What is it about the south of France, anyway?  If we are to believe writers such as Peter Mayle and now Gregory Edmont, it is a region teeming with charming eccentrics who could have popped out of a Marcel Pagnol film. Part travelogue, part gourmand guide and part homage to that special Provençal way of life, Spotted in France takes the reader on a madcap 500-mile roadtrip from Paris to the Midi with author Edmont, who drives a vintage Vespa, and his goggle-wearing, 2-year old Dalmatian, JP, who daringly perches on its footrest. Answering the call from his dog's "mad, absolutely mad" breeder, Madame Clix, who wants JP to sire puppies, the cash-strapped Sorbonne graduate student can't resist her “generous offer” and sets off to discover that "the whole of the French nation is dog loving." The very well-mannered JP had already turned out to be Edmont's "golden key to practically every bar, café, and restaurant in Paris,” and that is repeated wherever they travel. The book reads like a script for a buddy road movie, perhaps not surprising since Edmont writes for film and television. Amazing that all this could take place during just one trip--there is an escape from officious gendarmes; a meeting with a coven of witches following the route of the Knights Templar (who cast a "white magic spell" on the duo, using JP as a "medium"); a propitious meeting with a genial, dog-loving priest (Père); and a visit to a Marseille doggy bordello, arranged by Madame Clix to help raise "the levels of testosterone"—all that, just for starters! Along the way the pair pass through medieval towns with lovely vistas, swim in streams, and dine at multi-starred restaurants (all eager to accommodate canine guests). Although the book is humorous and fast-paced, one of the most memorable passages involves a canine funeral service lead by Père, who poses the question, "Could it be that a dog sees God more clearly than we do?" —his answer alone is worth the journey it takes to reach it.

Return to Critics' Reviews