Amazon.com
Who hasn't dreamed, on a mundane Monday or frowzy Friday, of chucking it all in and packing off to the south of France? Provençal cookbooks and guidebooks entice with provocatively fresh salads and azure skies, but is it really all Côtes-du-Rhône and fleur-de-lis? Author Peter Mayle answers that question with wit, warmth, and wicked candor in A Year in Provence, the chronicle of his own foray into Provençal domesticity.
Beginning, appropriately enough, on New Year's Day with a divine luncheon in a quaint restaurant, Mayle sets the scene and pits his British sensibilities against it. "We had talked about it during the long gray winters and the damp green summers," he writes, "looked with an addict's longing at photographs of village markets and vineyards, dreamed of being woken up by the sun slanting through the bedroom window." He describes in loving detail the charming, 200-year-old farmhouse at the base of the Lubéron Mountains, its thick stone walls and well-tended vines, its wine cave and wells, its shade trees and swimming pool--its lack of central heating. Indeed, not 10 pages into the book, reality comes crashing into conflict with the idyll when the Mistral, that frigid wind that ravages the Rhône valley in winter, cracks the pipes, rips tiles from the roof, and tears a window from its hinges. And that's just January.
In prose that skips along lightly, Mayle records the highlights of each month, from the aberration of snow in February and the algae-filled swimming pool of March through the tourist invasions and unpredictable renovations of the summer months to a quiet Christmas alone. Throughout the book, he paints colorful portraits of his neighbors, the Provençaux grocers and butchers and farmers who amuse, confuse, and befuddle him at every turn. A Year in Provence is part memoir, part homeowner's manual, part travelogue, and all charming fun. --L.A. Smith
Book Description
In this witty and warm-hearted account, Peter Mayle tells what it is like to realize a long-cherished dream and actually move into a 200-year-old stone farmhouse in the remote country of the Lubéron with his wife and two large dogs. He endures January's frosty mistral as it comes howling down the Rhône Valley, discovers the secrets of goat racing through the middle of town, and delights in the glorious regional cuisine. A Year in Provence transports us into all the earthy pleasures of Provençal life and lets us live vicariously at a tempo governed by seasons, not by days.
Customer Reviews:
A Year in Provence - a delight.......2007-10-01
Over a decade has passed since A Year in Provence was published but time has not dulled the images, humor or humanity of Peter Mayle's wonderful story of an English couple's misadventures as they seek the good life in Rural France. The people, the food, and the land all come alive as the Mayle family struggles to rebuild an old farmhouse and blend in with the locals. This is the book that re-ignited interest in one one of France's most beautiful and gracious regions.
GOING TO THE DOGS IN THE LAND OF THE FROGS.......2007-09-03
Peter Mayle's delightful expose of his first year as "foreigners" in Provence proves highly entertaining reading--for serious or armchair travelers. This month-by-month account proves a painfully honest narrative: how a perfectly respectable English couple "goes native" in just twelve months in Southern France. Clearly a cautionary tale this book catalogues the clandestine allures faced by naive Anglo-Saxons who have clearly absorbed too much semi-tropical heat to retain their Northern European rationality.
Read and be warned of the psychological horrors of gradulaly
slipping from productive, English sobriety and a lifestyle of moderation, into the fathomless pit of culinary worship with its acolytes: bread, wine, garlic, truffles, olive oil, cheese and game birds.
So this charming, apparently normal couple emigrates to southern France, where they are baffled by Provencal accents, attitudes and the
natives' flexible view of Time. The Mayles are thrown in without adequate warning to deal with sly peasants, avid promoters, local civic pride, excitable construction workers, rude drop-in guests and the seasonal invasion of European tourists: German campers and snobby Parisians who consider the entire globe beneath their notice.
The Mayles' first year concludes with the renovation (well, almost completed) of an old stone house, during which time they have earned the grudging respect of their colorful neighbors. Unfortunately, the standards of the once safe and sane British Empire have definitely disintegrated into shameless dedication/degradation to the gods of food and drink. The plotline can be briefly summed up: Going to the dogs--as some might say, (despite the fact that the couple actually brought their own dogs from home) in the land of the Frogs. If you read this book you'll never need to visit Provence in person, and yourfunny bone will be well fed, but your tummy/waist line will surely miss out.
