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En Route: A Journey Round France in the Company of Great Writers
From the coast of Normandy to the Côte d’Azur, along the banks of the Seine to the Alps – the ultimate literary tour of France.
Travelling in a loop around France, from Le Havre to Paris, Peter Fiennes explores France’s sense of its own people, place and identity through some of its greatest writers and artists. Moving between the centuries, from the Arthurian forests and Neolithic fields of Brittany to the banlieues of Paris, Fiennes follows the threads of history across France. And wonders what is next for this sublime, mysterious and sometimes fractious country.
Fiennes drinks with Sartre and de Beauvoir in the bars of Rouen and Le Havre; follows Edith Wharton’s ‘Motor-Flight’ along the Loire Valley to the home of George Sand; and explores the beaches of the south with Colette and Katherine Mansfield. He lingers in Bordeaux with François Mauriac, canvasses the foothills of the Alps with John Berger and follows Colette to the trenches at Verdun, before finally heading to Paris, where he consigns Maupassant to an asylum and Sartre to his grave.
A paean to the glories of French literature, art, landscape, food and wine, En Route is a heartfelt exploration of where the country finds itself after so many centuries at the centre of European life.
Travelling in a loop around France, from Le Havre to Paris, Peter Fiennes explores France’s sense of its own people, place and identity through some of its greatest writers and artists. Moving between the centuries, from the Arthurian forests and Neolithic fields of Brittany to the banlieues of Paris, Fiennes follows the threads of history across France. And wonders what is next for this sublime, mysterious and sometimes fractious country.
Fiennes drinks with Sartre and de Beauvoir in the bars of Rouen and Le Havre; follows Edith Wharton’s ‘Motor-Flight’ along the Loire Valley to the home of George Sand; and explores the beaches of the south with Colette and Katherine Mansfield. He lingers in Bordeaux with François Mauriac, canvasses the foothills of the Alps with John Berger and follows Colette to the trenches at Verdun, before finally heading to Paris, where he consigns Maupassant to an asylum and Sartre to his grave.
A paean to the glories of French literature, art, landscape, food and wine, En Route is a heartfelt exploration of where the country finds itself after so many centuries at the centre of European life.
368 pages, Hardcover
Published May 7, 2026
About the author
Peter Fiennes
18 books16 followersPeter Fiennes is the author of To War with God, an account of his grandfather's service as a chaplain in the First World War. As publisher for Time Out, he published their city guides, as well as books about London's trees and Britain's countryside.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 30, 2026
I had high hopes for this book. What could be better than to travel around France with some amazing writers?
It did not take long for me to realize that this book was just a writing assignment for this author; it lacked the love for these author I expected.
The book felt like the author had spent time on perfunctory research and loosely knitted together his findings.
Why were many authors omitted?
Please, someone, start over and do this again. And do it better.
It did not take long for me to realize that this book was just a writing assignment for this author; it lacked the love for these author I expected.
The book felt like the author had spent time on perfunctory research and loosely knitted together his findings.
Why were many authors omitted?
Please, someone, start over and do this again. And do it better.
Displaying 1 of 1 review