Monsieur Le Comte de St Cucuface a charismatic aristocrat fallen on hard times slums his way around postwar France in elegant style trading on his name & his exquisite manners. After a chance encounter on a train he convinces a wide-eyed Ludwig Bemelmans to adopt the identity of an imaginary German prince & join him in his ruse. Together they set out on an enchanted adventure through a France that is crumbling to dust feeding off the comically vulgar continental set that is fast replacing Cucuface's blue-blooded caste. They dine on the finest food & wine stay at the most splendid hotels & chateaux pausing only for Cucuface to recount another amusing tale of his eccentric lineage. Mixing autobiography & fiction to magical effect How to Travel Incognito" is an affectionate & melancholic hymn to the passing of an ancient order."