[14] Katherine Knorr of the International Herald Tribune describes The Road From the Past as a "charming book" that "takes the reader time-traveling," and writes, "She begins in the ruins at Orange and Nîmes, and then ushers us through blood and fire, religious wars, feudal rivalries and monarchical madness, into the light of the Renaissance, up to Louis XIV's punishment of his superintendent of finance, Nicolas Fouquet, for the in-the- king's-face magnificence of Vaux-le-Vicomte.
"[11] Publishers Weekly writes, "Her delightful blend of travel, history and pithy observations on French culture unfolds chronologically with historic tales of love, murder, political intrigue, treachery and selflessness.
"[15] Kirkus Reviews writes, "While researched satisfactorily, her approach to site-specific history tends to the parochial, and without an authority's ability to synthesize place and past, even the most notable locales cannot convey the complexities of the Wars of Religion or the Albigensian Crusade.
"[17] Publishers Weekly writes, "Almost despite itself, the book is a seductive evocation of the ancien régime: aristocrats were rapacious brutes, Caro allows, but she can’t resist their castles, tastes, and sexual intrigues.
That is not the case in "Paris to the Past," which not merely natters and babbles but also sees the French past—all too much of which is violent, bloody and autocratic—through rose-tinted glasses.