A Motor Flight Through France

In A Motor Flight through France, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edith Wharton invites listeners on an extraordinary journey through the French countryside at the dawn of the motor age. Based on her 1906 road trip—an ambitious endeavor at a time when automobiles were still a novelty—Wharton’s account captures the thrill of early travel by car and the unparalleled freedom it offered to the adventurous traveler. Accompanied by her husband Teddy and a small group of companions, Wharton set off in a custom-built 1904 Panhard, one of the most advanced motorcars of its time. With a driver at the wheel, she was free to focus on the pleasures of the journey: the texture of the landscapes, the character of remote towns, and above all, the magnificence of French architecture. Her detailed observations of Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance churches and cathedrals form the heart of the book. From Chartres to Burgundy, from Normandy to Provence, Wharton’s trained eye captures the spirit and splendo