Travelogue set in FRANCE (“through pain comes transformation”)

7th December 2014

A Tour of the Heart by Mary Maribeth Clemente, travelogue set in France.

A delightful memoir cum travelogue set in France. Maribeth Clemente is a seasoned travel writer and her experience shows through the crisp and assured writing. She conveys immense enthusiasm for cycling which culminates in being present at a couple of stages of the Tour de France, coupled with her clear love of France.

She sets off with boyfriend Pete in the late Summer of 2000, a time before the public demise of Lance Armstrong, and they start their tour in Paris; from there the route will encompass Alsace, Burgundy, Provence, Languedoc-Roussillon and the South West Basque area. Their remit is to enjoy the countryside and take in the sights, whilst savouring the food and discovering a wealth of beautiful accommodation (no, not jealous at all). Interwoven into the itinerary are some of the stages of the Tour De France, which is a terrific challenge for Pete, who is a cycliste extraordinaire, determined, resilient and focussed. Maribeth does on occasion seem to struggle to keep up with his devotion to his sport.

There is cycling jargon aplenty but not enough for ennui. The peloton (essentially group riding) has its purpose, drafting is avoided; the riders will often need to replenish around 8-9000 calories per day (they even were spotted having a glass of wine of an evening!); and having read this memoir, I will watch the event with greater interest as she explains some of the intricacies with aplomb. Imagine, for example as Pete climbs the Ventoux, a mountain in Provence where the Mistral wind can howl mercilessly – the Tour de France riders whizz up it like it is a Sunday stroll. Imagine getting lost as night falls as she tries to get back from Nuits-St-Georges to Beaune, the tension and anxiety are palpable (remember, Sat Navs weren’t ubiquitous when she was writing this memoir). Or erring onto the highway with lorries thundering past…

Enjoy the foodie moments, ginger honey ice cream, a Blanquette de Limoux, Collioure being the ‘only place’ to eat anchovies and Agen the place for the top plums (prunes); experience through her eyes the maïs festival in Laàs and stay with her in the company of Georges and Marc at the Domaine de Clavié..

She interweaves French into the text and gently enables understanding, which makes it feel more of an altogether French experience. She is an American writer and therefore the text is American – and as ever UK English and American English can be poles apart, the rift widening every year I think. Amusingly, “You’ve bonked” has a very different meaning in UK English than it clearly does in American!

Oh, and what becomes of her relationship with Pete? They clearly have tender moments and she adores him, but are her feelings as deeply reciprocated? He can be quite irascible at times and she spends quite some time patching and pacifying – the intensity of their mission of cycling around France for sure has an impact on the relationship, yet some of the cracks feel like an insurmountable emotional mountain to climb….

The cover is worth a mention only in that I don’t feel it really does justice to the content. It is done, I think, in bright pastels, and is therefore eye catching, yet the central figures are a bit patchy. But the sense of speed and romance is certainly present.

Enjoy the book!

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Alsace Burgundy  Nuits-St-Georges back to Beaune – evening getting lost. tension palpable.

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