I recently arrived back after 3 1/2 weeks in France. I found several errors or problems in Rick's France 2018 book. Here are my comments:
1. Mont St. Michel does not allow one to check any baggage or back packs at either of the tourist offices. My son ran into this problem when he traveled there in 2016 and he was not able to get into the Abbey. He said he tried everything he could think of to safely stash his back pack but was not able to. I traveled there in May and after reading in Rick's book, I was sure my son was wrong and had missed some opportunity. So on arrival, I asked at the tourist offices and the shuttle bus driver I traveled there with and I was told the same thing. None of the lockers are now allowed to be used and there is no place to check luggage or back packs. My son was right. Rick needs to change this in his book.
The policy is ironic, because I stayed at a hotel on the Mont. As I arrived earlier than the check in time, I just dropped my luggage at my hotel and went on my way. If I were intending to blow the place up, I could just book a hotel, drop my luggage off at a hotel and leave the MSM.
In the Dordogne, Rick notes that the Grotte font du Gaume is one of the best remaining caves to see. However, he says skip it if you don't get a ticket, which he says go on sale in January (as I recall. I dumped this section after I was done with the info). However, no tickets are on sale in advance any more unless you are with a student group or are a scholar. Everyone else has to go in person the morning of. Significantly, however, this cave is likely to be closed in the future as are many of the other caves in the area (think Lascaux). So it is worth seeing and taking the time to go early to get in.
As Rick says to just skip it, he also provides no information on how to actually get a ticket, which requires a bit of knowledge and early arrival. I knew this only because I met someone who knew what I needed to do. So I got up early, and went to the Grotte. I arrived at about 8:00 am in late May. I have no idea how busy in might get in high season (by the way it is easy to find and there is plenty of parking, although the place looks really modest). Once I arrived, there are benches there numbered spots. You need to sit on a number on the bench and wait for them to open. There are only about 56 numbered spots. Then when they open, someone comes out and hands you a number corresponding to your place on the bench. At the cash register, you need to provide your number and a credit card (no cash) and then you get a ticket and a time for your tour. It was worth it.I have to take issue with Rick's directions in the Dordogne for his scenic loop drive. I rented a car with GPS, however, it didn't work well in the Dordogne. Many of the towns don't show up on the GPS so I relied on Rick's directions. When starting the loop drive, he says to follow the signs from Sarlat on D-704 toward Cahors. He then has some places to stop on the way. So far so good. After the Eglise de Carsac, he says "From here continue on, following signs to Monfort." I followed those signs, but here is where his directions left me lost. He never said to look for signs to La Roque Gageac or to get on the D46 in order to get to the D 703. I followed his directions to Monfort as he said which took me up to the castle. It was essentially a dead end. But I kept trying to figure out where was this road to take me "under" the castle. Without good GPS, I ended up hopelessly lost. It took me a long time to find one town I could plug in and get to the loop where I needed to be. His direction need to say that one must get on the D49 and then the D 703 from the D 49 to make that loop drive. A little more clarity would have saved me a lot of grief. His map was no help.
Buy the way, the town that finally got me to the right place was Domme. I was able to enter Domme and get accurate directions. I wish I had known this sooner.