Eccentric France by Piers Letcher
So you think eccentric France means frogs' legs and pigs' trotters? Think again. Piers Letcher takes you to places where you can feast on forgotten vegetables, saddle up for national donkey day, or gorge yourself at the world tripe championships. He also reveals the truth behind France's most colourful characters, including Coco Chanel, Joan of Arc, Mata Hari and the Marquis de Sade. The latest addition to the Bradt eccentric series makes fascinating reading for those looking to discover the hidden side of France, as well as for armchair travellers who delight in the extraordinary.
"Informative and highly entertaining" Living France "Compulsive reading for all of us who have a love-hate affair with our nearest continental neighbour: Eccentric France. All the facts and trivia that you never needed to know are there. To make a tonne of boudin (blood sausage), for example, you'll need 440 litres of blood, 65kg of fat and 65 sets of intestines. Bon appetit! As you'd expect, food and drink underpin a rich selection of museums and festivals, including the Frog Festival at Saint-Andre-le-Bouchoux, the Sardine Museum in Sete and the Pig Trotter Fair in Sainte-Menehould. And not forgetting the Pig Squealing Championship at Trie-sur-Baise, where human contestants have to imitate the noise a pig makes at various stages in its life, starting off as a piglet and followed by noisy lovemaking. Don't try too hard: the prize is a whole pig, ready prepared, including the head and feet." The Times "This is the sort of book I love. Pick it up and open it, anywhere - and there will be some fascinating piece of information on each of its 294 pages. It quite truly is a 'guide to mad, magical and marvelous France' with plenty of maps for you to locate it all...If you are not careful the washing up will not have been dine, the dog not taken for its walk, etc as one intriguing entry leads you to another and another and another." Motoring & Leisure
Piers Letcher lives in Ferney Voltaire, France, and has spent several years as a senior speech writer for the United Nations in Geneva. As an independent writer and photographer he has published 13 books, including the Bradt guide to the former Yugoslavia, more than 1,000 newspaper and magazine articles, and hundreds of photographs.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781841620688 |
| ISBN 10 | 1841620688 |
| Title | Eccentric France |
| Author | Piers Letcher |
| Series | Bradt Travel Guides |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Bradt Travel Guides |
| Year published | 2003-05-22 |
| Number of pages | 304 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |