The Intimate France one came to me via US mail. Maybe at that time they had a "brochure request" button on their website. My printer is so goofy that I don't end up printing downloads.

It is good to check. I recently saw a travel show on TV where the host was in Italy and clearly didn't know the menu. She just pointed at something and said, "I'll have that, it's spaghetti or something isn't it?" The reply was, "it's Donkey".

Too bad the Marlings are not in alphebetical order, as stated above.

I can recommend "Eating and Drinking in Paris."

I completely agree with everything djkbooks says about the Marling Menu Master. I was so excited when I bought it because it was so small, but now that I am in Paris, it has only made me more frustrated. For example, last night, I was at a restaurant and it had a smallish menu on a blackboard. It took me forever to look between entrees and poisson to figure out which section each item might be under since I did not know any of the words. Then, I could not find half of the things. My husband has resorted to just looking through the whole book to find things which takes forever.

And to top it off, I love scallops... last night there was a risotto on the menu with Saint Jacques. I had no idea what it was, and I was looking up Saint Jacques, well Marling menu master has it listed as Coquilles Saint Jacques. I know no French, so I would not have known to look up Coquilles. Patricia Wells, I later found out, has it listed alphabetically as Saint Jacques (coquilles) which would have been so much easier.

A lot of people like my free online culinary dictionary:

http://www.pjkhospitality.com/index....tion=glossaire

You can use it on your mobile device if you have internet access.

Let me know what you think!

We took "Eating and Drinking in Paris" by Andy Herbach and Michael Dillon. Good coverage, small size and has a few restaurant recs along with realistic advice. Even used it when going through the USDA check on our return to identify my treasures.

I now have the same book ready for Italy.

My absolute favorite is called "What Kind of Food Am I for France." Witty and very informative; small enough for a pocket or purse.