Part of the enjoyment in preparing for any holiday comes in the background reading. For our upcoming holiday (walking from coast to coast in France), we have been reading books about walking and books about France.
We have derived great pleasure over the years from classic accounts of long-distance walks, including Hilaire Belloc's The Path to Rome, John Hillaby's Journey Through Europe, and Patrick Leigh Fermor's A Time of Gifts and Between the Woods and the Water.
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| A Time of Gifts - much more than just the story of a long walk |
Rebecca Solnit's Wanderlust: A History of Walking demonstrates that if those of us planning a long walk are crazy, we are following a long tradition of crazy people.
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| Wanderlust :a History of Walking |
We have also been reading online, and have been particularly inspired by the website of an Australian couple who spend a few weeks every year doing long-distance walks in France (www.walkinginfrance.info). In addition to diaries and maps of their walks, they offer lots of practical information for those planning similar escapades.
Once we had determined that our holiday would be spent walking in France, we started reading more about the country, with an eye on the places we may be going and the things we might be doing.
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| Some holiday-specific reading |
Our reading over the past few months has included French novels, history books and travel books, as we gear up for our forthcoming adventure.
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| More background reading |
We have been reading too. So far everything our local Libraries have available. Have you got anything at the shop?
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