The Road from the Past: Traveling through History in France
- Book Review,
by Ina Caro
From Publishers Weekly
Caro mixes history with first-hand travel writing in her jounary from the Roman ruins of Provence to Napoleon's Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Using this guide correctly, one can methodically visit numerous facets of French civilization and not miss a popular site. The formula is simple. Divide the country into regions-Provence, Langueduc, Dordogne, Loire Valley, Ile de France. Select the best relic examples from each period, add some royal history, and move chronologically. All periods are easily visible-Roman ruins, early Christian sculpture, active medieval cliffside monasteries and walled cities, English and French chateaus from the Hundred Years' War, baronial manors, Renaissance art, gardens, palaces, and the grandeur of Louis XIV. The tour stops just short of the 19th century. Unlike most guidebooks, this book makes no formal recommendations on accommodations and restaurants, and no hours of attractions are stated. Describing the evolution of France through the eyes of a foreign tourist makes this guidebook equally attractive to history buffs, tourists, and armchair travelers. An interesting perspective on traveling.Ann E. Cohen, Rochester P.L., N.Y.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Though the expression "sheer delight" appears frequently in reviews, it's a perfectly apt description of Caro's book. An American, she writes with contagious fondness about driving through the French countryside, through farmland and villages and towns, from the southeastern province of Provence up to Paris. It was a "drive through history," for she and her husband (biographer Robert Caro) plotted their journey to take them to places of particular significance in France's own rich historical journey from Roman times to the twentieth century. In a sort of connect-the-dots fashion, she made certain they viewed places in chronological order, so that they saw ancient items before medieval ones, and medieval ones before Renaissance ones, and so on. She weaves into her narrative a light but informed account of France's politics, architecture, religion, food, and language throughout its colorful epochs, making this a book to learn from before setting out for a trip there or even one for armchair travelers. Brad Hooper
From Kirkus Reviews
Caro's travelogue incorporates, with only partial success, the sensibilities of a dogged historical researcher and a chatty tour guide in its trip through French history from Roman Gaul to Louis XIV's court. Caro's goal is to bring to life the star-rated sites in typical guidebooks and to translate the deep French sense of the country's history for an American mind. With a deliberately chronological itinerary, she begins in the Provence of the Roman Empire; continues through medieval Languedoc, Dordogne of the Hundred Years War, and the French Renaissance's Loire; and finishes in Louis XIV's Paris and its environs. Along with many travelers in France (and her husband, biographer Robert Caro, who joins her), she takes in such famous sights as the Pont du Gard, the pilgrimage church of Conques, Bourges, the chƒteau of Blois, and Versailles. Her personal familiarity with a vacationer's instincts means that her routes are well chosen, with a few detours around touristicated places and some chance finds in pleasant hotels and restaurants. (Her own tourist anecdotes, though, are the stuff of rec-room slide shows.) While researched satisfactorily, her approach to site-specific history tends to the parochial, and without an authority's ability to synthesize place and past, even the most notable locales cannot convey the complexities of the Wars of Religion or the Albigensian Crusade. Although outdoing the average French tour guide in information (and congeniality), Caro still has the taste of one in her attachment to the picturesque, whether in architecture and scenery or historical personalities and events: Her portraits of the vastly different Joan of Arc and Catherine de' Medici are alike in their romanticism, as are her snapshots of the Roman Arch of Triumph at Orange and the Castle of Uss‚. Despite her sizeable bibliography, Caro's evocation of French history in her travels is only marginally deeper than that of the Michelin guides. (25 line drawings, not seen) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
From Book News, Inc.
Caro takes readers on a chronological tour of France's colorful history, from Provence during the Roman period, to the chateau-studded Loire Valley, where monarch and nobles plotted for power, and finally to <^;I>le-de-France, surrounding Paris, where Louis the XIV reigned. She describes historic, culinary, and cultural high points and avoids tourist attractions. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.
Book Description
Caro takes us on an unforgettable driving tour of France, from Provence to the Loire Valley to Paris. With Caro as an epicurean, knowledgeable, and delightfully opinionated guide, we can always be sure to find the most breathtaking vistas, the most extraordinary châteaux, the most inspiring cathedrals, and the very best meals.
From the Publisher
History book, travel book, and story book all in one. The Road From The Past is a delightful, enchanting jaunt through historic France. From "the valley of the kings" to the valleys of Languedoc, Ina Caro animates real places and colorful personalities in this fascinating work.25 line drawings throughout
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