In one of the most inventive travel books in years, Ina Caro invites
readers on twenty-five one-day train trips that depart from Paris and
transport us back through seven hundred years of French history. Whether
taking us to Orléans to evoke the miraculous visions of Joan of Arc, to
Versailles to experience the flamboyant achievements of Louis XIV, or to
the Place de la Concorde to witness the beheading of Marie Antoinette,
Caro animates history with her lush descriptions of architectural
splendors and tales of court intrigue. Organizing her destinations
chronologically from twelfth-century Saint-Denis to the
nineteenth-century Restoration at Chantilly, Caro appeals not only to
the casual tourist aboard the Metro or the TGV but also to the armchair
reader of Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence. Caro's passion for and
knowledge of France--its soaring cathedrals, enthralling history, and
sumptuous cuisine--are so impressive that Paris to the Past promises
to become one of the classic guidebooks of our time.