This sentimental journey around France is partly an evocation of things past - the author's search for the spirit of Sartre and Greco in the cafes and jazz clubs of late-1940s St Germain des Pres; a lucky breakdown on the old N7 which landed him in a Valence gastronomic paradise; family life and other games in and around St Tropez in the Sixties. It also offers a picture of things present - learning to live with the bloodymindedness of Parisians when More finally bought a tiny apartment in Montparnasse; the subterranean splendours of the Channel Tunnel; the magic of his tumbledown farmhouse in the Midi, near Mont Ventoux. Always intrigued by the mystery that is France, More goes to Burgundy in search of a lost village and finds the Romantic poet Lamartine's chateau, to the Loire Valley and the tragi-comedy of French country life, and to the Nice of crime in low and high places. He offers a portrait of the luminous beauty of the Gulf of Morbigan in Brittany, and an hilarious account of his honeymoon there, when he was poisoned by shellfish. Julian More has written the book and lyrics for musicals, including "Expresso Bongo", "Irma la Douce" and "Songbook", and is the author of "Views From a French Farmhouse" and several other travel books on France. He has been visiting the country for more than 40 years and has lived there since the mid-1970s.
