My wife loves to read travel books in anticipation of a vacation. Always a prolific reader, Julie begins at the public library with whatever books are available there. Although the library books sometimes do not contain the most current information, the crème de la crème locations tend to improve with age and thus do not become outdated as places to visit.
After determining the best books about the targeted vacation areas, Julie visits books troes and purchases the newest versions plus any others that seem particularly enlightening.
Fodor’s Exploring France was Julie’s favorite book for this trip, and we carried the copy she bought at Barnes & Noble all over France with us. With many pages earmarked, notes jotted in the margins, text highlighted and must-see locations asterisked, it provided valuable information on places we stumbled upon as well as locations we sought out. Julie researched the points of interest, weeding out the less significant sites and the famous but overrated attractions, leading to a general route through “can’t miss” attractions.Harrap’s French Phrase Book proved to be quite useful in translating menus, signs and language. Its small size made it easy to stick in my back pocket to pull out when needed. Although a more complete dictionary would have often been helpful, we effectively utilized many of the included phrases.
Julie had taken French in high school, so she knew proper pronunciation and a few words in French. I studied Pro One Multimedia Windows French. It included a feature where clicking on the phrase played an audio track. Often, the phrases were ridiculously inappropriate, like “J’admets que j’ai pris la montre” (“I admit that I took the watch”), but the CD effectively taught syntax and prononuciation. The multiple choice game format kept me entertained for the ten buck price tag, but a more serous traveler might want a more in depth program.
Julie had taken French in high school, so she knew proper pronunciation and a few words in French. I studied Pro One Multimedia Windows French. It included a feature where clicking on the phrase played an audio track. Often, the phrases were ridiculously inappropriate, like “J’admets que j’ai pris la montre” (“I admit that I took the watch”), but the CD effectively taught syntax and prononuciation. The multiple choice game format kept me entertained for the ten buck price tag, but a more serous traveler might want a more in depth program.
Probably the single most indispensable book for our purposes was Fodor’s Rivages Bed and Breakfasts of Character and Charm in France. With color maps and photos, descriptions of amenities and surrounding areas, and prices of maisons d’hotes, we never experienced any difficulty finding clean, comfortable and beautiful lodging. Julie, of course, selected many suitable chambers d’hotes before we left our living room, allowing flexibility should we stop anywhere along our route. With Bed and Breakfasts of Character and Charm, we would never have found some maisons and would have undoubtedly wasted a great deal of time exploring unsuitable stops.
Before our vacation, we always get maps from Automobile Club of America. With the AAA maps, Julie charts out a fantastic journey which should take months to complete but which we will cover in about a week. Of course, I should add the step of phoning me to book a tour, whether that is a self-guded B & B or something more structured, because "Better service leads to better trips."
