Around France with Thicknesse and Smelfungus

For many Britons France has provided their first taste of that alien world called 'abroad' – and sometimes their last. Richard Guise has tracked down ten travellers' tales from three centuries, before venturing forth himself to follow some of their wanderings across the country. He finds out what's left from the sights they saw and how dramatically the country and its people changed over these turbulent times – taking in the years of the Grand Tour, the Revolution and the Napoleonic era; the coming of the railways, holidays and guide books; two world wars, recovery and prosperity; and the twenty-first-century threat of terrorism. His virtual companions include two Grand Tourers (Philip Thicknesse and Tobias Smollett – nicknamed Smelfungus), the man rumoured to have inspired Karl Baedeker, a future chairman of London County Council and Richard's own father, a D-Day survivor. They're not all complimentary about France and the French...