Held Me From The First Page ~ A Classic!.......2007-08-30
Love this book! It truly is a classic! From the first page it's fun, well-written, very entertaining, and made me feel I was there. All huge plusses with any book. I don't want to give too much away in hopes you'll buy it yourself and enjoy it slowly like a deliciously seductive meal in France. Very giftable, too! I'm thinking stocking stuffers? A little "just because" gift for a friend who needs a pick-me-up package in the mail? Or a housewarming gift with a bottle of French wine?
A Year in Provence.......2007-08-23
I read this book several years ago, and loved it so much I wanted to move to Provence.
I bought to give as a gift.
British liege lord, French slaves.......2007-08-22
The long-running international success of this book is amazing. Almost enough to promote head-scratching. Doubt. Confusion. Fear of the Apocalypse. Because, if you really look at it, the book ain't all that great.
A YEAR IN PROVENCE tells the true story of a snobbish, know-it-all Englishman (a certain Peter Mayle) who retires after a successful career in the publishing industry in England and then buys an ancient farmhouse in Provence. He and his wife move in, eat fancy meals, re-do the house with all manner of expensive and modern luxuries, and cruise around the area looking for cute country restaurants, stores, and open-air markets, and even cuter anecdotes. That's the whole story: part culinary celebration by an English foodie, part travelogue of a newly retired control freak, part tourism poster for the French national administrative district of Provence/Cote d'Azure, A YEAR IN PROVENCE is the story of one wealthy, non-working Brit's gaze on a bunch of French people who do have jobs. Call it a giant chocolate box of witty, self-affirming anecdotes, some nutty, some sweet, most all scrumptious if ultimately empty.
In a move of sophistication that reminds me of Albert Einstein's most intellectually fertile period, Mr. Mayle names each chapter after a month. For example, Chapter 1 is actually called "January." Then Chapter 2 is called "February." It's "a year in Provence"!
But seriously, folks: Mr. Mayle gets a big shout-out for his descriptions of the cuisine served in Provence. It really is a foodie's delight to hear him tell of meal after succulent meal, wine after sweet wine. Also, kudos to the big Mr. M for his loving portraiture of the Provençal countryside. Here, too, the author excels. I, too, have lived in Provence, and his panoramas of the villages and countryscapes are spot-on.
But then we have to touch on the overall "me lord, you slave" nature of the text. As mentioned above, Mr. Mayle is retired. And he spends the whole book condesending to and commenting upon the hard-working residents who live in Provence and are just trying to get by. They exist, A YEAR IN PROVENCE tells us, so that a wealthy, superior, judgmental Brit can hover around them and fawn over them the way a slave owner must have grinned out appreciatively from the plantation's steps onto the poor folk working his fields.
So--in short--if you like your Provence filled with two-dimensional, grinning, child-like adults who shimmy and charm like Bojangles to make a smug, well-fed foreigner feel happy and superior, then Peter Mayle has written a book for you.
Book Description
Four accomplished sisters who rose from near obscurity to become the most powerful women in Europe
Set against the backdrop of the turbulent thirteenth century, a time of chivalry and crusades, poetry, knights, and monarchs comes the story of the four beautiful daughters of the count of Provence whose brilliant marriages made them the queens of France, England, Germany, and Sicily.
From a cultured childhood in Provence, each sister was propelled into a world marked by shifting alliances, intrigue, and subterfuge. Marguerite, the eldest, whose resolution and spirit would be tested by the cold splendor of the Palais du Roi in Paris; Eleanor, whose soaring political aspirations would provoke her kingdom to civil war; Sanchia, the neglected wife of the richest man in England who bought himself the crown of Germany; and Beatrice, whose desire for sovereignty was so acute that she risked her life to earn her place at the royal table.
A compulsively readable narrative, Four Queens shatters the myth that women were helpless pawns in a society that celebrated physical prowess and masculine intellect. A riveting historical saga for fans of Alison Weir and Antonia Fraser.
