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Review
Drenched in sunshine, wine and the sheer vitality --France Magazine<br /><br />Martin Calder has managed to capture the flavour of Gascony. It is independent and colourful. Its people embrace outsiders who appreciate its unique history and heritage. This is a lovely holiday read or a book to inspire next year's tour de France. --Mostly Food<br /><br />Entrancing... the reader soaks up Gascony like a thirsty vine. --Kevin Gale, France Bookshop
Martin Calder has managed to capture the flavour of Gascony. It is independent and colourful. Its people embrace outsiders who appreciate its unique history and heritage. This is a lovely holiday read or a book to inspire next year's tour de France. --Mostly Food
Entrancing... the reader soaks up Gascony like a thirsty vine. --Kevin Gale, France Bookshop
Martin Calder has managed to capture the flavour of Gascony. It is independent and colourful. Its people embrace outsiders who appreciate its unique history and heritage. This is a lovely holiday read or a book to inspire next year's tour de France. --Mostly Food
Entrancing... the reader soaks up Gascony like a thirsty vine. --Kevin Gale, France Bookshop
Product Description
The only travel writing book on Gascony, A Summer in Gascony is a charming and humorous tale of an extraordinary summer spent in this relatively unknown part of south-western France, the home of D Artagnan, Cyrano de Bergerac, gutsy red wine, fine sweet wine Armagnac and sunflowers. It is a tale of two love affairs: an idyllic summer romance and a lifelong love affair with Gascony with its village festivals, dusty roads and sun-baked wine country. Stretching from Toulouse in the east to the Atlantic coast in the west, from the river Garonne in the north to the Pyrenees in the south, Gascony is a golden land of rolling hills and wide horizons, swathed with vineyards, sunflowers, maize and pastures. It has a distinct identity which sets it apart from the rest of France and old affinities with England: the Gascons fought alongside the English in the Middle Ages and the Napoleonic Wars against their common foe the French. In the tiny hamlet of Peguilhan, Martin Calder is introduced to the Gascon way of life: working in the fields, shepherding and slaughtering sheep, feeding the cattle, harvesting the wheat, watering the crops. He discovers a unique people, fiercely proud of their independent heritage. Full of colourful characters: the charismatic and convivial Jacques-Henri, the hardworking farmer whose family take Martin into their home and hearts; the yoga-practising Germans; Pattes, the mischievous stray dog; Madame Parle-Beaucoup , the town gossip and Monsieur Fustignac, whose pride in his Gascon heritage is unforgettable. But the real star of the book is Gascony itself, with its strong spirit of independence and the simple pleasures it provides. Written by a true Francophile who has come to know the people and understands their way of life, A Summer in Gascony evokes the spirit, sights, smells and sounds of this still relatively unknown and unspoiled other South of France .
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book makes a refreshing change from the usual story of French builders and house refurbishment. The author has captured the charm of Gascony with a good mix of interesting snippets of history, local traditions and the day-to-day life of the Gascon people. He gives mouth-watering descriptions of the traditional food and wines of the region. Each chapter surprised me with a new fact about the rhythm of life in rural Gascony. I never knew what to expect. Delightful illustrations by the author at the end of each chapter added to my enjoyment of this book.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a beautifully written evocation of life on a hilltop farm in Gascony. I know the area well and for me this book conjures up the atmosphere perfectly. Towards the end, I felt moved almost to tears, as I understood what the book is really about: yes, it's about life in rural Gascony, but behind the backdrop of the golden Gascony countryside, the book is about having an experience at a particular time in life which has such an effect on you that you never forget it, the tastes, smells, faces and outlook are indelibly imprinted in your memory, you wish you could have the experience all over again and yet you know you can never repeat it. The ending of the book reminded me of the endings of children's books like The Wind in the Willows or The House at Pooh Corner, when you wish you could go back and re-read the story afresh, but it won't be quite the same the second time. We never learn what happened to all the characters afterwards, and perhaps this is for the best - they remain where we left them on their enchanting hilltop in the late summer sunshine.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Im normally one for reading history books about kings, politicians and intrigue. I brush past the travel section of the library without a second thought - I won't go to many of the places on the shelves so why should I care. However by pure chance this book caught my eye and thankfully I took it off the shelf to flick through the first few pages.
