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The Ligonier Valley Historical Society will sponsor a three-day motor coach trip to several historic sites in the Rochester, N.Y., area. Highlights of the trip, which runs Sept. 21 through 23, include the Genesee Country Village and Museum, where guests learn about 19th-century life from villagers in more than 57 restored and authentically furnished homes, schools, businesses and churches. Other tops include Rochester's Strong Museum, the Jell-O Gallery, the historic LeRoy House and George Eastman House. The final stop on the tour is the Campbell-Whittlesey House Museum, a Greek revival mansion originally built by a wealthy Erie Canal merchant. Cost of the trip is $300 for members of the Society; $330 for nonmembers, based on double occupancy. The price includes transportation, two nights accommodation, two expanded continental breakfasts, two dinners, tours and admissions. Other prices are available for triple, quad or single rooms. Details: (724) 238-6818 or www.ligonierhistoricalsociety.org.

Take a shot

Develop your photo skills on a 10-day trip for amateur photographers to Tuscany, the Cinque Terre and Lucca. The trip, starting Sept. 15, will include visits to Siena, Montepulciano and San Gimignano in Tuscany; the Italian Riviera, Portofino, Camogli; and the medieval town of Lucca. Di Mayfield, a Lonely Planet photographer, will lead the tour. Cost: $2,815 per person, double occupancy (single surcharge, $250), including accommodations, breakfasts, three dinners, and ground and boat transportation. The trip is offered by France Photogenique, Torrance, Calif. Details: (310) 378-2821 or www.francephotogenique.com.

Armchair traveler

Gadfly author and former psychoanalyst Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson found paradise in New Zealand. A Sanskrit scholar, he's the author of several books dealing with the emotional life of animals. Readers of The New Yorker may recall his unsuccessful libel lawsuit against one of the magazine's writers, Janet Malcolm, who Masson claims misquoted him in her book "Inside the Freud Archives." Masson has fallen in love with New Zealand and now makes it his home with his family.

"Slipping Into Paradise" is his valentine to the Kiwis. The pages are full of rhapsodies about the lush and calming landscape, the greenery, the blue of the oceans. The two islands have a mere 4 million people, no pollution and, unlike neighboring Australia, no snakes or crocodiles. Most of the top government positions belong to women. But Masson doesn't shrink from the problems of the country. He writes about the high rate of depression and suicide among young people, the health problems and a lack of cultural institutions. The chapter in which he meets with Sir Edmund Hillary, conqueror of Mt. Everest, now 84, is a diverting read. But the trouble with "Paradise," as with Frances Mayes's "Under the Tuscan Sun," is that there's little conflict. Much of the book reads like a pleasant postcard home. As heartfelt as Masson's love for his adopted country is, no great stories ever come out of a trip where everyone had a wonderful time and it didn't rain once. (Ballantine Books; $24.95; 248 pages; hardcover)

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