Over a century ago, the historian Hippolyte Taine (1828-1893) divided tourists into six types:
The first travel for the pleasure of moving, absorbed in counting the distance they have covered.
The second go with a guide book, from which they never separate themselves. They eat trout in the places it recommends and argue with the innkeeper when his price is higher than the one that it gives.
The third travel only in groups, or with their families, trying to avoid strange foods, concentrating on saving money.
The fourth have only one purpose - to eat.
The fifth are hunters, seeking particular objects, rare antiques or plants.
And finally there are those who look at the mountains from their window, enjoy their siesta and read their newspaper lounging in a chair, after which they say they have seen the Pyrenees.
From An Intimate History of Humanity by Theodore Zeldin, 1995.
