Our feature on Finistère in this issue of hidden europe touches on issues of faith and folklore. Patricia Stoughton’s account of the symbolic importance of Breton chapels explores realms which lie beyond the scope of most guidebooks. It is all too rare that travel writers venture into the sacred and wondrous — though we have often made space for these themes in the pages of hidden europe.

We were therefore pleasantly surprised to discover a new book on France which very explicitly focuses on alternative perceptions of reality. Mystical France is the latest offering from Britishborn travel writer Nick Inman, who has over the years contributed to guidebooks published by Dorling Kindersley, Insight APA, Cadogan and Thomas Cook. Mystical France makes space for all the good things about France that editors at those mainstream publishers surely struck out with their red pens.