France for Dummies (ISBN - 0470085819)

554 Pages·2021·9.61 MB·English

by Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince

& Cheryl A. Pientka

France

FOR

DUMmIES

‰

4TH EDITION

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by Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince

& Cheryl A. Pientka

France

FOR

DUMmIES

‰

4TH EDITION

s

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France For Dummies®, 4th Edition
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River St.
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2007 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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About the Authors

Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince: As a team of veteran travel writ-
ers, Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince have produced numerous titles
for Wiley Publishing, including best-selling guides to Italy, France, the
Caribbean, England, Germany, and Spain. Porter is also a Hollywood
columnist and biographer, and his radio broadcasts devoted to popular
culture are heard in all 50 states. His most recent biography is Brando
Unzipped, which explores the private life of Marlon Brando. Formerly
with the Paris bureau of the New York Times, Prince is today the presi-
dent of Blood Moon Productions and other media-related firms.

Cheryl A. Pientka (coauthor with Joseph Alexiou on all Paris chapters):
Cheryl Pientka is the author of Paris For Dummies and coauthor of
Frommer’s Paris on $80 a Day. She is a graduate of the Columbia
University School of Journalism and lives in New York City. Joseph
Alexiou recently graduated from Tufts University with a degree in
History. A hopeless francophile, he hopes to return someday to Paris
(or anywhere in Provence) in some literary capacity. For now he resides
very happily in Brooklyn, New York.

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Editorial

Editors: Lorraine Festa, Development

Editor; Heather Wilcox,
Production Editor

Copy Editor: Melissa Bennett
Cartographer: Roberta Stockwell
Editorial Assistant: Melinda Quintero
Senior Photo Editor: Richard Fox
Cover Photos: Front (Burgundy,

Côte d’Or, Aloxe-Corton):
© Joe Cornish/Getty Images
Back: (Angers wine restaurant):
© Bo Zaunders/Corbis

Cartoons: Rich Tennant

(www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinator:

Patrick Redmond

Layout and Graphics: Claudia Bell,

Denny Hager, Joyce Haughey,
Stephanie D. Jumper,
Melanee Prendergast,
Julie Trippetti

Proofreaders: Aptara, Susan Moritz
Indexer: Aptara
Wiley Bicentennial Logo:

Richard J. Pacifico

Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies
Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies
Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies
Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel
Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel

Publishing for Technology Dummies

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/

General User

Composition Services

Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services
Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies
online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

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Contents at a Glance

Introduction.......................................................1
Part I: Introducing France...................................7

Chapter 1: Discovering the Best of France ....................................9
Chapter 2: Digging Deeper into France ........................................19
Chapter 3: Deciding Where and When to Go ..............................34
Chapter 4: Four Great France Itineraries......................................48

Part II: Planning Your Trip to France .................55

Chapter 5: Managing Your Money ................................................57
Chapter 6: Getting to France..........................................................70
Chapter 7: Getting Around France ................................................78
Chapter 8: Booking Your Accommodations ................................85
Chapter 9: Catering to Special Travel Needs or Interests..........93
Chapter 10: Taking Care of Remaining Details ..........................102

Part III: Paris and the Best of

the Ile de France ........................................113

Chapter 11: Settling into Paris, City of Light..............................115
Chapter 12: Exploring Paris ........................................................171
Chapter 13: Traveling Beyond Paris: Five Great Day Trips......225

Part IV: Tours and the Loire Valley Châteaux....243

Chapter 14: Tours: Gateway to Châteaux Country....................245
Chapter 15: The Best of the Loire Valley ..................................257

Part V: Normandy and Brittany.......................295

Chapter 16: Normandy..................................................................297
Chapter 17: Brittany......................................................................320

Part VI: Provence and the Riviera....................335

Chapter 18: The Best of Provence ..............................................337
Chapter 19: Introducing the Riviera............................................388
Chapter 20: Nice, Monaco, and Beyond ....................................394
Chapter 21: The Western Riviera: From St-Tropez to Cannes....435

Part VII: The Part of Tens................................481

Chapter 22: Bon Appétit: Ten Foods You’ll Want

to Taste While in France ........................................................483

Chapter 23: The Art of the Souvenir: Ten Gifts

to Buy in France ......................................................................486

Appendix: Quick Concierge..............................489
Index.............................................................507

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Maps at a Glance

The Regions of France ..............................................................................36
Four Great France Itineraries ..................................................................51
Paris Neighborhoods ..............................................................................124
Paris Accommodations ..........................................................................136
Paris Dining ..............................................................................................150
Paris’s Top Attractions ..........................................................................172
Notre-Dame de Paris ..............................................................................176
The Louvre ..............................................................................................183
The Ile de France ....................................................................................227
Versailles ..................................................................................................229
Fontainebleau ..........................................................................................233
Notre-Dame de Chartres ........................................................................237
Tours ........................................................................................................247
The Loire Valley ......................................................................................259
Orléans......................................................................................................291
Normandy ................................................................................................299
Rouen ........................................................................................................301
Mont-St-Michel ........................................................................................317
Brittany ....................................................................................................321
Nantes ......................................................................................................323
Provence ..................................................................................................339
Avignon ....................................................................................................341
Palais des Papes ......................................................................................349
St-Rémy-de-Provence ..............................................................................355
Arles ..........................................................................................................365
Aix-en-Provence ......................................................................................375
Marseille ..................................................................................................383
The French Riviera ..................................................................................390
Nice............................................................................................................397
Monaco ....................................................................................................415
St-Tropez ..................................................................................................439
Cannes ......................................................................................................449

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