Book reviews: The Rough Guide to France

This guide begins with an extensive section, about eighty pages long, to refer to before you travel. It gives details on possible ways of getting to France from Britain, Ireland, North America, Australia and New Zealand. There is information on costs, whether or not you wil require a visa, and what health issues need to be considered. Insurance, getting around, accommodation and information for disabled visitors are among other topics dealt with in this introductory section. An overview of eating and drinking gives useful vocabulary as well as what to expect in the way of regional cuisine, from duck and goose in the Dordogne to pickled cabbage and flans in Alsace. Communications and the media gives information on sending and receiving mail as well as making telephone calls.

There is a guide to opening hours of museums, banks, churches and cathedrals. Whether you are interested in festivals, music, film, theatre and dance, or sport and outdoor activities, you will find useful details here.The section on trouble and the police tells you how to report a theft as well as the fact that you have the right to contact your consulate if you are arrested. Gay and lesbian contacts and information are given for several large towns. The guide also includes information on work and study, such as working in a language school or as an au pair.

You will find maps of the whole country, channel ports and routes to Paris, main French rail routes, and a map showing the regions covered by the various chapters are included in the first section. Although obviously useful, they are all in black and white and could perhaps have been presented a little more imaginatively.

Following the introduction, one hundred and twenty-four pages are devoted to Paris and the surrounding region, including Versailles, Chartres and Disneyland. There are maps of the metro, arrondissements, museums and galleries, La Voie Triomphale (from the Louvre Museum to La Defense) the Marais, Ile St-Louis and the Bastille, the Latin Quarter, St-Germain, and Pere-Lachaise Cemetery (where you can visit the tombs of such greats as Moliere, Colette, Edith Piaf, Balzac, and of course Jim Morrison). Everything from the Louvre Museum to the flea markets is included here. The seven-page hotel listing covers all categories and is followed by a list of hostels and campsites, giving something for all tastes and pockets. The sixteen pages of bars, cafes and restaurants have a price guide, and a special list of those open