This is a beautifully crafted story and so well written you could easily forget that you are reading about somebody else's story and not your own. The author vividly recalls the people, the sights, the smells and the emotions. I read a sizeable portion of this book during a very warm day in May and I could easily imagine I was in Gascony (albeit the illusion was ruined by the occasional passing Glaswegian accent).
Its a credit to the author that when you begin to reach the end of the book and he is saying goodbye to people like Jacques-Henri, Madame 'Parle-Beaucoup' and Monsiuer Fustignac - you can almost imagine you are there saying goodbye with him (to the extent that you have a lump in your throat). But one of the most bitter sweet scenes is the farewell to his summer love - Anja. Its at that point the magic of summer begins to fade. he says himself later that his summer in Gascony was like a 'golden capsual'. He then boards a ship back to Britain and you do get the sense that while he is going back to his old life - he is not going back to it the same person.
A nice touch is the final chapter of the book when he returns to Gascony about 20 years later (apprx). I would say this is a weaker part of the book as he could have had a bit more detail about what happened to Jacques-Henri (it isnt that clear if Jacques-Henri has died or done a runner!!!).
Please read this book - its not just about a summer in Gascony. Its about taking a journey and arriving back where you started, but seeing the world anew.
This is a beautifully crafted story and so well written you could easily forget that you are reading about somebody else's story and not your own. The author vividly recalls the people, the sights, the smells and the emotions. I read a sizeable portion of this book during a very warm day in May and I could easily imagine I was in Gascony (albeit the illusion was ruined by the occasional passing Glaswegian accent).
Its a credit to the author that when you begin to reach the end of the book and he is saying goodbye to people like Jacques-Henri, Madame 'Parle-Beaucoup' and Monsiuer Fustignac - you can almost imagine you are there saying goodbye with him (to the extent that you have a lump in your throat). But one of the most bitter sweet scenes is the farewell to his summer love - Anja. Its at that point the magic of summer begins to fade. he says himself later that his summer in Gascony was like a 'golden capsual'. He then boards a ship back to Britain and you do get the sense that while he is going back to his old life - he is not going back to it the same person.
A nice touch is the final chapter of the book when he returns to Gascony about 20 years later (apprx). I would say this is a weaker part of the book as he could have had a bit more detail about what happened to Jacques-Henri (it isnt that clear if Jacques-Henri has died or done a runner!!!).
Please read this book - its not just about a summer in Gascony. Its about taking a journey and arriving back where you started, but seeing the world anew.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Summer's lease
This is the most enjoyable book I have read about living in France. The author described the characters so well, I felt I knew them as my friends. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Tea Leaf
A Summer in Gascony
A Summer In Gascony apart from being a very interesting read was very informative about the region itself. I learned a great deal about the origins of the region. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Renzo
BEAUTIFUL BOOK
Arrived on time and quality was excellent, very pleased with the service provided.
Will use Amazon again. Thank you to the provider too.
Will use Amazon again. Thank you to the provider too.
Published 7 months ago by Pat J
Pleasant read...
I enjoyed this book as it introduced me to a part of France I didn't know. It is a very easy book to read, nothing particularly intellectually challenging about it and nothing to... Read more
Published 8 months ago by franny
Quite interesting
There are some interesting bits of history in this book together with lovely descriptions about the South West of France. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Doolie
A goodish read but...
Don't get me wrong, I did quite enjoy this book and found it reasonably well written & informative but somehow there was something missing. Read more
Published 10 months ago by jannywanny
A Marvellous Read
A great book for anyone visting Gascony and wanting to understand this delightful part of France.
It delves into the rural life of a farming family whom the author... Read more
It delves into the rural life of a farming family whom the author... Read more
Published 10 months ago by SL03
Is it a history? Is it a eulogy? Is it a romance?
An enjoyable light read which conjures up the warm south. For me there wasn't quite enough depth of any single aspect. Read more
Published on 4 Oct 2008 by P. J. Shaw
For anyone that has spent time abroad.....
How this book transported me to the times of my first solo forays to a foreign land. Every new discovery that Martin describes brought back the giddy excitement of learning to live... Read more
Published on 7 July 2008 by Petite montagne
We agree with the Californian visitors to the Auberge: 'Just what we'd...
Martin's story sympathetically lifts the lid on the Comminges in Gascony and its proud people. A easy read with bite size historic facts which suggest 'the Gascons seem to feel... Read more
Published on 4 May 2008 by Between Fields
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