Frommer's Paris 2007

I have been using the Lonely Plant guide books in my last few years of traveling. I bought Frommer's for a change, just to see what other guide books have to offer. I was completely disappointed. Here is why.

- Terrible maps
1) The maps are scant in details: it does not have a lot of the smaller rues (streets) in Paris and the small and winding rues on the left bank are (in)famous. Consequently, you will frequently be unable to figure out where you are or where you are going to as there is no cross road as a reference point.

2) The fold-out map only include the areas closest to the Sein on the left and the right bank. If you want to find out about the other Arrondisements, good luck. For example, the 14e and 15e are almost entirely missed out.

3) The major landmarks are not clearly marked on the map. I believe most of us would love to have some graphical representation (icon) of the major attractions on the map. It makes it easy to figure out a lot of things, i.e. how much area are you covering, where you are relative to the Louvre, etc. The fold-out maps chose to use words, instead of icons, to tell you where the major attractions are. You have to read, among the street names, the arrondisement names etc. to find the attractions - a waste of time.

4) There are SEPARATE maps for attractions, restaurants, markets and metro/RER stations etc. It is very time consuming to figure out where to eat after seeing the attractions. I understand that it may be too much details on one map with all this information. But with Frommer's maps with scant details, I don't see why this cannot be done. By the way, the Lonely Planet guides seem to be able to do this very well, and with more details.

5) There is not enough map. There should be a detailed map for each of the major arrondissement. For example, the book mentions that one should take a walk in Montparnasse. But where is the map?? How do I get there??

After 2 days of frustration with the Frommer's maps, I got a free map from my hotel. Everything was clearly marked, including the smaller and more ambiguous rues that even the locals had trouble finding. And it was completely free!

- Illogical Organization
1) After the book mentions about a place, it does not tell you where it is marked on the map. Instead, it gives you an address so that you have to find it yourself on the map. This is a time wasting exercise. Further, many times I found the address could not be found on the maps provided by the book, either because the rue is too small and thus omitted by the book, or because the arrondissement is not included.

2) After the book mentions a place, it tends not to tell you how to get there. For example, it mentions Versaille is a must go and you can get there by RER. But which line?? How often is the service?? It also fails to mention that the RER offers a package deal including return ticket and admission to the palace - it would save a lot of time (at least 1 - 1.5 hour) waiting in the queue.

3) After the book mentions a place, it does not tell you how to pronounce it in French. So you will struggle when you get in a cab, or try to get help from the locals.

There are so many imperfections in this book, making it close to worthless. For example, I would really appreciate some more write up about the cultral backgroud, etiquette etc. in France. The restaurant recommendations were not great, either. Some recommended restaurants were closed for the season, some do not serve coffee at a certain time (yet the book fails to mention).

I finally went out of my way and found a recommended spot, that was open and serving food. The food was good, but not significantly better than the random walk-ins that I found when the book's recommendations failed to deliver. And it was expensive. I also noticed that in that restaurant almost all diners were international travelers, many with a Frommer's - obviously not a spot enjoyed by the locals.

On the inside cover of the book, it quoted Des Moines Sunday Register's somewhat indifferent remarks ("Hotel recommendations are close to encyclopedic"). I guess that the hotel recommendations would really help one navigate the city! Further, that newspaper only has a circulation of 250,000 (by comparison, USA Today has 2.5 million circulation) - hardly an authority on anything. But wait, where the hell is Des Moines?? Bill Bryson, one of my favourite comtemporary writers, once honestly wrote about Des Moines, his home town in Iowa, as "nothing really happens... every one just wants to get out of there!" I should have been alarmed when I saw a book quoting from such a newspaper!

Enough ranting. The book is written by some supposedly famous writers, but good writers do not equal good travel writers. And this book has evidenced that. I believe a good guide book should present clear and accurate information about a location in a user-friendly way. This book is anything but. So it will be my first and last Frommer's. I hope it would not be your first.