Susie is not a born cyclist, as she discovers within the first five minutes of a journey that will last three weeks. Neither does she look her best in Lycra cycling gear. While her husband whirls along effortlessly, she frequently grinds to a halt and has to be rescued. But the pair keep pedalling, from the glitz of Versailles to the hilly Champagne vineyards, via a hair-raising ride through Paris and through quaint provincial towns and sombre battlefields. In her fourth travelogue, Susie and her husband take to their bikes to explore the Marne valley, following in the carriage tracks of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI in their abortive escape attempt from the French revolution.Like the bestselling "Best Foot Forward – a 500-mile Walk Through Hidden France", and "Travels with Tinkerbelle – 6,000 miles Around France in a Mechanical Wreck", "The Valley of Heaven and Hell – Cycling In The Shadow Of Marie Antoinette" is an enjoyable mixture of travel and history, told in Susie's characteristically light-hearted and self-depreciating style. One for armchair travellers to enjoy, or a good holiday read - fans of France, fans of travel writing, fans of Bill Bryson and Peter Mayle will love this book."This book manages to combine history, humor and the best of travel writing all in one.""As someone who enjoys reading about travel on foot or bicycle I can say its as good as any I've read and is a massively entertaining and satisfying read.""When it's funny it's laugh-out-loud funny, and when it's sad it is heart-breaking."