-
Peking to Paris
- Life and Love on a Short Drive Around Half the World
- Narrated by: Katherine Dyer
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
In this thrilling road trip from "Peking to Paris", a woman tries to save her car, her marriage, and her confidence from breaking down.
In May 2007, leaving China’s Great Wall is Car 84, one of 128 antique autos racing in the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge. It’s guided by one Dina Bennett, the world’s least likely navigator: a daydreamer prone to carsickness, riddled with self-doubt, and married to a thrill-seeking perfectionist who is half-human, half-racecar. What could possibly go wrong?
Funny, self-deprecating, and marred by only a few acts of great fortitude, Peking to Paris is first and foremost a voyage of transformation. The listener is swept on a wild, emotional ride, with romance and adversity, torment and triumph. Starting in Beijing, Dina and her husband, Bernard, limp across the Gobi, Siberia, Baltic States, and south to Paris in a 1940 Cadillac LaSalle, while Dina nurses the absurd hope that she can turn herself into a person of courage and patience.
Writing for every woman who’s ever doubted herself and any man who’s wondered what the woman traveling with him is thinking, Dina brings the reader with her as she deftly sidesteps rock-throwing Mongolians and locks horns with Russians left over from the Interpol era - not to mention getting a sandstorm facial and racing rabbits on a curvy country road. Come along for the ride with a dashboard diva!
Editorial reviews
Dina Bennett is a worrywart with a penchant for daydreaming - the combination of which landed her on the 35-day Peking to Paris Motor Challenge with her husband, Bernard, and a trunk full of anxiety. Bennett's worries and flights of fancy come alive in Katherine Dyer's spirited narration, which charmingly captures the young woman's formative moments (including the first time she walked, and how she fell in love with her dashing French husband) up to the 7,800-mile car race that could conceivably ruin her marriage. Funny, emotional, and transformative, Peking to Paris: Life and Love on a Short Drive Around Half the World is a travel story that will charm even the most reluctant armchair adventurer.
Related to this topic
-
Gironimo!
- Riding the Very Terrible 1914 Tour of Italy
- By: Tim Moore
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twelve years after Tim Moore toiled around the route of the Tour de France, he senses his achievement being undermined by the truth about "Horrid Lance". His rash response is to take on a fearsome challenge from an age of untarnished heroes: the notorious 1914 Giro d'Italia. History's most appalling bike race was an ordeal of 400-kilometer stages filled with cataclysmic storms, roads strewn with nails, and even the loss of an eye by one competitor - and it was all on a diet of raw eggs and red wine.
-
-
A long slog of punisihing whimsy
- By Andrew on 04-06-16
By: Tim Moore
-
The Masked Rider
- Cycling in West Africa
- By: Neil Peart
- Narrated by: Brian Sutherland
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The prolific drummer for the rock band Rush travels through African villages, both large and small, and relates his story through journal entries and tales of adventure, while simultaneously addressing issues such as differences in culture, psychology, and labels. Literary and artistic sidekicks such as Aristotle, Dante, and Van Gogh join Peart and his cycling companions, reminding the listener that this is not just another travel book - it is a story of both external and introspective discovery and adventure.
-
-
Fascinating Trip Across Cameroon
- By Diann Sedam on 11-26-19
By: Neil Peart
-
Dreaming of Jupiter
- By: Ted Simon
- Narrated by: Rupert Degas
- Length: 16 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Ted Simon rode 64,000 miles round the world on his 500c Triumph Tiger, he inspired thousands of motorcyclists to begin their own adventures, including Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, who chronicled their travels in Long Way Round. Nearly 30 years later, Ted Simon took to the road again to retrace the epic journey he made in his 40s. He meets up with old friends and acquaintances, revisits old landmarks and locations, and rediscovers himself, as well as the world, along the way.
-
-
Amazing book, Amazing Man
- By Roxanna on 08-16-18
By: Ted Simon
-
Route 66 Still Kicks
- Driving America's Main Street
- By: Rick Antonson
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This travelogue follows Rick and his travel companion Peter along 2,400 miles through eight states from Chicago to Los Angeles as they discover the old Route 66. With surprising and obscure stories about Route 66 personalities like Woody Guthrie, John Steinbeck, Al Capone, Salvador Dali, Dorothea Lange, Cyrus Avery (the Father of Route 66), the Harvey Girls, Mickey Mantle, and Bobby Troup (songwriter of “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66”), Antonson’s fresh perspective reads like an easy drive down a forgotten road.
