Welcome!

Enrich Your Travels with Longitude

We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.

SIGN UP FOR

Longitude News

Get our monthly e-mail update

GET A

Catalog

BEST OF 2011

Wild Coast

John Gimlette

SEE ALL >

FOR THE HOLIDAYS

To the Arctic

Florian Schultz

SEE ALL >

OUR FAVORITES

Arctic Dreams

Barry Lopez

SEE ALL >

GLOBES

The Pioneer

Replogle

SEE ALL >

France: Provence Lavender

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

  • E-MAIL
  • PRINT

Kids

Books for

Enrich your travels with reading! Here's a hand-picked list prepared for your journey in conjunction with the book experts at Longitude.

Essential Reading

Item EXFRN466. Buy these 4 items as a set for $64 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

ADD SET
TO BOOKBAG
A Pig in Provence

A Pig in Provence

by Georgeanne Brennan

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 209 PAGES

Marvelously frank about daily chores and the decidedly unglamorous business of raising goats and pigs, Brennan lards her earthy tale of the rural life with recipes, one per chapter. (FRN687, $15.95)

Eyewitness Guide Provence & the Cote D'Azur

Eyewitness Guide Provence & the Cote D'Azur

by Roger Williams

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 272 PAGES

This is an illustrated, colorful guide to the art and architecture, literature, history and attractions of Provence. With photographs and site plans, maps and sections on the Riviera, the Var, Bouches-du-Rhones, Vaucluse and the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. (FRN18, $23.00)

Travelers' Tales Provence

Travelers' Tales Provence

by Tara Austen Weaver | James O'Reilly

  • ANTHOLOGY
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 262 PAGES

This sampling of true tales includes an excellent cast of writers, journalists and travelers, including Peter Mayle, Lawrence Durrell, Kermit Lynch and Alain de Botton. (FRN410, $16.95)

Provence Alps French Riviera Map 527

Provence Alps French Riviera Map 527

by Michelin Travel Publications

  • 2008
  • MAP

A colorful and detailed map of the region from Lyon to Marseille along the Rhone River, at a scale of 1:200,000. (FRN22, $11.95)

 
Cadogan Guide Cote D'Azur

Cadogan Guide Cote D'Azur


by Dana Facaros

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 264 PAGES

A guide in the respected series with insightful cultural and historical background, and up-to-date practical information, illustrations and maps. (FRN808, $19.95)

French or Foe?

French or Foe?


by Polly Platt

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 292 PAGES
  • OUT OF PRINT

With humor, directness and great insight, this compact book is an expert and entertaining guide to the French and how to get along with them. The expanded third edition addresses France's romance with cell phones and includes a short chapter of recent vignettes. (FRN54, $16.95)

Made in France, A Shopper's Guide

Made in France, A Shopper's Guide


by Laura Morelli

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 208 PAGES

Both a fascinating history of France's artisanal legacy and an insider's shopping guide, Made in France includes illustrations, maps, a primer on French shopping culture, and craft festivals. (FRN706, $24.95)

Corkscrewed, Adventures in the New French Wine Country

Corkscrewed, Adventures in the New French Wine Country


by Robert V. Camuto

  • FOOD
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 191 PAGES

An American journalist living in the south of France, Camuto travels far afield from Bordeaux visiting new winemakers from the Alsace to Mayonnaise, Corsica and Burgundy for this celebration of the culture and diversity of French wine. (FRN938, $15.95)

The Food of France

The Food of France


by Waverly Root

  • FOOD
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 450 PAGES

An evocative and beautifully written survey of French food. First published in 1958 and revised in the mid-1970s, the book covers the important regions of French cuisine by dividing them into domains of Butter (northern France), Fat (Alsace) and Oil (the south). (FRN17, $18.00)

Old Provence

Old Provence


by Theodore Andrea Cook | James Ferguson

  • HISTORY
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 384 PAGES

A reprint of the classic 1905 account of travels through Provence, focusing on the history the region from Greek and Roman temples to Medieval market towns and castles. (FRN257, $16.00)

Provence A-Z

Provence A-Z


by Peter Mayle

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 304 PAGES

A companion to all things Provencal, from bouillabaisse to lavender and vinaigre, by the British expatriate and Francophile Peter Mayle. (FRN619, $14.95)

Provence, A Cultural History

Provence, A Cultural History


by Martin Garrett

  • HISTORY
  • 2006
  • HARD COVER
  • 256 PAGES

Through its architecture, literature and popular culture, Garrett analyzes and celebrates the identity of this beloved region. (FRN601, $35.00)

Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong

Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong


by Jean-Benoit Nadeau | Julie Barlow

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 351 PAGES

This lively, astute examination by two Canadian journalists tackles the contradictions and complexities of the French character, paying particular attention to the question of why the French resist globalization. (FRN755, $16.95)

The French Riviera, A Cultural History

The French Riviera, A Cultural History


by Julian Hale

  • HISTORY
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 256 PAGES

From Roman outpost to Napoleonic battleground and playground for the rich and famous, this marvelously informed cultural guide covers the place of the Riviera in history, literature, art, architecture and the imagination. (FRN853, $16.95)

