Karen Brown's France

date Nov 12, 2007
authors Karen Brown
reading time 2 mins
  • Book Title: Karen Brown’s France
  • Author: Karen Brown Year written/published: 2006
  • Summary: Traveling around the French countryside with detailed routes and places to see.
  • My Comments: Instead of reading about what most people knows about France – Paris, I read about the countryside. It’s filled with rich history, culture and castles. If you are driving and have a car, this book is a great guide through which roads to take and where it’ll lead you to.
  • Contents page:
    1. Normandy
    2. Brittany
    3. Chateaux Country
    4. Dordogne and Lot River Valleys
    5. Pays Basque
    6. Gorges du Tarn and Beyond
    7. Provence
    8. Gorges du Verdon
    9. Hilltowns of French Riviera
    10. Wine Country – Burgundy
    11. Wine Country – Alsace
    12. Wine Country – Champagne
    13. French Alps

Some extracts:

Normandy

Follow the Seine north out of Paris on the A13 and exit at Bonnieres sur Siene. Travel a scenic route following the N15 north along the Seine to Vernon. As you cross the Seine with the village of Vernonette sitting at the crossroads, you see the remains of the picturesque 12rh century bridge and an ancient timbered dungeon. Just a few kilometers upstream lies the village of Giverny, a name synonymous worldwide with artist Claude Monet who came to live in the village in 1883.

Roeun

Rich in history, Roeun is termed the museum city, but it is also famous for its magnificent cathedral and its connection with Joan of Arc and the Dauphon.

Bayeux

Bayeux was the first French town to be liberated and it seems appropriate to begin our D-Day journey here. On the mian ring road around the old town is the 1944 Battle of Normandy Museum.

Mont Saint Michel

Straddling the border of Brittany and Normandy, Mont Saint Michel is France’s most visited tourist attraction. Joined to the mainland by a marrow strip of roadway, Mont Saint Michel, initially a place of pilgrimage, then a fortress and in the 19th century a prison, clings to rock island and towers 150 meters above the sea level.

French Alps

From geneva, travel a gorgeous narrow valley shadowed by the towering peaks in the direction of Chamonix and Mont Blanc. If you’re in a rush you could take the autoroute but the N205 parallels the autorouts and seems just as efficient and perhaps nprettier as it travels through the villages. This area is absolutely gorgeous in spring and summer, with a dramatic backdrop of high-covered peals that contrast with lush green pastures dotted with chalets, grazing cattle and as abundance of wildflowers.

Chateaux Country includes… too many beautiful breathtaking castles!