Travel books that get under a city's skin

By JIM EAGLES

Cities like London, New York or Rome have so much to offer that in a couple of weeks you can only scratch the surface.

There is always another museum or art gallery, cafe or bar, market or cathedral you would like to visit, so why not go there to live for six months, or even a year?

That's what the authors of several of this month's travel books did.

They came away still fascinated, still wanting to see more, but having seen places usually known only to locals, enjoyed experiences tourists never get close to.

Of course we don't all have the time or money to do that so the next best thing is to enjoy the experience vicariously through the pen of someone else.

TRUE PLEASURES: A Memoir of Women in Paris

By Lucinda Holdforth

Random House, $26.95

Ah, Paris. Mere mention of the name evokes powerful images of romance and beauty, chic and pleasure.

For Lucinda Holdforth it also evokes thoughts of strong women who went to Paris to remake their lives, to achieve their potential and to live life to the full.

So, vaguely dissatisfied with her job as speechwriter to former Australian Deputy Prime Minister Kim Beazley, and dumped by the boyfriend she thought was the love of her life, she travels to Paris to follow in the footsteps of those women.

This marvellous and thought-provoking book takes us through the streets of the city on the Seine, in pursuit of the places where her heroines lived, loved, held court and died.

They include Collette, Nancy Mitford, Edith Wharton, George Sand, Napoleon's Josephine, Madam de Pompadour, Madam du Barry, Pamela Harriman, Hortense Mancini, Germaine de Stael, Diana Cooper, Madam du Deffand, Gertrude Stein and Coco Chanel.

They were writers, salonniers, courtesans, businesswomen, politicians, diplomats and sometimes many of those things.

But what they had in common was love of Paris and love of life.

In tracing their careers, Holdsworth casts a new light on many of the city's most famous places and also offers an introduction to many areas tourists never go. She savours some of what the city has to offer in the way of food and wine, clothes and manicures, conversation and manners, and learns how best to enjoy it.

Along the way she muses on what a modern woman might learn from the lives of the heroines she is pursuing.

Much of what they have to say seems rather inconsistent - well, I would think that, I'm a man - but it nevertheless makes for a fascinating read.

More importantly, their message is clarion enough to inspire Holdforth to return home and to remake her life as a work of art - starting with this book.

It also inspired me to want to visit Paris again and enjoy to the full its history, charm and, above all, unique dedication to pleasure.

This is a book to savour now and also to take to Paris as an unusual but delightful guide to some of what the city has to offer.

VENETIAN DREAMING: Finding a Foothold in an Enchanted City

By Paula Weideger

Harper Collins, $24.99

Venice, like Paris, is a city with a magical image.

Its canals and gondolas, magnificent art and superb glassware, fascinating history and wonderful literature have been an irresistible attraction down the ages.

For Paula Weideger it isn't enough to visit - she wants to live there.

First she rents a beautiful apartment for a month. Then, her appetite whetted, she finds an even more delightful apartment in a palace, initially for two months and later for a further six months.

Over that time she comes to know and understand Venice - which is really quite a small city - in a way no mere visitor could.

By following her rule of never passing a church without going in, she discovers some absolute gems no tourist guide has ever heard of.

By assiduously studying newspaper advertisements and wall posters she gets to attend some charming Venetian events.

And by enthusiastically following up introductions she comes to know some of the great families of Venice.

This produces some not altogether pleasant revelations for Weideger.

she comes to believe Venice is not in any immediate danger of sinking into the sea - since its foundation it has flooded regularly - it is simply suffering from decades of neglect of its infrastructure. The city's population has been declining steadily - at the end of World War II it was 180,000 but it is now 125,000 and still falling - leaving it in danger of becoming a sort of renaissance Disneyland instead of a living city.

She discovers Venetians are extraordinarily self-centred and unreliable - especially if you're trying to negotiate an apartment lease - but they are also capable of great charm and generosity.

But despite these flaws, or maybe partly because of them, Weideger ends her stay even more in love with Venice than when she began.

And to read her story is to share her fascination for this quirky, historic, querulous, frustrating, fascinating and ultimately magnificent city.

