There’s the fantasy of a visit to France, and then there’s the reality. See what happens when in-the-cloud dreams collide with hard truths on the ground. When two middle-aged women leave their families behind in rural Iowa for two weeks of exploring France, they are sure to find trouble. Join Libby and Micki as they bumble their way through failing metro passes, irate policemen, continual language challenges, and endlessly baffling maps and road signs. They visit the magical sights, glimpse the brutal history, and are shocked by the sexual openness of France, all the while struggling to get things right in a country that seems to do everything backwards from what they are used to.

Ride along with these rollicking Sunday School teachers as they venture into the countryside, get lost repeatedly, discover Turkish toilets, and cause a minor international incident at an autoroute toll booth. France’s glorious artwork, breathtaking palaces, somber D-Day sites, famous medieval island fortress–they’re all here, along with the notorious French reserve, lack of English language use, exacting expectations for how people should act, and reasons why the typical American tourist doesn’t stand a chance of fitting in.

Language and culture writer Elizabeth Bingham (French Survival Guide: The Language and Culture You Need to Travel with Confidence in France) divulges what happens behind the scenes when she investigates a new culture and tries out a new language so she can tell readers what to expect and how to handle it. In French Twist, she weaves together three trips to France–one with her elderly grandmother, one with her young daughter, and one with her same-age friend–to reveal the delights and pitfalls of visiting that country.