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  • Location: Dublin, Liverpool, France

A Grand Old Time

A Grand Old Time

Why a Booktrail?

2000s: Life really does begin at 75!

  • ISBN: 978-0008269197
  • Genre: Adventure, Humour, Romance, Travelogue

What you need to know before your trail

Evie Gallagher is regretting her hasty move into a care home. She may be seventy-five and recently widowed, but she’s absolutely not dead yet. And so, one morning, Evie walks out of Sheldon Lodge and sets off on a Great Adventure across Europe.

But not everyone thinks Great Adventures are appropriate for women of Evie’s age, least of all her son Brendan and his wife Maura, who follow a trail of puzzling text messages to bring her home.

When they finally catch up with her, there are shocks in store . . . because while Brendan may have given up on life and love, Evie certainly has not.

Travel Guide

Eve goes on her travels…

Dublin

Dublin was always pretty, an the Monday morning shops would be full of people. She would spend time breathing fresh air; just a scent of the real world was already in her nose.”

She gets on the bus to the city one day and goes on a bit of a shopping spree. She enjoys fish and chips and thinks of having a glass of Prosecco. When asked by a stranger what she’s doing in Dublin, she says she’s a crime writer doing some research! Well if research involves visiting one of the city’s betting shops…

Liverpool

A flying visit here to buy two novels before she heads over to France by ferry

France, Roscoff

She thinks the cabin on the ship is like the blackhole of Calcutta although she’s never been to the black hole of Calcutta, but once the lights are out, she can only think of the darkness and the way the ferry sways making her feel sick and alone. She is heading to Roscoff but has no idea what she intends to do there. All she can think of is to “do a bit shopping, eat some French food and drink some French wine, then come home”

Crozon Peninusula

The Crozon Peninsula is where Evie heads to and more specially to the Pentrez Beach where she stays in a camping grounds in a campervan! She enjoys Wuthering Heights here whilst sitting on the beach and wondering about landscapes and emotions. Oh but the food Evie and her new friends enjoy here! Pancakes, Goats cheese, French cooking of the highest quality! As well as a friend by the name of Popeye…The think tangue of the cordial she drinks reminds her of a saturday night in Dublin..

Don’t forget to head to Le Faou to find the bakery that sells the best cakes on the Presque’ile…

Saint Girons

A stop gap on her way to Carcassone but it’s “Lovely, a town full of hippies and interesting-looking people, and the market was colouful and lively”  Rich smells of french cooking too…

Carcassonne

The walled city full of history where Evie has been headed to for some time.

 

Booktrailer Review

Susan: thebooktrailer

This was a fun and cheery read! A75 year old woman escapes her care home and decides to go on a bt of a journey. From Dublin via Liverpool and then to Roscoff and down to the South of France – Carcassone no less! Why? Well you’ll have to find out – but what a journey and story this is!

There’s fun and laughter along the way and oh the food descriptions and the gorgeous scenes in French markets, and on campsites along the way. It really makes you want to head direly to a French village and sit down with a bag of fresh fruit and a baguette.

Evie travels all the way through France in a camper van. Well, this made me love her all the more! Evie would be the ideal travel companion and I genuinely loved spending time with her on this journey. I particularly loved the way she bought and then talked about novels and was inspired by the places she visits along the way. She’s a booktrailer in secret and I loved her from the start.

Meanwhile, the story splits to Brendan, Evie’s son,and his wife Maura when they decide to go to France and bring Evie home.  The story flits to them having their own adventures through French villages and on French roads.

Their troubled story is beautifully intertwined with Evie’s –and it was a pleasure getting to know then all.

A French hug in a book. Just goes to prove that anyone of any age with a twinkle in their eye can have the travelling adventure of their lives. I’m inspired to “do an Evie” now and definitely in a camper van long before I’m 75.

An infectious, happy,inspiring and heartwarming read with a keen sense of place and the spirit of adventure and travel throughout.  Bon Voyage!

Booktrail Boarding Pass:   A Grand Old Time

Destination : Dublin, Liverpool, France  Author/Guide: Judy Leigh  Departure Time: 2000s

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