If I ever get to Venice - and it's certainly somewhere I want to go - I'd like to take this book with me, head into the back streets and discover the real city.

THE MISS TUTTI FRUTTI CONTEST: Travel Tales of the South Pacific

By Graeme Lay

Awa Press, $29.95

What could be nicer at this time of year than sitting indoors before a roaring fire, reading magical tales of sunny Pacific islands, while the icy wind and driving rain rattle impotently at the windows.

Graeme Lay knows the Pacific well and he brings marvellously to life all the particular joys of visiting places such as the Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Niue and Tahiti.

They are a wonderful mix of marvellous island events, descriptions of special places, encounters with unique wildlife and, especially, highly entertaining encounters with locals, expats and other tourists.

For instance, the cover story is about Samoa's hilarious Miss Tutti Frutti - a sort of Pacific Islands Hero Parade - which is one of the highlights of the annual Teuila Festival, which this year runs from August 31 to September 6.

There is a wonderful word picture - which anyone who has ever wandered along an island waterfront will instantly recognise - of the declining breed of rundown pubs where visitors can sit fascinated and observe "classic European human wreckage ... amidst a fading decor and tipsy, importuning locals".

We get to share a great night with the locals on Atiu getting smashed on bush beer in an illegal tumunu.

And along the way is plenty of useful advice, such as how to go about visiting the three tiny islands of Ngaputoro, part of the Cooks, which sound absolutely delightful.

All this is observed with a fond eye and a keen sense of humour.

Even a rare nasty moment in the Pacific can be funny in hindsight.

Escaping from the Miss Ha'apai beauty contest in Tonga - which is rather less exciting than the Miss Tutti Frutti - Lay finds himself confronted in the darkness by two "very large young men" demanding in menacing tones, "Where you goin'?"

Thinking quickly Lay replies, "In what I hope passes for a Utah accent: 'I'm on my way to church. The night service. I'm a Mormon missionary.'

"A pause, then: 'Yeah? Where's your bro? Youse always goes in twos.'

"He's ... ah ... meeting the bishop."

"The bishop?"

"Yes."

"There is silence for a few seconds. Then the two figures move aside, melting into the blackness of the night."

Read the stories, enjoy them, and when you next head for the palm trees and the sun, don't forget to get outside the resorts to meet the locals.

JOURNEY THROUGH BRITAIN:

Landscape, people and books

By David St John Thomas

Exisle Publishing, $49.95

Semi-retired publisher David St John Thomas is cruising the Hebrides, those wild and fascinating islands off the Scottish coast, when he experiences a revelation. Why not keep a record of his cruise and of other journeys through Britain and combine them into a book?

The result, half a million words later, is this huge tome embracing more than 30 journeys from the Orkneys to the Isle of Wight and from Ramsgate to Penzance.

Thomas, who is described by the publishers as "the thinking man's traveller", is not by any means a frothy read.

But his earnest - at times even pedestrian - style is more than compensated for by his love of travelling, the breadth of his interests, his extraordinary array of friends and the occasional delightfully barbed comment about the evils of much of what passes for progress.

The journeys do not go everywhere in Britain - for instance, he ignores some of my favourites places, such as Pevensey Castle, Beachy Head and Cuckmere Haven - but they cover a huge amount of ground. And everywhere he goes, Thomas has stories to tell, history to explain, people to meet or tips to pass on.

A tedious railway journey from London to Horsham is enlivened with his acerbic comments about the grim passengers and appalling facilities, and brightened up with some delightful historical anecdotes, such as the 1867 newspaper story about how "the South Western got even with fare dodgers by leaving their carriage behind in the station and letting them be laughed at".

A visit to Cornwall gets added value from a chat about seafood with super-chef Rick Stein, a visit to the grave and the poetry of John Betjeman, a detour through the mining industry which was once the foundation of the local economy, and some wonderfully snide comments on the Arthurian shrine of Tintagel, ending with this gem, "If Tintagel is like a beautiful woman who has lost her principles, neighbouring Boscastle is as pure as Cornish coves and ports come."

I don't think it is a book to be read at one sitting but rather one journey at a time. And if you're ever heading to Britain with the time to be able to ramble through its delightful byways, then it's hard to think of a better guide.