Day Trip From Paris?... Look No Further!

It’s a first hand account of the author’s travels through France, most sights and destinations are within a 90-minute radius from Paris, all accessible either by metro or train (regional train or fast train / TGV). The destinations are set up in chronological order in an attempt to educate the reader a bit about French History – it works! It’s a wonderful guidebook – although not the type you’d carry around with you.

Perhaps it’s because I am planning a trip to Paris for next spring and I am all ears when it comes to suggestions that I was so enamoured by this book, but I think anyone could benefit from the ideas presented.

You can be sure this book will be a resource for every trip to France I ever make! The entire thing was interesting, but I really perked up when it covered places I’d already visited (most of Paris, Versailles, Fontainebleau, Chartres and Rouen) or the parts that cover things I plan to see and do on my next trip (more of Paris, Tours and Lyon).

It was a great book, and excellent idea, and a lot of fun to read! Can’t wait to get over there and follow in her footsteps!

5 people found this helpful

Great listen!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I thought this book was so well done. It's done in chronological order and follows the same families throughout history while you also get general history about the town and castles she is visiting.

What did you like best about this story?

All the fun facts about the royal families she talks about.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me laugh at times, but mostly it just made me happy. Every time I listened to it, it was like I was traveling through time with the author and traveling to France.

Any additional comments?

Great read, I really enjoyed it!

4 people found this helpful

Wonderful stories of incredible people & places

This is the perfect book to have in your arsenal when planning a trip to Paris/France! Such great storytelling (and gossip) about the epic people,places, art, and food that one finds when travelling by way of French history. I can't wait to go to these places. Caro has truly whet my appetite and I am certain my travel experiences will be much richer because of each and every one of her lovely and thoroughly researched chapters.

3 people found this helpful

loved it

Would you listen to Paris to the Past again? Why?

I liked it so much that I bought the book. I've been to France without understanding the history. Now I am going back and this book has given me a great deal of insight

2 people found this helpful

History comes to life

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I love the history but am really quite uninterested in where the picnics happened, or which restaurants were eaten in. In this respect, I found the juxtaposition of personal preference for one diner over another very distracting. However, I used the historical information to plan a number of day trips when I was staying in Paris. I feel there should be two editions and I would prefer the abridged one with the non historical detail taken out.

Would you be willing to try another book from Ina Caro? Why or why not?

Also purchased Roads to the Past (hard copy) and used it as the basis for exploring the Loire

What aspect of Christa Lewis’s performance would you have changed?

Some of her French pronunciation was difficult

Did Paris to the Past inspire you to do anything?

Visited a number of the places after listening - including Chartres and Vincennes, and are planning quite a number of others in our next trip

4 people found this helpful

Outstanding Guide to Paris/Environs

My husband and I are "fired up" for another trip to Paris, from our Audible readings of two books related to the history and historic locations of interesting sites to visit for interesting day trips on the high speed trains, out of various Paris stations.

Ina Carow and her husband now live in Paris, and she is a scholar of history, an organized and savvy traveler with a wealth of highly interesting and informative historic stories to share - from North, South, East and West of the city.

I have found so much relevant information from which to build a framework for our upcoming visit and selected travels - ("off- season", on purpose - that our schedule and itineraries can be focused toward our interests, well-informed, and manageable - including spots (restaurants) and "best-kept secrets" in each visit.

She writes well, and the narrator speaks French with a fluid and competent vocabulary and pronounciation.

1 person found this helpful

A useful catalogue of historical sites in France

At bottom this is a useful catalogue of historical buildings in France with an outline of their history, relevance and, equally important, how to get there.

I liked that it gave me many additions to my list of places to visit, some of which I'd only been vaguely aware of, while others were entirely new to me.

My only reservation about this audiobook has to do with the amount of detail it includes about historical personalities which isn't really my thing.

1 person found this helpful

One of the two best books on France I know

One of the two best books on France I know. The other is Ina Caros book the road through history the predecessor to this book. If you are traveling to France or enjoy France you will love this book.

1 person found this helpful

Wonderful book

I have listened to this book two times now and will do so again and again. Her knowledge and joy experiencing France are imparted in every chapter, giving the listener excellent descriptions of virtually every important locale, building, and site she visited, often with her husband. This book was simply a joy to experience.

Long, confusing, bad French

I wanted to like this book, and at times did. I did find myself many times hoping for it to end.
Although the idea seems grand, and going through time from one century to the next would make things easier, that is not what really happens.
The bones of the book go in sequence. However, i found that each chapter or area visited become muddled with jumping back in forth in time in a way that the author claimed they wanted to avoid. I did learn of some great sites I want to see on my trip to France, but a lot of the history is a giant blob of dates, kings, and mistresses. If it were to be edited to just do things in sequence, I think I’d enjoy it more. They’ll me about the time period of the site you’re visiting don’t say you’re going to and then talk about 4 different centuries at a single site.
The narrator gave a decent performance, in English, the French however was a jumbled mess and I could never understand what was being said. I had to pause and try to google context clues or anecdotes to try to find the site and it’s actual name. The narration also made me not like the writer much. They seemed quite smug. If you are a tourist, I don’t think condescendingly looking down on tourists is a good look. Maybe the author didn’t intend this, but the performance certainly made the author unlikeable.

Overall, it was an okay read, but I would never attempt it again.