I just finished "Narrow Dog to Carcassone" by Terry Darlington. It's the account of 2 pensioners (and a whippet) taking their narrowboat from Stone in UK across the channel and down the canals in France. It is very amusing with lots of fun descriptions of people and places. I reccommend it!

A totally different kind of recommendation. "60 Million Frenchmen Can't be Wrong: Why We Love France but Hate the French". Non-fiction, but very insightful and interesting reading.

There's a very long thread on this very subject--try a search for it.

julies, I loved that book, too. I really did find it helpful as it shows how very true it is that Americans and the French just basically think differently.

I was told by a Frenchwoman on my first trip to France that if I wanted to understand the French people I should read Emile Zola.

Since that time I have read Germinal, Nana, and Therese Raquin. I strongly recommend Germinal.