FRANCE: Instructions for Use

I can’t think of anything that’s been left out.

– James Martin, GoEurope.About.com

This compact, color-coded, illustrated handbook is packed with the most current, pertinent, easy-to-locate travel info available. Because it focuses solely on the cultural and the practical, the Instructions contains a host of specifics the other guides simply don’t have the expertise or space to include.

The Instructions handbook for France follows the format of  all the Instructions for Use “operations manuals.” It’s like traveling with French cultural expert in your pocket!

What’s the word…

Here is just a smattering of comments praising France: Instructions for Use:

From Irene Watson, Reader Views, Midwest Book Review:

“This book is ingenious! At first glace I wondered how a small book as this could possibly cover all the information I need when traveling in France. I soon found out this is the most concise book there is on the market. Great things do come in small packages! … a very practical, well-organized, concise book that is a must for any traveler to France, especially due to its size and content.

There is so much more to “France: Instructions for Use*” than I can write in this review… This is not a tourist book giving you places to see or eat at, it’s a book that gives you sensible and matter-of-fact information that every traveler must know before embarking to a foreign country.”

From Bill Marsano, award-winning travel writer and editor:

I visit France two or three times a year, town and country, and each time run into tourists who are baffled and sometimes panicked because, contrary to their innocent assumptions, France is NOT exactly like home only with better food and art. The telephones are baffling and the number of ticket options for the Paris Metro is staggering. Tipping isn’t the same as home and neither is ordering a meal; there are two classes of travel on most trains. The French, many are surprised to learn, often speak a different language, and for someone brought up on English it can be hard to pronounce, so you need some basic vocabulary and help with how to say the words.

[Paris inhabitant Allison Culliford and] Nan McElroy, frequent visitor and all-round expert, solve these and many other problems in this tiny (fits in your back pocket, like a wallet) light (4 ounces!) guide, which can be far more helpful than ordinary guides. [The Instructions] tells you HOW to do what you want or need to do, and does it with no fuss.

As for what to see, where to eat and the like, you’ll get that elsewhere, probably from one of those large overstuffed guides that weigh a pound or more–the ones you inevitably leave behind at the hotel because they’re too inconvenient to lug around. This is the book you’ll take with you.

From Shannon Essa, co-author, Chow! Venice:

I also have the “Italy: Instructions for Use” in this series, but I think I will find the France one even more useful. These little books contain SO much useful information that I don’t even know how I planned my first trips without them. There are all kinds of great tips here – about everything from Prems train fares (which are really cheap! But you have to book in advance on the internet) to using French telephones to deciphering a French wine list. They are also well written and fun to read. For first-time travelers – don’t leave home without it. For more frequent visitors, you will definitely find a lot of useful info here.

From Cherie Thiessen, January Magazine:

“It’s incroyable how so much can be jammed between such tiny covers. The table of contents covers getting around by car, train, metro, bike, taxi and local buses; offers suggestions on banking, mobile phones and credit cards; demystifies French wines; gives advice on tipping; guides you where to eat and when. It even tells you how to order your coffee like a Parisian. In addition, shopping, shipping your goodies home, booking tours and discovering where to go for assistance and information are all covered. Each chapter also provides the vocabulary you may well need for that activity…

…I’d have bought the book for only the one [tip], which I happily learned before the plane’s wheels smacked the runway:

The single most important piece of advice we can give to anyone traveling in France is always to be the first to say bonjour…. Anything else is unfathomable, considered downright rude.

…Time and time again we saw dour faces transformed by a mere Bonjour, Madame, and helpful suggestions offered in response to our Bonjour monsieur, pouvez-vous m’aider?”

…Hopefully more of these invaluable little guides are in the works.

From Jennnifer A. Wickes:

…packed with nuggets of information that you cannot get anywhere else.

About author ALISON CULLIFORD

“A short hop across the Channel; a massive cultural leap,” is how Alison Culliford describes her arrival in France when, having fallen under its spell since childhood and working 12 years as a London-based journalist and travel writer, Time Out Parisgave her the chance to relocate there for good 2001.

Alison penned Paris Revisited for Chrysalis Books in 2002 and, when Time Out closed its Paris office in 2004, followed with Pulse Guides’ Paris Night + Day for the hip American  traveler — all the while freelancing for the British press and acquiring a degree in couture.

Now living in a ramshackle Napoleonic apartment in the 10th arrondissement, she has a typical love-hate relationship with Paris, and dreams one day of moving to the country “where life is a little more douce and you can buy a lot more fromage for your euro.” Having struggled through both the language barrier and her share of social faux pas, she leapt at the chance to write France: Instructions for Use and help others discover the spontaneity and joie de vivre lurking just under the proud French extérieur.

Title Information

Title: FRANCE: Instructions for Use
Subtitle: The Practical, On-site Assistant for the Enthusiastic (Even Experienced) Traveler
Authors: Alison Culliford & Nan McElroy
Classification: Travel / France
Published by: Illustrata Press, Joe Shaw, editor
ISBN-13: 978-1-885436-405
Price: $14.95
Format: Original Trade Paper, four-color
Dimensions: 4.25” x 5.5”, 128 pages
Pub Date: Jan 2008
Illustrations: 4-color illustrations Binding: Smythe-sewn