book guides

Australia
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Hope you all had a Happy Christmas for starters.

I am looking at investing in some good books to prepare for my 1 month in Paris and to be a bit of a bible for me while I am there.

These are a few I am looking at....

An Hour from Paris..I think a definite

Rick Steves Paris 2011

Walking Paris by Gilles Desmonds

Paris Walks by Alison and Sonia Landes

City Walks by Christina Henry de Tessa

Quiet Corners of Paris

......What do you think ?

.....Any other suggestions?

Thanks for any input

...

Sydney, Australia
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The DK "Top Ten Paris" is good. I would prefer it to Rick Steves.

Tampa, Florida
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Most of these I haven't read, but I'd put a solid vote behind An Hour from Paris -- with the caveat that some of her directions don't always make a lot of sense. You'll get there, but sometimes she either takes you a long way out off of the most direct route or something equally inane. Other than that, it gives terrific ideas.

Rick Steves -- not so much...he's great as "training wheels" to get people to try independent travel, but he tends to stay aimed toward those same people...who've never set foot in Europe and need to be taken by the hand at every step of the way.

I'd suggest substituting the Eyewitness Guides printed by DK Publishing (www.dk.com) -- they're excellent guides, especially for France, with not only entries for what's there to see, but photos and diagrams and WHY you might want to see it. They have one for France, one for Paris, and a Top Ten Paris for the short and sweet.

I own most of the DK library on Europe, and refer back to them again and again...and have had to replace a couple of them because they were just loved to death (broken bindings, dog-eared, a few mementos of a picnic or two....)

Springfield...
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I have Wuiet Corners of Paris. Beautiful pictures and descriptions. It was published in 2006 and I hope that all the corners have not changed, as I am using this small guide on my trip to Paris in May 2011.

Of course you can also get this information from most guide books.

New Jersey
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No question, Rick Steves 2011 Paris - I am on my way to Paris tomorrow, originally bought DK Top Ten Paris then returned it for Rick Steves (thank you, Barnes & Noble!) Very current info, great ideas for walking tours.

Port Townsend...
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You might check out "On Foot Guides: Paris Walks" by Fiona Duncan & Leonie Glass.

Paris,France
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Hi,

When I travel, I often use a guide for DK culture and an LP for the advice.

So I suggest you:

- DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Paris

- Lonely Planet Paris: City Guide

7. Re: book guides

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Ohio, USA
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Happy Christmas, one and all!

For a month-long stay I think you need something that covers the usual tourist areas in considerably more detail than most of the standard guides. I like the suggestions of the DK and Michelin guides and recommend that you look at the Access guide also. The Cadogan and Knopf guides are excellent and very detailed and also worth considering though I'm not sure that either has been updated recently. Still for the kind of things they are good for this is not a major drawback IMO.

Then you need to cover all the areas that the standard guidebooks forget about entirely. I like Rodolphe Trouilleux's Paris Secret et Insolite and Walking Paris: Thirty Original Walks in and around Paris by Gilles Desmons. There is an English translation of the 2003 edition of the first. I have not seen an English version of the 2009 edition though I have heard tell that there is one. In any case it's not a difficult book to follow in French even if your knowledge of the language is fairly basic.

I heartily second the recommendation of the Horne book and would add for background Paris: The Secret History by Andrew Hussey and An Adventuire History of Paris by Graham Robb.

I know there is already too much just in this post never mind all the other recommendations, but take a look at everything, online at least, and then decide what looks good to you.

County Donegal...
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Just to confirm, I recently received a copy of the 2009 English language version of Trouilleux's"Unexplored Paris" from Amazon.co.uk.(Having just checked, they still have copies available now)

I really enjoyed it and it will be coming with me on my return in Feb.

Paris, France
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Also by Alistair Horne you could try "La Belle France, A Short History" which despite its title has a lot to do with Parisian history. Another by Colin Jones is "Paris, The Biography of a City".

For an interesting look at the history of the development of France Graham Robb has another book called "The Discovery of France, A Historical Geography".

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