Customer Reviews:
Poor depiction of medieval history.......2007-08-25
Ms. Goldstone omits a lot of facts from medieval history, particularly surrounding the canonization of Louis IX, his first crusades, his father's relationships with the English king, and the role all 4 sisters played in the political, economic and cultural life of their country. She also does not provide the reasons why Marguerite refused to support the canonization in the first place. She hs completely omitted the relationship between Sanchia and her elder sisters. Sanchia was treated the same way as her younger sister Beatrice, belittled and humiliated because she was not a queen while her sisters were. She fills in the blanks by putting names of relatives, w/o really explaining their roles in history and their influence on the affairs of France, England, Sicily, Provence, etc. After reading each chapter, I constantly wanted to ask "So what?" What was the influence on Boniface of Savoy, Thomas of Savoy and Beatrice of Savoy on the affairs of her daughters' kingdoms? Did they bring any reforms, what was their relationship with the Church? This "dump" of insignificant information makes the book very hard to read. It's overwhelmed with names but lacks explanation of their roles in the lives of the 4 queens and their impact on the history of France, England, etc.
She has failed to explain the kings' relationships with their vassals, There is no mention of the state both King Louis and King Henry have inherited their respective kingdoms. No mention of their relationships with the Parliament or Magna Carta, etc. She has failed to even mention the role of Templars in the Crusades!!!
Ms. Goldstone'language and the choice of words is rather poor, leaving the book disorganized and its chapters badly written. Her constant quoting of Matthew Paris and, sometimes, of Joinville, left me wondering if she has encountered any other contemporaries' notes in her search, for there are plenty.
In the back of the book, Ms. Goldstone mentions sources she used while writing her book. Her detailed description of each source made me wonder if she knew she was unprepared or was lacking enough references, thus making her write explanations of who said-when-what-how-why is this important to mention.
I realize that not everyone has a Ph.D. in history and the lack of it should not prevent individuals from writing a fine narrative piece on a historical topic. However, when you write it - do it like a professional, invest time in your research, learn your subjects/main actors. Otherwise, you will sound like an unprepared middle-school student, who pretends to act like historian.
THE FORGOTTEN TALE OF FOUR REMARKABLE MEDIEVAL WOMEN.......2007-06-05
Historians have long ignored or understated the contributions of women so Nancy Goldstone's FOUR QUEENS, the previously untold story of four 13th century sisters who rose from minor nobility in Provence to become queens of France, England, Sicily and Germany, comes as welcome and long-awaited relief. Marguerite, married at just 13 to Louis XI of France, stood her own in a court dominated by her powerful mother-in-law, Blanche of Castile, and ultimately led her husband and his army home from a disastrous Arabian crusade. Eleanor, wife to the ineffectual Henry III of England, deftly played-off rebellious barons and craftily preserved the throne for her son in spite of the civil war she helped ignite. Beautiful and gentle Sanchia married Richard of Cornwall, the richest man in Europe who effectively purchased the Kingdom of Germany. Feisty young Beatrice, wed to Charles of Anjou, led an army through the Italian alps in her determination to saved her besieged husband and secure him the Sicilian throne. Praised by eminent Princeton historian Theodore K. Rabb as "deeply researched," FOUR QUEENS is written with a light and accessible touch, equally at home on the shelf of the serious scholar as it would be on the nightstand of a harried mom who wants a few pages of intellectual stimulation before falling into bed. Brava!
Wanted to like this one but...........2007-06-04
she continually overemphasizes the political roles of the four daughters of Raymond Berenger V, the Count of Provence, and as a genuine medievalist, she should know better.
