Europe's Romantic Inns: Italy & France

With the sad decline of the drive-in movie theater, people are having a harder time these days finding quality love nests. Fortunately, there's still the Torre di Bellosguardo in Florence, Italy. Literally the "tower with the beautiful view," this lovely inn is actually a converted 15th century palace with a tower for serious stargazing (one of the earlier users was Galileo). The immaculately decorated rooms here run about $200 a night (I've stayed in relative fleabags in the Big Apple that ran close to that). Host Randall Price presents several surprisingly affordable romantic getaways in Florence, Siena, and--in France--Champagne and Bordeaux. Each segment, unfortunately, includes full credits plus a pitch for more information for $3. Otherwise, this is a good introduction to some fine places to snuggle. Recommended. A companion volume, Europe's Romantic Inns: England, Scotland & Ireland, is also available. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)