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Deep France: A Writer's Year in the Béarn
Author: Celia Brayfield

I didn't know where the Béarn was.
I didn't even know who Celia Brayfield was, although the cover of the book stated that she's a best-selling writer.

I bought it over some misunderstanding. I was looking for a book that would help me to understand more about Calais. I thought Calais was in Gascony (I previously misread an information in another book), and because Deep France seemed able to teach me many things about Gascony, I bought it. So much for my French geography.

The Béarn proved to be far, far away from Calais. I opened up a map of France and found it to be a dot down in Southern France, near Spain, in the Pyrenees, in the French Basque countries. A rural gem hidden in deep France. You may not have heard about the Béarn, but you must have heard about some Béarnais - The Three Musketeers and Cyrano de Bergerac. Yes, they are real historical figures eternalized by the writings of their later-generation Béarnais fellows.

( At least there male on male gang rape doesn't happen at your front steps )