The Pilgrim's France: A Travel Guide to the Saints

Paperback - July, 2004 - Inner Travel Books
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By: James Heater and Colleen Heater
ISBN: 0971986010

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Reviews by readers

I found this book hard to put down

I found this book hard to put down. I have previously read the Heaters' Pilgrimage book on Italy and found it extremely useful and informative for a trip I took to Italy this year. When I heard that they published a second book, I snatched it up immediately, despite the fact that I had no intensions of traveling to Europe again in the near future. This book presents the lives of the saints in such a dynamic way that you are drawn in and before you know it, you cannot put the book down. It is packed full of helpful and practical information on each area of France, and cities of pilgrimage, as well as how to make the most of your stay. I found the extensive resources on learning more about the saints and places mentioned in the book a wonderful addition. I would highly recommend this book not only to those interested in taking a pilgrimage, but also anyone wanting to read about real people who have lead inspiring and uplifting lives. After reading this book, you cannot help feeling uplifted yourself!

Penny wise and pound foolish

To book a pilgrimage to France and not pay the additional dollars for a copy of the Heaters' The Pilgrim's France is penny wise and pound foolish. I should know, because unfortunately, that is what I did last October.
At a get-acquainted meeting prior to the trip, one of my fellow pilgrims announced that she had come upon the book at a local bookstore. Some people in the group then bought it, too, but I thought I'd save money by ordering it from the library.
The library's copy was already on loan, so I left for the trip with plenty of secular guides to France, but not The Pilgrim's Guide. At times on the tour bus I read from other people's books, but that does not compare to having one's own book when visiting a sacred place. Our tour guides filled us in on generalities, but that was not to the detailed level that this book does. (Yet the reading is enjoyable as well as intensely informative.)
Being on a tour, we did not need to know about accommodations or travel directions, but it was all there, along with very, very interesting commentary on the lives of each saint and what to see at each shrine. I can not begin to imagine how long it took the Heaters to compile all the data.
Shortly after I returned home, I was able to take out the library's copy of The Pilgrim's France. I renewed it as many times as I could because it was a useful reference as I finished writing in my trip journal.
Reading it was also distressing to me, however, because I realized things I'd missed that I wouldn't have missed if I'd had a copy of the book with me on the trip. Then and there I decided to buy both The Pilgrim's France and the Heaters' other book, The Pilgrim's Italy.
I had a fantastic pilgrimage experience, but it could have been even more fantastic if I'd owned this book. Whether you are an actual pilgrim or an arm-chair pilgrim, I highly recommend it.