-
-
Best Account of the Old Route
- By Theodore John on 07-16-19
By: Rick Antonson
-
The Secret Letters of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
- By: Robin Sharma
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a bizarre encounter with his lost cousin, Jonathan Landry is compelled to travel across the planet to retrieve letters and mementos that carry the extraordinary secrets that Julian discovered throughout his life. On a remarkable journey that includes visits to the sensual tango halls of Buenos Aires, the haunting catacombs of Paris, the gleaming towers of Shanghai and the mystical deserts of Sedona, The Secret Letters of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari reveals astounding insights on reclaiming your personal power, being true to yourself, and fearlessly living your dreams.
-
-
Very Enlightening
- By Jocelyne Ramos on 04-23-19
By: Robin Sharma
-
How Like a God
- By: Brenda W. Clough
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What would it be like, to get absolute power? Would you wear a cape and fight crime? Rule the planet? Or perhaps you would be like Rob Lewis, and watch your world collapse around you. Does absolute power corrupt absolutely? Rob is going to find out.
-
-
At one point the main character rapes at 13 year old girl
- By Richard Davis on 05-29-21
By: Brenda W. Clough
-
Gironimo!
- Riding the Very Terrible 1914 Tour of Italy
- By: Tim Moore
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twelve years after Tim Moore toiled around the route of the Tour de France, he senses his achievement being undermined by the truth about "Horrid Lance". His rash response is to take on a fearsome challenge from an age of untarnished heroes: the notorious 1914 Giro d'Italia. History's most appalling bike race was an ordeal of 400-kilometer stages filled with cataclysmic storms, roads strewn with nails, and even the loss of an eye by one competitor - and it was all on a diet of raw eggs and red wine.
-
-
A long slog of punisihing whimsy
- By Andrew on 04-06-16
By: Tim Moore
-
The Masked Rider
- Cycling in West Africa
- By: Neil Peart
- Narrated by: Brian Sutherland
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The prolific drummer for the rock band Rush travels through African villages, both large and small, and relates his story through journal entries and tales of adventure, while simultaneously addressing issues such as differences in culture, psychology, and labels. Literary and artistic sidekicks such as Aristotle, Dante, and Van Gogh join Peart and his cycling companions, reminding the listener that this is not just another travel book - it is a story of both external and introspective discovery and adventure.
-
-
Fascinating Trip Across Cameroon
- By Diann Sedam on 11-26-19
By: Neil Peart
-
Dreaming of Jupiter
- By: Ted Simon
- Narrated by: Rupert Degas
- Length: 16 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Ted Simon rode 64,000 miles round the world on his 500c Triumph Tiger, he inspired thousands of motorcyclists to begin their own adventures, including Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, who chronicled their travels in Long Way Round. Nearly 30 years later, Ted Simon took to the road again to retrace the epic journey he made in his 40s. He meets up with old friends and acquaintances, revisits old landmarks and locations, and rediscovers himself, as well as the world, along the way.
-
-
Amazing book, Amazing Man
- By Roxanna on 08-16-18
By: Ted Simon
-
Route 66 Still Kicks
- Driving America's Main Street
- By: Rick Antonson
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This travelogue follows Rick and his travel companion Peter along 2,400 miles through eight states from Chicago to Los Angeles as they discover the old Route 66. With surprising and obscure stories about Route 66 personalities like Woody Guthrie, John Steinbeck, Al Capone, Salvador Dali, Dorothea Lange, Cyrus Avery (the Father of Route 66), the Harvey Girls, Mickey Mantle, and Bobby Troup (songwriter of “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66”), Antonson’s fresh perspective reads like an easy drive down a forgotten road.
-
-
Best Account of the Old Route
- By Theodore John on 07-16-19
By: Rick Antonson
-
The Secret Letters of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
- By: Robin Sharma
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a bizarre encounter with his lost cousin, Jonathan Landry is compelled to travel across the planet to retrieve letters and mementos that carry the extraordinary secrets that Julian discovered throughout his life. On a remarkable journey that includes visits to the sensual tango halls of Buenos Aires, the haunting catacombs of Paris, the gleaming towers of Shanghai and the mystical deserts of Sedona, The Secret Letters of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari reveals astounding insights on reclaiming your personal power, being true to yourself, and fearlessly living your dreams.
