Have Rick's France book, do we need Paris and Provence?

Rick is very focused on his favored places. Invest in the Lonely Planet France book for more options.

I think you will have covered your itin fine with his France Bk. He is in my opinion the best guidebk writer for Europe. , I have tested it.

Oh come on,, Rick is great,, but frankly he does NOT cover entire areas,, or only selectively,, I don't mind that as he does what he does well,, but its really letting yourself down if you don't look at or read any other guide books. Really.

You'll probably not miss anything by carrying just the one guide book. But I always like to combine guide books from different publishers to get a variety of perspectives. DK Eyewitness is heavy but great for its photos.

I agree with another poster. Rick is but one of many sources. Check out Top Ten Paris at your library or Fodor's or Lonely Planet guides. All have something the others do not. I give credit to Rick for giving many of us the backbone to do it yourself travel, from booking air and rail tickets on line to buying Paris opera tickets online and becoming self sufficient in so many ways. Tripadvisor.com is one of the best advice sites we've ever found.

Been to Paris (last time June, 2010) and have taken 2 different RS tours that include Paris. One, "Best of Europe" (quick overview of Paris) and the other "Paris and the south of France" (lots more of Paris and then on to south of France). We used his France book during the "Best of.." tour and both of them (Paris and France) on the "Paris and south of France" tour. Glad we had both for the latter tour. We also use the Lonely Planet guide books for wherever we are traveling in Europe. They seem to be a good compliment to each other. Enjoy France.

I agree, get someone else's Paris and Provence books. Rick just highlights what Rick is interested in, he definitely skips over a lot.

For Europe, I really like to complement RS with the Cadogan guides. I found that these have much more in-depth information, even if the guide is a few years into its publication. I must admit being a bigger fan of Dana Facaros vs Rick (as an author). Search Amazon for Cadogan guides France and you will see several guides that touch your itinerary: South of France, Provence, Cote d'Azur.

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions. We do credit Rick with helping us understand French people on our last trip.

My wife and I visit Europe every two years and only once did we not bring Rick along. It was not a good idea. We fully bought into the "Through the Back Door" concept and find Rick and his team absolutely nail the how to do Europe thing. Your France edition will serve you well. Make sure you go on as many of his walks as possible.