Dordogne, Lot & Bordeaux
-- Living France Magaizine
This lush, rural corner of France where four great rivers meet offers good food, good wine and good living. Cadogan’s foray into the home of gastronomic indulgence now sails into its fifth edition. Authors Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls lived in the Lot for ten years, and the guide bursts with their intimate knowledge of the region. They explore the world’s most celebrated vineyards along the Dordogne and Lot rivers, through Bergerac, Saint Emilion and the medieval city of Cahors, with detailed wine critiques along the way. From Bordeaux to Toulouse, the region’s two fascinating cosmopolitan cities, they reveal the density of historic and natural treasures the region has to offer; from the earliest known prehistoric art at the Lascaux caves to the beautiful Renaissance town of Sarlat. Now fully redesigned, this new edition contains the most up-to-the-minute practical information and listings, along with a stunning section of color photographs and useful maps.
Extract: Market Values
The old vans and lorries will start wheezing in some time after eight, unloading prunes and geese and greens and oysters while the children are passing through on their way to school. The stall-holders in French village markets aren’t the sort of people to knock themselves out coming at dawn. That’s the whole point. The Friday morning market has probably taken place here since the Middle Ages, and today it’s a symbol of liberty, and a refuge for everyone from the clock-driven, bureaucrat-infested life of the cities. Free men and women come and go when they damn please; there are no receipts, and no VAT that can’t be avoided; no advertising, no special discount offers, no Styrofoam, no bar codes; just real food, scents, colours and conviviality. Perhaps this is that Free Market they’re always chattering about in the newspapers. ...click here to read the rest
Intelligent and fun, /5
I've always found the Cadogan guides written by Facaros and Pauls brilliant. Yes, they lack the pictures that you get in an Eyewitness guide, for example, but they more than make up for that in the quality of the text: it is detailed without being heavy, and fun without being stupid. To me, they strike the right balance between historical and architectural information and foodie indulgence. I bought this to replace my copy of the third edition which has now fallen apart through over use. I rate their stuff so highly that I now look to see if they have written a guide to a place I intend to visit. In a perfect world I'd have one of these and a corresponding Eyewitness guide - but if I only had room in my bag for one it would always be the Cadogan guide. Apart from the fact that the Eyewitness ones are heavy because of the glossy paper, the text in the Cadogan guides is vastly more entertaining.
Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls can be reached at: michel.pauls@wanadoo.fr
