Food museums are living museums and museums for living, for the taste of life itself, and nowhere will you find more diverse and exciting culinary shrines than in France. Gastronomie Food Museums and Heritage Sites of France is the first book about a new foodie phenomenon that has seized the imagination of travelers and gastronomes alike. We are delighted that Gastronomie Food Museums and Heritage Sites of France is shining light on what is at the very heart of French culture and art de vivre. The Hughes' guide explores the historical background behind the rich cuisine and taste of France today. It artfully illuminates the creative spirit, dedication, and high professionalism that are preserving gastronomic history in sites across the country. --Remi Krug, Chairman, Institut des Hautes Etudes du Gout France has more museums about food, and more initiatives to preserve food heritage traditions and sites, than any other country. Food and drink matter to the French and despite the inroads of fast food, and the presence of le micro in many French kitchens, region by region and town by town, people are coming together to preserve and protect the country's food heritage. Blessed by a country with a diverse yet beneficent climate and 90% fertile arable soils, the French have a reverence for terroir. Inadequately translated as soil, the word denotes land, even the tastes that specific land gives to food and wine, traditions, and the role of the family in preserving them all, region by region. Increasingly, however, the majority of frogs, snails, and many other foods associated with French cuisine come in from elsewhere. Concerned with what is either lost or in danger of disappearing, motivated people have created the food museums and heritage sites of France-dedicated to researching, collecting, preserving, and explaining the rich diversity of French food and cuisine. No strangers to the idea, the authors have used their unique expertise to describe more than one hundred and forty unique culinary sites and museums, their foods and flavors, and, importantly, the characters and curators whom they met on their gastronomic road trip to each corner of France. Bonne route Meredith Sayles Hughes and Tom Hughes are the founders of The FOOD Museum. The museum researches, collects, preserves, exhibits, and explains the history and social significance of the world's foods, and brings artifact-based programs to audiences of all ages.