Fat Man in France: Six Tours for the Cyclist

by Tom Vernon

Tom Vernon - "the thinking man's Alan Whicker" - who donned his metaphorical beret and cruised through France on two wheels, delights us with the subtitles and diversity of everyday French living. He visits the more popular areas of France such as Normandy (and Tom's ancestral town of Vernon), Brittany, Champagne, Alsace and Lorraine, the Loire Valley, Languedoc, and Lozere-Averyron-Cevennes. From whom else would you learn about the woman in the Cevennes who kept all the silkworm eggs of the village in bed with her for 15 days, until they hatched? Or where you can eat a salad of geziers (chicken gizzards) followed by duck breast with green pepper sauce accompanied by courgettes and bechamel, all for 85F? Visit the place where Monet grew his waterlilies, and where Proust regarded the apple blossom from behind coach windows that he didn't dare open because of his asthma. The history, the traditions and the richness of French culture are revived by the knowledgeable, anecdotal and personal view for which Vernon is best known. "Fat Man Encore" is a practical book that highlights pleasant cycling trips for those who want to enjoy the country at a steady pace (15-20 miles a day) while including more demanding ones for those who seek a challenge. Up-to-date information on food, accommodation, travel, and cycling advice has been included to aid the amateur and practised cyclist alike, with informative maps specifying routes taken.

Genres: Travel

192 pages, Hardcover

First published September 19, 1994

About the author

Tom Vernon is a British broadcaster and writer, best known as the titular "Fat Man" of a number of popular travelogues. After several years working as a presenter and interviewer for BBC Radio 4, Vernon's first travelogue series was Fat Man On A Bicycle (1979). As the title implied, Vernon was obese and the first episode followed the health tests he had to undergo before setting off on his journey, which took him from Muswell Hill to the Mediterranean coast of southern France. He would repeat this journey fifteen years later for the TV series, Fat Man in France (1994).

Fat Man at Work (1983) and his first television series, Fat Man in the Kitchen (1985-6), deviated from the travelogue style of the other series. The former featured Vernon talking to people working in factories, while the latter was a cookery programme filmed in his own kitchen in Muswell Hill in which each edition was devoted to cuisine of a different country.