Village France (AA Guides)

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating tour of villages in France, excellent photos
Review: Fall in love with the most enthralling, comforting atmosphere which France has to offer: life in the smallest villages. Detailed history, so much to appreciate. All 19 Regions of the country unfold in mesmerizing, richly colored pictorials. These villages are the unsung heros of the pride of France. Excellent!

Rating:
Summary: I hate this book
Review: So why did I give it five stars? Well, I hate this book because it makes me regret that I had to move back to the States. I used to live on the French border, in Germany, and had the opportunity to visit a number of the villages listed in this guide. I can say from first-hand knowledge, that this book has excellent advice on places to see in France, places that are not the usual tourist highlights.

If you want to see France outside of Paris or typical resorts in the ­Côte d'Azur, you can't go wrong with this book. There are good-sized photos of each village, walking maps and historical and cultural sightseeing recommendations. One particular town of interest to fans of "Chocolat" is Flavigny--which was the town where "Chocolat" was filmed. Each region of France is covered, from Normandy and Brittany in the North and West, to Provence and the Savoy in the South and East. France is a country the size of Texas, approximately, but each region is like a country unto itself--completely different. Some of the regions even had their own language--for example Languedoc (literally, the Language of "Oc" or Yes, instead of "oui") and Brittany, which shares a language of Celtic origins, like Gaelic, Welsh and the extinct language Cornish.

If you have a chance to vacation in France, this is a worthy guidebook for sights you might otherwise miss.