A sloppily written and very bad book.......2007-06-03
This is an extremely sloppily written and bad book. It is written in the childish style that some popular historians seem to find it necessary to adopt because they think their audience is too stupid to understand anything else - usually an underestimation of said audience. Moreover, the author has clearly not bothered to do any form of basic research to get her facts right. To take but a few examples: In chapter 7, we are told about Richard of Cornwall's crusade in 1240. He is said to have met Emperor Baldwin II of Constantinople "who had lost his empire" (p74). Actually, the Latin Empire of Constantinople (Baldwin's empire) was around until 1261, which is when he lost it. Three pages later, we are told that "The French, too, had sent an army to retake Jerusalem only the year before," in other words in 1239. Retake from whom? Jerusalem was in Christian hands from 1227 to 1244. She also seems to have no idea of the relative importance of the Kingdom of Sicily within the domains of the Holy Roman Emperor. At this stage, less than a third through the book, I gave up, rather than waste any more time on such rubbish. Zero stars would be a better rating.
Excellent.......2007-06-02
I didn't know much of the story of the Provence sisters, but this filled that knowledge gap. For people interested in the Middle Ages as more than just the time between the Roman Empire and the Renaissance, this is a valuable resource. For people interested in powerful families, you can't go wrong with four sisters who all become queens! Excellent book!
Book Description
From the publisher of Under the Tuscan Sun comes another extraordinary memoir of a woman embarking on a new life this time in the South of France. Thirty years ago, James Beard Award-winning author Georgeanne Brennan set out to realize the dream of a peaceful, rural existence en Provence. She and her husband, with their young daughter in tow, bought a small farmhouse with a little land, and a few goats and pigs and so began a life-affirming journey. Filled with delicious recipes and local color, this evocative and passionate memoir describes her life cooking and living in the Proven al tradition an entrancing tale that will whet the appetite and the spirit perfect for foodies, Francophiles, or anyone who's dreamed of packing their bags and buying a ticket to the good life.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful culinary journey.......2007-04-07
What an interesting, informative, and lovely culinary memoir! Georgeanne Brennan was a true trailblazer by going off to Provence with her family in the early 70's, at the height of the Vietnam War. This wasn't mere escapism--it was an attempt to get back to the land and learn what culinary traditions are all about (since most of those traditions in the U.S. were getting lost in the post-WWII industrialization of food production). Reading about the seasonal celebrations and ceremonies that are embedded in Provencal history is truly fascinating through the eyes of an American. Add to that a classic recipe at the end of each chapter that pertains to what you've just read preceeding it, and you have the perfect summer travel lit read!
Book Description
This is the land for all the senses: the site of timeless light-suffused landscapes, the scents of lavender and olive groves, the taste of sun drenched produce and the sound of the sea gentle lapping the feel of the sun. This travel guide maps the region of Provence and sets it in its historical and cultural context. Learn about sites and sounds of Provence with maps, photographs and illustrations. All this and more can be found in the new The Eyewitness Travel Guide.
Customer Reviews:
Travel to Provence.......2007-01-04
We've been very pleasantly surprised by the amount of detail on the cities and the beautiful pictures in this book on Provence. The book contains historic and cultural information as well as information on hotels, restaurants, and shopping.
We hope to visit some vineyards in the area and there is an itineray included, however, it doesn't give the "specific" locations - but maybe that isn't possible.
Although we usually don't travel with guidebooks, we are definitely planning on taking this one along with us!
Good Introduction to Provence but Lacks Specific Detail.......2006-11-04
The book was invaluable in assisting us determine what city to home port in during our one-week visit to Provence -- Avignon. But once there we discovered the book lacked sufficient specific detail about the nearby vilages and town we wanted to visit. We suspected as much beforehand and purchased other travel guides to the region and between all of them, developed a decent undertsanding of the sites and places to visit. Don't forget to purchase the Michelin map titled "Provence, Cote d'Azur" (No. 582 Regional).
Provence comes to life!.......2006-08-24
This book has it all...colorful photos, lots of interesting & historical background...a very good book if you're planning a visit to this region. Highly recommended.
The Starting Place For Every Trip.......2005-07-31
My work has provided me with the opportunity to travel a good bit. I am the type of person who wants to get a working background for my destinations, both in terms of history and geographic layout. Because I work, I don't have a great deal of time to spend reading and studying different, often lengthy, travel guides before or during my trips.
