Books
A Summer in Gascony: Discovering the Other South of France
Written by Martin Calder
The only travel writing book on Gascony, A Summer in Gascony: Discovering the Other South of France is a charming and humorous tale of an extraordinary summer spent in this relatively unknown part of south-western France. Martin’s Calder’s evocative travel memoir brings the spirit, sights, tastes and smells of 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 and its village festivals, dusty roads and sun-baked wine country. 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. 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. The book is full of colourful characters. Martin Calder is a senior lecturer in French at the University of Bristol and has a PhD in eighteenth-century French literature. He has lived and worked in Paris and other areas of France but is always drawn back to Gascony, which appeals to his enjoyment of the simple pleasures of life on the land, good foood and hard work. www.asummeringascony.comPublished by; Nicholas Brealey Publishing
ISBN: 9781857885064