In an earlier era, roughly from the mid-17th century to the mid-19th century, young men of means would embark on a grand tour, experiencing firsthand the cultural legacy of the classical era and the Renaissance. In this risque and immensely entertaining guide, travel writer Tony Perrottet turns the entire grand-tour concept on its head, exploring not antiquated riches but rather the historical sordid underbelly of Europe.
Perrottet’s picaresque book reads like a novel as the fearless author runs toward one debauchery adventure after another, all in the name of historical research. He discusses the notorious Hellfire Clubs of London, where after eating a high-cholesterol meal (“beef, more beef, eel pie and peaches in port”), visitors would engage in bawdy toasts and carouse until the wee hours in pursuit of illicit pleasures. He visits French brothels and dutifully stops by the Museum of Eroticism in the seedy Pigalle neighborhood of Paris, appropriately open until 2 a.m. and guarded, he observes, by “a gaunt attendant dressed as a Goth.”
He goes to the southern French village of Lacoste to visit the crumbling chateau of the Marquis de Sade, one of the world’s most notorious libertines. The property is now owned by fashion designer Pierre Cardin. Perrottet also follows in the randy footsteps of Venice’s most famous son, Giacomo Casanova, as he, the author, makes a veritable rake’s progress through the canals of the island city.
“Moon Handbooks Pennsylvania”
Avalon Travel, $21.99
Pennsylvania is known for many things — the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, the site of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, the home to the oldest Amish community in the world — but many of us may not know it’s also the birthplace of New York art icon Andy Warhol, or we forget that it’s here too the streets of a town called Hershey smell of chocolate.
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Most of the state consists of wilderness and farmland, bookended by Philadelphia in the east and Pittsburgh in the west. Philadelphia’s icons range from the historic Ben Franklin to the fictional Rocky Balboa, while the once smoky Pittsburgh has abandoned its industrial image in favor of clean energy and high culture (the August Wilson Center for African American Culture opened in 2009) and was even, in 2010, at the top of Forbes.com’s list of the country’s “most livable cities.”
This fourth edition divides the state into seven geographical chunks: the Lake region, Pittsburgh, the Pennsylvania wilds, the Alleghenies, the Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania Dutch Country and Philadelphia. In addition to the usual essentials, the book is full of entertaining sidebars: a basic primer on what makes a great cheesesteak (hint: it starts with the roll), the history of Yuengling, Pennsylvania’s unofficial state beer and America’s oldest brewery and a fan’s guide to “The Office,” the television series that may be shot in the studios of Southern California but is set in Scranton. And if you ever wondered what a Nittany Lion is, see page 444.
“Chile & Easter Island”
DK, $25
This highly illustrated guide covers the best of mainland Chile (plus Easter Island and Robinson Crusoe Island), including capital Santiago and the funiculars of Valparaiso, those historic modes of transportation that also happen to be the cheapest and most entertaining way of traveling between the city’s steep hillsides (15 survive).
Also here are descriptions of Chile’s numerous wineries, its regional arts and crafts and Patagonia, home to some of the continent’s wildest landscapes, including glaciers and fjords.