Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Paris (2nd ed) | 
 enlarge | Author: Heidi Ellison
Publisher: Frommer's
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
Buy New: $0.01
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Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 2878904
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2nd
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 226
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 4.5 x 0.8
ISBN: 0028624432
Dewey Decimal Number: 914.43604838
EAN: 9780028624433
ASIN: 0028624432
Publication Date: May 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Ships from Fla next day. All emails answered quickly. We value your satisfaction and our feedback! Thanks 583H
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Candid, honest, blunt--these writers live in Paris, which is to say they have firm opinions about everything to do with the city, and they make no bones about sharing these opinions with you, the reader. It's a pleasure to get the lowdown without that nice-nice promotional flavor. If the walls are thin and the toilets drip, you'll know so in advance. Likewise you can discover with a modicum of browsing where to go for a fabulous hot chocolate, a cheap vegetarian meal, and duck in fig sauce. There are special instructions for dining for decor, dining for food, and dining in various arrondissements, and the same attention to truth prevails for diversions and nightlife, introducing everything from showgirls in feathers to boys in tights. The guide defrocks the overrated, lauds the hidden gem, and includes comprehensive indices. --Stephanie Gold
Product Description
For readers who are tired of the promotional fluff and brochure-speak that characterizes most travel guides, here's a fresh voice. The Irreverent Guides offer an insider's look at each destination, and take a fun, honest look at everything they review. It's not every day you open up a guidebook to find categories like:c For tourists who want clogs, windmills, and tulipsc For enemies of clogs, windmills, and tulipsc Sex, drugs, and torture museumsc Bars where you can hear yourself thinkc Where the supermodels eat and where they don'tc Eurotrashiest hotelsc Hotels for people who hate conventioneersc Luscious love nests and lavender lodgingsc Restaurants that don't live up to the hypec Swingin' supper clubs with attitudeThe Irreverents give you the lowdown, the inside story. They have nothing to sell but the truth, which includes a balance of good and bad. They praise, they trash, they weigh, and leave the final decision up to the reader. Our writers take a special pleasure in leading you where other guides fear to tread.Now with new covers, indexes, and more irreverence than ever!Heres the lowdown on everyones favorite cityfrom beating the crowdsat the Louvre to finding the real Latin Quarter and affordable haute couture. All this, plus cafes for women who want to be left alone, where to stay if youre allergic to gilt and cherubs, and naturellementcoping with rude French waiters.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Don't Waste Time and Money December 3, 2003
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This guide is so poorly done that I wasted valuable time and missed out on some wonderful experiences while on a short vacation to Paris. All the writer needed to do to make things easy was to include the arrondissement or section of the city when recommending a destination. I spend too much time scanning the maps, looking for the subway stop provided. Do not waste your money on this book.
 Second-timer for the irreverent guide January 5, 2002
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
I bought the Irreverent Guide to London when I traveled to Britain two years ago, and I had such a good experience with that book that I bought this one for my upcoming trip to Paris. I have also read Fodor's and have done extensive research online, but I like the irreverent book because it's small, informative, and opinionated. I don't need another sixty pages listing the museums in France. What I need is for someone knowledgable to tell me which museums are worth the time and which ones aren't
 Not so irreverent, and not so complete December 23, 2001
6 out of 10 found this review helpful
If being irreverent is stating that Parisian waiters can be rude, then I've missed the point of this book somewhere. Everbody KNOWS that Parisian waiters can be rude. Just be rude back!I can't help feeling that Alexander F. Lobrano (Heidi Ellison in the first edition) have just dug around to exaggerate the things they don't like, and played down (or even omitted) the good things. For example, in a section marked 'Secret Gardens', how can Parc Andre Citroen be considered secret and Jardins Albert Kahn completely missed? It makes a mockery of claiming to be a true guide. Much better (if you're French-speaking) to get yourself a copy of 'Paris inattendu' by Michel Dansel. You get the truth AND a lot of fresh information.
Useless and without worth November 12, 2001
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
If you have bought other travel guides to Paris such as Frommer's or Fodor's, this "Irreverent Guide" will add nothing of value to your experience of Paris. It seems to me that the title is misleading and very gimmicky. Invest the ... + shipping in a good lunch for one. Or give it away to someone who needs it, or simply save it. This book is not worth it. I rate this book one star.
Those tired stereotypes May 20, 2001
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
If you still believe that all French waiters are rude, that Parisians structure their lives around making unsuspecting Americans feel bad, and that being in France's commercial establishments means always being on your guard, then this is the book for you. Unevenly written (can't Frommer afford copy editors?) and sometimes downright silly, what this book nevertheless has going for it is an excellent and up-to-date list of restaurants, shops, bars, and hot spots (although look elsewhere for accommodations). That alone makes the book worth a look. The map of recommended establishments and the excellent bits of advice on how to take care of daily necessities make this book valuable, but it is unnecessarily smug, ultimately feeding into the same tired stereotypes of the French we've heard for years. As in any major city, no one in Paris much cares about insulting or dissing you, but this book would sometimes have you believe that it's the national pastime.
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