The Road from the Past, Traveling through History in France

The Road from the Past, Traveling through History in France


by Ina Caro

  • HISTORY
  • 1996
  • PAPER
  • 339 PAGES
  • BEST SELLER

Time travel through France by way of its finest castles, chateaux, cathedrals and monasteries. This unusual travelogue is an invaluable companion for traveling in Paris, southern France, the Dordogne and the Loire Valley, combining personal observation with large doses of well-presented history. (FRN03, $17.00)

Vincent Van Gogh, The Passionate Eye

Vincent Van Gogh, The Passionate Eye


by Pascal Bonafoux

  • ART & ARCHITECTURE
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 175 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

From Paris to Asnieres, Amsterdam and Provence, this jewel of a book traces the life and art of Vincent Van Gogh, the spirited, self-destructive painter who celebrated the south of France. Engaging, compact and illustrated with hundreds of photographs. (FRN29, $12.95)

A Year in Provence

A Year in Provence


by Peter Mayle

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1991
  • PAPER
  • 207 PAGES

The original best-selling tale of settling down in Provence, told with warmth and a great deal of humor. It offers a wonderful inside look at the charms and quirks of the people and the countryside in the south of France. (FRN19, $14.95)

Adventures on the Wine Route, A Wine Buyer's Tour of France

Adventures on the Wine Route, A Wine Buyer's Tour of France


by Kermit Lynch

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1990
  • PAPER
  • 271 PAGES

A delightful and warmly anecdotal book, highly recommended for anyone touring the wine regions of France. The book brings the domains and appellations of French wine to full-blown life, and Lynch's portraits of the grand personalities who make the wine are priceless. (FRN72, $19.00)

Encore Provence

Encore Provence


by Peter Mayle

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 226 PAGES

Peter Mayle returns to Provence in this personal, alluring follow-up to his bestselling A Year in Provence (FRN19, $13.00). (FRN128, $13.95)

French Dirt, The Story of a Garden in the South of France

French Dirt, The Story of a Garden in the South of France


by Richard Goodman

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2002
  • PAPER
  • 203 PAGES

Another story of a foreigner transplanted to the south of France. This captivating tale, set near Avignon, is noteworthy for Goodman's willingness to work, passion for horticulture and frank portrait of his neighbors. (FRN417, $13.00)

Provence, From Minstrels to the Machine

Provence, From Minstrels to the Machine


by Ford Madox Ford

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2009
  • PAPER
  • 359 PAGES

Madox Ford probes the history, attractions and pleasures of the region in this spirited classic, with illustrations by his companion Biala, written during their time on the Mediterranean coast. (FRN110, $28.95)

The Magic of Provence, Pleasures of Southern France

The Magic of Provence, Pleasures of Southern France


by Yvone Lenard

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 312 PAGES

The adventures and misadventures of a French woman and her American husband who leave L.A. for a home in the Luberon mountains. (FRN449, $14.00)

Toujours Provence

Toujours Provence


by Peter Mayle

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1992
  • PAPER
  • 241 PAGES

The sequel to the best-selling memoir "A Year in Provence," this is another touching look at country life in southern France. Describing the setting and people with detail and warmth, Mayle creates an evocative portrait of Provence, rife with amusing personal anecdotes. (FRN121, $14.95)

Two Towns in Provence

Two Towns in Provence


by M. F. K. Fisher

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 1983
  • PAPER
  • 208 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Celebrated food writer M.F.K. Fisher contrasts village life in Aix-en-Provence with bustling Marseilles, evoking both with anecdote and loving description. (FRN27, $16.95)

Village in the Vaucluse

Village in the Vaucluse


by Laurence Wylie

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1986
  • PAPER
  • 390 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

A loving portrait of rural Provence and its inhabitants by a sociologist who lived in Roussillon just after WWII. It was a different world then, a traditional village with two telephones and a single cafe. (FRN225, $27.50)

Tender is the Night

Tender is the Night


by F. Scott Fitzgerald | Charles Scribner

  • LITERATURE
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 317 PAGES

Fitzgerald's tragic tale of wealthy expatriate lovers living on the French Riviera. Dick and Nicole Diver fill their home with friends, but cannot find happiness for themselves and slowly slip into psychological despair. (FRN196, $15.00)

The Five-Forty-Five to Cannes

The Five-Forty-Five to Cannes


by Tess Uriza Holthe

  • LITERATURE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 288 PAGES

The intricately woven plot of these bittersweet stories center on a wealthy American's suspicious death on the French Riviera. (FRN766, $13.00)

The Sibyl in Her Grave

The Sibyl in Her Grave


by Sarah Caudwell

  • MYSTERY
  • 2001
  • PAPER

A delightful comedy of manners starring Oxford professor and amateur sleuth Hilary Tamar, the last in a series of four. In this installment, the story veers from Britain to Cannes, where the action (as usual) involves taxes and lawyers. (FRN539, $7.99)

More Recommendations

Here are some other groups of books that might be of interest

Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.