-
-
Very Enlightening
- By Jocelyne Ramos on 04-23-19
By: Robin Sharma
-
How Like a God
- By: Brenda W. Clough
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What would it be like, to get absolute power? Would you wear a cape and fight crime? Rule the planet? Or perhaps you would be like Rob Lewis, and watch your world collapse around you. Does absolute power corrupt absolutely? Rob is going to find out.
-
-
At one point the main character rapes at 13 year old girl
- By Richard Davis on 05-29-21
By: Brenda W. Clough
-
Heart of the Dreaming
- By: Di Morrissey
- Narrated by: Natalie Bate
- Length: 16 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At 21 Queenie Hanlon has the world at her feet. Startlingly beautiful, wealthy and intelligent, she is the only daughter of Tingulla Station, the famed outback property in the wilds of western Queensland. At 22, her life lies in ruins. A series of disasters has robbed her of everything she has ever loved. Everything except Tingulla – her ancestral home and her spirit's Dreaming place. Now she is about to lose that too....
-
-
Great Story
- By Anonymous User on 03-21-18
By: Di Morrissey
-
Home Sweet Anywhere
- How We Sold Our House, Created a New Life, and Saw the World
- By: Lynne Martin
- Narrated by: Lynne Martin
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Reunited in love after 35 years and suffering from a serious case of pre-retirement wanderlust, Lynne and Tim Martin made a life-altering decision: They sold their house and possessions and hit the road to live internationally full-time. Now tethered to nothing but their suitcases, each other, and their next exotic location, they've never looked back. From sky-high pyramids in Mexico to monkeys in Marrakech, this delightful, inspiring memoir is a romantic tale of derring-do for grown-ups and a road map for anyone who dreams of turning the idea of life abroad into a reality.
-
-
She makes it sound SO unappealing!
- By Barbara on 05-18-14
By: Lynne Martin
-
Whirligig
- By: Paul Fleischman
- Narrated by: Robert Field, Lily Christian, Alex Hauk, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Newbery Medal winner Paul Fleischman writes a profoundly moving story of connectedness and the journey of a young soul to self-discovery. Told through the voices of five characters and narrated by age-appropriate actors, Whirligig compels the listener with its lesson on how our actions can impact the lives of others - even years later. A stunningly authentic listening experience.
-
-
Fabulous
- By Tim on 03-21-17
By: Paul Fleischman
-
A Year in Provence
- By: Peter Mayle
- Narrated by: Peter Mayle
- Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Peter Mayle and his wife had been to Provence as tourists. They had dreamed of one day trading the long, grey winters and damp summers of England for the blue skies and sunshine of the coast of southern France. And then they made it happen. They moved into an old farmhouse at the foot of the Luberon mountains and embarked on a wonderful, if at times bewildering, new life.
-
-
Ban abridged versions
- By marlowe on 03-30-15
By: Peter Mayle
-
Rolling Nowhere
- Riding the Rails with America's Hoboes
- By: Ted Conover
- Narrated by: Ted Conover
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Riding the rails, Ted Conover tasted the life of a tramp with companions like Pistol Pete, BB, and Sheba Sheila Sheils. From them he learned survival skills - how to "read" a freight train, scavenge for food and clothing, avoid the railroad "bulls." He was initiated into the customs of their unique, shadowy society - men and women bound together by a mutual bond of failure, camaraderie, and distrust.
-
-
Had potential, but fell short.
- By Evan on 01-06-12
By: Ted Conover
-
The Magic of Ordinary Days
- A Novel
- By: Ann Howard Creel
- Narrated by: Justine Eyre
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Olivia Dunne, a studious minister's daughter who dreams of being an archaeologist, never thought that the drama of World War II would affect her quiet life in Denver. An exhilarating flirtation reshapes her life, though, and she finds herself banished to a rural Colorado outpost, married to a man she hardly knows. Overwhelmed by loneliness, Olivia tentatively tries to establish a new life, finding much-needed friendship and solace in two Japanese American sisters who are living at a nearby internment camp.
-
-
I purchased this audio book not 15 minutes ago...
- By Kim on 09-15-16
By: Ann Howard Creel
-
Second Nature
- Celebrity Magazine, Book 1
- By: Nora Roberts
- Narrated by: Allison Fraser
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Legendary horror author Hunter Brown thrills fans with his tales of terror. But the master of macabre is also a marvel of mystery, maintaining a low—and reclusive—profile. It’s Celebrity magazine reporter Lee Radcliffe’s job to lift the veil on popular personalities and she’ll stop at nothing to secure an exclusive one-on-one with Hunter. Intrigued by her relentless drive, Hunter agrees to an interview—but only if Lee joins him on a camping trip.
