Hanging Out in France

Rating:
Summary: Decide for yourself
Review: I bought this book to help me as I spent the year studying abroad. The nice part was that there is a small overview of the history and atmosphere of the region, so you could pick and choose your travels carefully. However, with the exception of a substantial vocabular section, there was no information about French culture, customs or travel. Also, there should have been information on the various travel deals in France. The prices will change, but at least the readers would know enough to ask for them. There were only 3 people listed as the authors, and I get the feeling that they did not visit every place mentioned. If they did, they did not spend enough time in each spot to give an accurate portrayal. I assume they asked people who had been there their opinions and used them without fact checking. Many of the places described would be uninteresting to the average traveller. A lot of the cities are typical college towns. Good for being with people your own age, but bad for culture and history. Once you've seen one, you've seen them all. Several of the most spectacular French sites are left out completely (like Carcassonne). Also, they left out places and foods that are very famous regionally (no mention of tarte flambées anywhere in the Alsace chapter, for instance). Like in the 'Hanging Out in Europe' guide, this one is prone to false information and spelling mistakes. Flip through it and decide for yourself if the information is really necessary or if you could do a lot better on your own.

Rating:
Summary: Decide for yourself
Review: I bought this book to help me as I spent the year studying abroad. The nice part was that there is a small overview of the history and atmosphere of the region, so you could pick and choose your travels carefully. However, with the exception of a substantial vocabular section, there was no information about French culture, customs or travel. Also, there should have been information on the various travel deals in France. The prices will change, but at least the readers would know enough to ask for them. There were only 3 people listed as the authors, and I get the feeling that they did not visit every place mentioned. If they did, they did not spend enough time in each spot to give an accurate portrayal. I assume they asked people who had been there their opinions and used them without fact checking. Many of the places described would be uninteresting to the average traveller. A lot of the cities are typical college towns. Good for being with people your own age, but bad for culture and history. Once you've seen one, you've seen them all. Several of the most spectacular French sites are left out completely (like Carcassonne). Also, they left out places and foods that are very famous regionally (no mention of tarte flambées anywhere in the Alsace chapter, for instance). Like in the 'Hanging Out in Europe' guide, this one is prone to false information and spelling mistakes. Flip through it and decide for yourself if the information is really necessary or if you could do a lot better on your own.