There are numerous books written mostly by officers of Napoleon’s campaign in Russia, but this one, told by an NCO of the Imperial Guard, is, in my opinion, one of the very best.  Sergeant Bourgogne had campaigned with Napoleon for several years and he describes the retreat from Moscow in terms which are not sensational but rather in terms which brings the reader into the very action of which he writes.  You can feel his hunger and his cold, the pain he feels for comrades left behind and the joy as others long thought of as dead, are found.

For a couple of years, my favorite wife has wanted to spend a month in the French countryside; she is originally from Montreal, speaks excellent French and enjoys the French culture, wine and history.  Anyone who has been to Paris realizes that France can be very expensive, but we found a way to live well, enjoy the countryside and keep our expenses to a reasonable level. How? One advantage was by traveling with another couple, in this case my wife’s parents.  By splitting some costs, our month-long visit to rural France costs much less, about $175/night per couple.