-
-
Love this story
- By Jennifer Greenside on 10-13-23
By: Nora Roberts
-
Into the Out Of
- By: Alan Dean Foster
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Earth is being invaded by the shetani - spirit creatures so small and stealthy that only one man knows about the increasing peril. The potential savior is an African elder named Olkeloki who is capable of fighting evil both in this world and the spirit one. But to be successful he must recruit the help of two others: government agent Joshua Oak, and a feisty young woman named Merry Sharrow. Only the three of them can keep the shetani from destroying reality as we know it.
-
-
Another Great Book by a Master Storyteller!
- By Tracy Michael Herring on 05-03-21
By: Alan Dean Foster
-
At Home in the World
- Reflections on Belonging While Wandering the Globe
- By: Tsh Oxenreider
- Narrated by: Tsh Oxenreider
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Tsh Oxenreider, author of Notes from a Blue Bike, chronicles her family's adventure around the world. Seeing, smelling, and tasting the widely varying cultures along the way, she discovers what it truly means to be at home.
-
-
Having traveled the world as a kid myself.....
- By kmk on 07-31-17
By: Tsh Oxenreider
-
Zen and Now
- On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
- By: Mark Richardson
- Narrated by: Buck Schirner
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1968, Robert Pirsig and his son, Chris, made the cross-country motorcycle trip that was the basis for Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, a book that has inspired generations with its searching personal and philosophical narrative. After rereading the book at the onset of middle age, reporter Mark Richardson tuned up his old Suzuki dirt bike and became a "Pirsig Pilgrim".
-
-
Wonderful
- By James on 04-17-09
By: Mark Richardson
-
Lullaby Road
- By: James Anderson
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ben Jones, protagonist of the glowingly reviewed Never-Open Desert Diner, returns in a devastatingly powerful literary crime novel about parenthood, loss, and the desert in winter. Winter has come to Highway 117, a remote road through the Utah desert trafficked only by oddballs, fugitives, and those looking to escape the world.
-
-
It grew on me
- By Shirley Y. Thomas on 09-21-21
By: James Anderson
-
To the Vanishing Point
- By: Alan Dean Foster
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was just a boring drive through the Nevada desert...until the Sonderberg family picked up a beautiful young hitchhiker named Mouse and found themselves on a wild, careening ride down the exit ramp to Hell. It seems the entire universe is doomed unless Mouse, a transdimensional alien, can find and heal the dying cosmic Spinner who controls the very fabric of reality. They're driving into a fantastic nightmare to save all creation at the Vanishing Point on the Cosmic Road...which happens to be US Interstate 40!
-
-
One of my all time favorites.
- By Joseph Simpson on 09-18-21
By: Alan Dean Foster
What listeners say about Peking to Paris
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jennifer
- 05-14-13
No ordinary car trip!
If you could sum up Peking to Paris in three words, what would they be?
Antique cars, exotic countries, and adventure
What did you like best about this story?
I found this book to be a fun, light read, due in large part to the author's self deprecating sense of humour. Even though she appears to know little about cars, how they run, or how to fix them than myself ; where she excels is in describing their adventures driving in the crème de la crème of car rallies. Originally I had bought the book because I like adventure and travel stories and wanted to hear what it was like travelling by car through some very far away and remote countries. The book does talk about that to some extent, but it's really more a story about the couples experiences within the rally, including their relationships with fellow rally members and their beloved car. I was not disappointed and enjoyed it and if Dana chose to write another book about their car adventures, perhaps to Patagonia, I would probably purchase it too.
Have you listened to any of Katherine Dyer’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
This is the first time I've listened to a performance by Katherine Dyer but thought she played the part of the author/ narrator fairly well, given the fact that the author is an all American girl married to a French man, who Dyer attempts to impersonates through Dana character.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
The book kept me interested from beginning to end.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lisa Tripp
- 07-08-19
Narrator and story are terrific
If you are a normal, non-daredevil person who has ever dreamed of doing something crazy, half way around the world- this book is for you. I loved this book and it’s narrator so much and I bet you would too. After all- who doesn’t want to take a trip of a lifetime, with the love of your life in the care of a magic carpet ride storyteller. It’s simply devine.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!