Judy Smith (3) (1945–)

Having just holidayed in the Charente-Maritime, this was the only English guidebook I found to cover it in any detail - the first half of this book covers the Vendee, the latter half the region I visited.

The text was useful and up to date with all the major sights of the area covered. The maps were rather basic compared with other guidebooks, but were just about sufficient to orient yourself.
My main quibble is the photographs. Although full of colour illustrations which show the sights and features, they lack in pizazz - the skies are hazy, not brilliant blue and the colours are slightly muted. But as I said before, I couldn't find another English guidebook to give this amount of detail.

A competent if uninspiring guidebook - maybe I should have trusted my French and got a Michelin green guide to go with it.… (mer)