WAS IT A HOLIDAY?

A tour of the wine regions of France in a Ford, for the purpose of tasting and buying -- this is a bald statement of fact, which gives no hint of the unique charm and fun of the book. But when you get a husband who makes plans without telling his wife, and a wife who manages to see the funny side of bad roads, losing the way, sizzling in the summer sun, the behaviour of an unpredictable husband, it is something else again. Under a misapprehension that they were off on a pleasure trip, the wife has a succession of surprises when she discovers, a bit at a time, that it's business first. They visit caves and vineyards, get on friendly, even intimate terms, with French families, and learn about wines, and how to serve them. The conversations are slightly -- and deliciously -- mad. This is no serious travel book (though there's plenty of information painlessly presented). There's no pedantry either in the information about wines. The more you read it, the more your chuckle. The more you think about it afterwards, the warmer the rosy glow of enjoyment creeps over you. I'd like to start over again.