Erin Byrne - Wings: Gifts of Art, Life, and Travel in France

Different times, different places, different muses, but toujours France . In Wings, while offering a feast of discoveries, tastes, feelings and surprises, Erin Byrne shares with us her fascination with a country that rewards those who love its idiosyncrasies as much as its delights. To join Erin Byrne on her travels is to see France through the eyes of an ever-curious and affectionate friend.

Alan Riding, author of And the Show Went On:
Cultural Life in Nazi-Occupied Paris

I found myself re-reading this book with growing delight. As a writer, Erin Byrne has a graceful touch and a knack for telling captivating stories. As a traveler, she is sometimes obsessed, confused or a bit distraught. All the better for us. Byrne doesnt just see, she feels and that makes all the difference.

Tim Cahill, author of Jaguars Ripped My Flesh
and Hold the Enlightenment

With lush prose, remarkable honesty and passion that crackles off the page, Erin Byrnes beautifully-observed stories reveal the many waysboth subtle and profoundthat France has transformed her over a decade of travels there. What is perhaps most inspiring is how she peeks behind the obvious and finds connection, meaning and most of all beauty everywhere on her journeyin a taxi in Arles, on a staircase in the Louvre, in the simplest glass of Bordeaux, in a Normandy village steeped in history. Byrne urges us all to find our stories, but these are hers, and they are dazzling.

Marcia DeSanctis, author of
100 Places in France Every Woman Should Go

Erin Byrnes essays about Frances grand treasures, from her museums to her old bakeries, creaky bookstores, wine shops, sun-spangled cafes, the red windmills of Montmartre, and even the harrowing bullet holes left behind from past wars remind me of discovering long-lost wonders in the bouquinistes along the Seine. Read on, for this is a reverie-inducing glimpse of past and present France.

Phil Cousineau, author of The Book of Roads:
A Life Made of Travel and The Art of Pilgrimage

Reflective and poetic, Wings is a magic mirror held up to French art, culture and history. Its also a window into Byrnes life, with its share of shadows. But while Wings is often profound, many stories are frank and funnyIll never think of Balzac the same way again.

Jeff Greenwald, author of Snake Lake and Shopping for Buddhas

Reading these beautifully crafted essays is like traveling with your best friend. Erin Byrne not only experiences France with her senses, she experiences it with her heart, rendering her impressions of the country, its art, and its people with both grace and warmth.

Janis Cooke Newman, author of A Master Plan for Rescue

Erin Byrnes deep appreciation for Franceand for the unique power of travel to transform usis infectious. Here, she writes with heart and tenderness about the countrys greatest art and artists, its shattering role in World War II, and the pleasures of family travel. In fact, as I read about her experiences traveling in Paris with her sons, I couldnt help but reflect on my own travels with my daughter. I defy you to read these stories and not want to hop on the next flight to Charles de Gaulle.

Jim Benning, co-founder of World Hum

For anyone who fell for France long ago, like me, Wings rekindles the love anew while posing the inevitable question we all ask ourselves: What is it about a place that pulls us back? Erin weaves together the answers through deeply observed and reflective stories about the people, places, and ghosts, familiar and foreign, that swirl in our memories and hearts long after we return home.

Kimberley Lovato , author of Walnut Wine & Truffle Groves

Wings is an amazing book and a delightful and compelling read. This book will be cherished by all who seek true connection and meaning in their travels.

James Bonnet, author Stealing Fire from the Gods

Wings is a smart and delicious memoir. I felt as if I were the one traveling near the Seine and dipping a little bread in my glass of scarlet wine, as Erin Byrnes essays fully capture the intimate details of France. She writes, Often we have a hunger for something, but know not what, and these beautiful, inviting essays become what feeds us. Engaging, poignant, and honest, Wings will nourish your inner traveler and take you into the enchantments of France. This book is truly a must-read to satisfy the wanderlust in each of us.

Kelli Russell Agodon, editor of Two Sylvias Press
and author of Hourglass Museum and The Daily Poet:
Day-By-Day Prompts for Your Writing Life

Country and Regional Guides

30 Days in Italy, 30 Days in the South Pacific, America, Antarctica, Australia, Brazil, Central America, China, Cuba, France, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nepal, Spain, Thailand, Tibet, Turkey; Alaska, American Southwest, Grand Canyon, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Middle East, Paris, Prague, Provence, San Francisco, South Pacific, Tuscany

Womens Travel

100 Places Every Woman Should Go, 100 Places in France Every Woman Should Go, 100 Places in Greece Every Woman Should Go, 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go, 100 Places in the USA Every Woman Should Go, 50 Places in Rome, Florence, & Venice Every Woman Should Go, Best Womens Travel Writing, Family Travel, Gutsy Mamas, Gutsy Women, Mothers World, Safety and Security for Women Who Travel, Wild with Child, Womans Asia, Womans Europe, Womans Passion for Travel, Womans Path, Womans World, Womans World Again, Women in the Wild

Body & Soul

Adventure of Food, Food, How to Eat Around the World, Love & Romance, Mile in Her Boots, Pilgrimage, Road Within, Spiritual Gifts of Travel, Stories to Live By, Ultimate Journey

Special Interest

365 Travel, Adventures in Wine, Danger!, Fearless Shopper, Gift of Birds, Gift of Rivers, Gift of Travel, Guidebook Experiment, How to Shit Around the World, Hyenas Laughed at Me, Its a Dogs World, Leave the Lipstick, Take the Iguana, Make Your Travel Dollars Worth a Fortune, More Sand in My Bra, Mousejunkies!, Not So Funny When It Happened, Penny Pinchers Passport to Luxury Travel, Sand in My Bra, Soul of Place, Testosterone Planet, Theres No Toilet Paper on the Road Less Traveled, Thong Also Rises, What Color is your Jockstrap?, Whose Panties Are These?, World is a Kitchen, Writing Away

Travel Literature

The Best Travel Writing, Deer Hunting in Paris, Ghost Dance in Berlin, Shopping for Buddhas, Kin to the Wind, Coast to Coast, Fire Never Dies, Kite Strings of the Southern Cross, Last Trout in Venice, One Year Off, Rivers Ran East, Royal Road to Romance, A Sense of Place, Storm, Sword of Heaven, Take Me With You, Trader Horn, Way of the Wanderer, The Way of Wanderlust, Unbeaten Tracks in Japan

Copyright 2016 by Erin Byrne. All rights reserved.

Travelers Tales and Solas House are trademarks of Solas House, Inc. 2320 Bowdoin Street, Palo Alto, California 94306. www.travelerstales.com

Art Direction: Kimberley Nelson Coombs

Cover Image: Winged Victory of Samothrace Fotolia

Author Photograph: Lone Mrch

Illustrations: Anna Elkins

Page Layout: Howie Severson, using fonts Centaur and California Titling

Production Director: Susan Brady

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data