An excellent palette of sound is provided here to take the radio listener to a place most of us will probably never have the chance to visit for real. The luminous sunshine, azure sea, and verdant spaces invade the brain directly through the ears. As welcome a listen in the middle of a grey Flanders winter as at the beginning of summer. The stories that the natives have to tell are surprising and sometimes shocking. However, although this lucky (and intrepid!) reporter is performing a ?correct? reading (smooth, well-written, proper emphasis), it sounds strangely removed from the amazing environment. It might have something to do with the fact that I?m convinced I can hear the walls in much of the recording (as well as the page) or just that he hardly varies his delivery whether he?s interviewing an ebullient local character, lurking in the bushes outside a village celebration or partaking of a drink made from ?the spit of five men? (and ?feeling a little stoned?). The recordings, human and natural, are impressive. I wish the narration and the structure of the piece (which seems to repeat quite a bit of information from subject to subject) were a bit more dynamic.