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French Leave Favourites
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My annual postbag of readers’ letters is close
to one thousand and I calculate that, since I started my do-it-yourself
publishing venture in 1980, nearly five thousand envelopes have dropped through
the letterbox at Chiltern House, our Amersham home. What a pleasure it has
been to get them all - and I think I can safely say that every reader who
has written has had a reply from me. Letters have been complimentary,
constructive, critical and cynical! ‘Feedback’ has been amazingly varied
- covering every subject under the sun: about the writers themselves; about
France and Britain; about the French and the British; about people readers
have met; about places - especially out-of-the-way spots - they have visited;
and, above all, about the hotels and restaurants that readers have used.
Every one of the 600 or more recommendations made in the three editions of
French Leave has been the subject of some sort of feedback. This book
is based upon those thousands of readers’ letters. French Leave
Favourites is a detailed account of readers’ one hundred most liked hotels
and restaurants - from the simplest to the greatest. Every favourite has
been revisited anew by me; not to review it critically but to establish why
the hotel or restaurant has been so appreciated by readers. The common thread
running through all favourites, from humble to great, lies in the personalities
behind the establishments; a revelation that came as no surprise whatsoever
to me. This book is about people. French Leave Favourites is the first
book I have written where I would recommend readers to read all of it, or
most of it, from cover to cover. I realise of course that no-one is likely
to visit every single one of the hotels and restaurants listed within these
pages. The topics range from a visit to a typical French market to the story
of one of the most poignant cemeteries in France; people, places, drives,
regional wines, cheeses and specialities, Nature’s delights, man-made treasures
- from organs to quarries - and a great deal more; all find a place within
the pages of this new book. Even if you visit only one favourite in any one
region, do try to read the other regional entries - as very often information
included under one recommendation applies also to its near neighbours. In
addition, do please read all the other chapters included within the regional
sections and at the start and end of this book to discover all sorts of snippets
of information. |
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