking in France" is also excellent.
Rating:
Summary: A great place to start, but you'll need more
Review: If you breeze through France on a package tour, you'll probably never realize there's a wild part of France anyway. On the other hand, trekking 200 miles cross-country on foot or bike might be totally beyond your ability. "Wild France" is designed for travelers who fall somewhere in between these two categories. While it lists information about outdoor activities (like walking, biking, etc.), it doesn't go into a lot of detail about things like trails, roads, and lodging -- information you'll need. Instead, it lets you glimpse the wide variety of France's national and regional parks so you can decide which ones you might want to visit. It's useful for planning your trip, but come departure time, you'll probably opt to leave it at home. The maps, for instance, will get you to the vicinity of a park, but you'll also want to buy more detailed road maps or even topographical maps. The photography is excellent and will help you decide what you want to see, yet at the same time, the book isn't overloaded with it. The book is 220 pages long and spends about 20 pages on each of the regions it covers (Brittany and Normandy, the Northeast, the Alps, Central France, the Loire and Burgundy, the Pyrenees, the Atlantic Coast of Gascony, the Eastern Mediterranean and Corsica, and the Western Mediterranean). All in all I found it a great book to help me plan my trip to southwestern France, but if you can spring for the money, look for some detailed regional guides (the Rough Guides are almost always strong on the outdoors, and aren't necessarily as rough as they sound). Lonely Planet's "Walking in France" is also excellent.
Rating:
Summary: Forget Paris - Go Wild and Wonderful
Review: Okay, spend a few days in Paris, and then when the crowds, the traffic and the little dogs overwhelm you, get out your copy of Wild France and seek some serenity. Packed with information, this reliable, portable and well-organized guide to wilderness areas of France is valuable for planning your trip and contains many evocative color photos to help you remember your adventures when you get back home. The book divides France into nine natural regions and suggests the best wild habitats to visit in each one. The sections are written by different experts, with insider views on the local environments. Easy-to-read maps at appropriate scales help you find your destination by car or public transit and then hike, bike, ride or row to viewpoints. In addition to the color photos, there are detailed line drawings of special trees, plants, birds and animals that you may encounter. Included are addresses, phone numbers and websites of tourist offices, park offices, museums and outdoor adventure firms, plus suggested hotels and camp sites. Our favorite walk: through the Massif de Ste. Baume in October, walking out of farmland into open oak woodland, and then into the deep shade and silence of an ancient European forest of oak, beech, holly and yew, meeting an occasional family picking wild mushrooms, climbing higher and higher on a path that pilgrims - including popes, saints and kings - had taken for almost two millennia.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book for France
Review: We used this book to supplement a two month trip to France. It provides information that you will not find in other guide books and if you are used to mixing nature with culture, then it is a must to have along. We saw things we would never have seen, but for having this book. Places that one might think are insignificant take on added importance and meaning. We also used Wild Italy in Italy. Note that these books are not the only travel books you should have in France and Italy. They supplement your other travel books.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book for France
Review: We used this book to supplement a two month trip to France. It provides information that you will not find in other guide books and if you are used to mixing nature with culture, then it is a must to have along. We saw things we would never have seen, but for having this book. Places that one might think are insignificant take on added importance and meaning. We also used Wild Italy in Italy. Note that these books are not the only travel books you should have in France and Italy. They supplement your other travel books.
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