Road to Rouen

Ben Hatch is on the road again. Commissioned to write a guidebook about France (despite not speaking any French) he sets off with visions of relaxing chateaux and refined dining. Sixteen thousand kilometres later, his family has been attacked by a donkey, had a run-in with a death-cult, and (after a near-drowning and a calamitous wedding experience involving a British spy) his marriage is in real jeopardy. A combination of obsessions about mosquitoes, French gravel and vegetable theme parks mean it's a bumpy ride, as Ben takes a stand against tyrannical French pool attendants, finds himself running with the bulls in Pamplona, and almost stars in a snuff movie after a near-fatal decision to climb into a millionaire's Chevrolet Blazer.

Funny and poignant, ROUD TO ROUEN asks important questions about life, marriage and whether it's ever acceptable to tape baguette to your children's legs to smuggle lunch into Disneyland Paris.

“Parents will either roar with laughter or roll their eyes with recognition at this family road-trip memoir.”

Ben Hatch makes me laugh more and more. - John Cleese

Magnifique! - Terry Wogan

Ben Hatch is a very funny writer. His work is fresh and heartfelt. - David Jason

A French odyssey to rival the greatest adventures in history - if you like jokes, and a car full of cheese. As funny and touching as an overfriendly clown. - Danny Wallace

Just did the kind of laugh that made me snot down my own face. Highly recommended to anyone holidaying in France this year. Or to anyone holidaying anywhere. Or to anyone holidaying with kids. Or to anyone with kids but no holiday plans. Basically to anyone with a sense of humour. - Daily Express

I am going to shout this very loudly. YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK. The funniest travel memoir you will read this year. Ben Hatch is a genius. The funny bits were so funny. The sad bits were so sad. - Lisa Jewell

- Metro

Goes from one hilarious situation to another. Very entertaining. The author is naturally funny. - The Sun

Ben Hatch was born in London and grew up there, and in Manchester and Buckinghamshire, where he lived in a Windmill. This meant that at school he was called 'Windy Miller' for years, though he's not been scared by this experience at all. He now lives in Brighton with his tiny wife Dinah, and two children, in a normal house. He likes cheese and is balding, although he disguises this fact by spiking his hair to a great height to distract people he wishes to impress.

ROAD TO ROUEN is his latest book. Before that, he wrote ARE WE NEARLY THERE YET, which became a Number One bestseller and is currently being made into a movie by Island Pictures.

He is the tallest Hatch who ever lived (5ft 9) and is son of Sir David Hatch, the famous radio performer and producer whose shadow Ben doesn't at all feel under. He also maintains that he knows the cure for the common cold (tweet him at @BenHatch to find this out) and that one of his relatives was John Couch-Adams who discovered the planet Neptune. Apparently his aunty told him.

Ben Hatch is on the road again. Commissioned to write a guidebook about France (despite not speaking any French) he sets off with visions of relaxing chateaux and refined dining. Sixteen thousand kilometres later, his family has been attacked by a donkey, had a run-in with a death-cult, and (after a near-drowning and a calamitous wedding experience involving a British spy) his marriage is in real jeopardy. A combination of obsessions about mosquitoes, French gravel and vegetable theme parks mean it's a bumpy ride, as Ben takes a stand against tyrannical French pool attendants, finds himself running with the bulls in Pamplona, and almost stars in a snuff movie after a near-fatal decision to climb into a millionaire's Chevrolet Blazer.Funny and poignant, ROUD TO ROUEN asks important questions about life, marriage and whether it's ever acceptable to tape baguette to your children's legs to smuggle lunch into Disneyland Paris.

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