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Your Tripbook (tm)
One day, twenty years ago, when we first got started, we were visiting the Avignon tourist office in Provence. At the counter were a couple of young Americans, asking questions and scribbling notes. It turned out they were researchers from the popular three inch thick travel guide "Let's Go", there to update their Provence edition. "How long are you in the area then?" We asked. Their reply ("Oh, only today and tomorrow. Then we have to head off to another area.") made us realize how limited most travel guides are. They cover to broad an area, they only cover the highlights, and they are out-of-date as soon as they are printed. So, we decided to publish our own very local travel guides, the Ensemble Cycling Tripbooks. As they only cover a 100 mile radius they are different for each region, indeed for each villa. To prepare them we basically get our local teams to do a brain dump of everything good they do in their normal day-to-day lives in France, Italy and Spain. The result is a treasured compendium of our favorite restaurants, wine makers, markets, artisans, even sneaky places to park and the best picnic sites. And most of it is never covered in Let's Go or Fodors. |