Because these guides are concise, beautifully illustrated, relatively compact, and impeccably organized, I cannot recommend highly enough the Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Travel Guides! The DK Eyewitness Travel Guide is THE guide I buy for every destination. Not only do I get a quick history and background of the destination, but I also will be provided with a visual guide to everything. The visual detail is really what sets the DK Eyewitness Travel Guides apart.
The street maps of common destination points are drawn in dimensional detail so you will visually recognize when you "get there." This is particularly helpful when you don't speak the native language.
The regional maps are colorful and concise. However, the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide really shows its stuff with the drawings associated with attractions such as museums and churches. Their presentation of building layouts allow the traveler who is short on time to quickly see the best of the attraction within the time the traveler has to spend.
Each DK Eyewitness Travel Guide has a good summary section in the back with practical information about where to eat, where to sleep, what to do, and how to get around.
While I may supplement the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide with others for a more detailed travel guide, the other guide is only more to read, not more to see. Buy the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide first for any destination.
Great and helpful!.......2004-08-25
This book is everything you would want in a travel guide....easy to read and understand, entertaining and interesting, and best of all, accurate!! It's the perfect companion to a GREAT place!!
Amazon.com
"Provence, again?" one may think, seeing Peter Mayle's latest effort. "Has the man nothing better to do than promote a region that's already overhyped and overpriced? Can't he turn his eye to a place that needs a touristic boost, like Bulgaria?"
However, there are reasons to plunge into the third Provençal book by Englishman Mayle, formerly a Madison Avenue copywriter whose bestselling A Year in Provence made the area a must-see for tourists and helped to quadruple real estate prices there. After four years in Long Island, Mayle has returned to France with continuing adoration.
Mayle discloses a world missed by tourists, be it the questions dry cleaners ask about wine stains or the mysterious murder of a small-town butcher given to making housewives happy with more than his displayed meat. He also incorporates guide-like tips--listing markets, cheese makers, and the essential how-tos of perfume sniffing and olive-oil tasting. What's more, this book gives a peek into the life of a bestselling writer. The role is not always an enviable one.
Mayle no longer fits into life in America--the vocabulary alone is enough to throw him off--yet in Provence, he is regarded as little more than a moneyed foreigner. Speared by the British press, he laments, "One of my crimes is to have encouraged people to visit the region ... far too many people ... and people of the wrong sort," an accusation that he denies.
And Mayle comes off as positively defensive in his attack of former New York Times food critic Ruth Reichl, who wrote that she was disappointed in the region. The title alone of chapter 3 hints at the sarcastic stabbings to follow: "New York Times Restaurant Critic Makes Astonishing Discovery: Provence Never Existed." Page after page, he roasts Reichl on the spit, creating a hissing Ruth Rotisserie that's most unbecoming from someone of his stature.
What most causes him to sputter is Reichl's admission that she "had been dreaming of a Provence that never existed."
"Where had I been living all these years?" writes the man who's helped to perpetrate the illusion of a land that is nothing but lavender fields, sunflowers swaying in the breeze, and fascinating characters every millimeter. "The Provence that Daudet, Giono, Ford Madox Ford, Lawrence Durrell and M.F.K. Fisher knew and wrote about--the Provence that I know--doesn't exist.... It's a sunny figment of our imagination, a romanticized fantasy."
Maybe. Having recently visited Provence, I agree with Reichl's critical assessment. Therein lies Mayle's ultimate charm. Crack open a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape, delve into Encore Provence, and voilà: it may be better than actually being there. --Melissa Rossi
Book Description
In his most delightful foray into the wonders of Provençal life, Peter Mayle returns to France and puts behind him cholesterol worries, shopping by phone, California wines, and other concerns that plagued him after too much time away.
In
Encore Provence, Mayle gives us a glimpse into the secrets of the truffle trade, a parfumerie lesson on the delicacies of scent, an exploration of the genetic effects of 2,000 years of foie gras, and a small-town murder mystery that reads like the best fiction. Here, too, are Mayle's latest tips on where to find the best honey, cheese, or chambre d'hìte the region has to offer. Lyric, insightful, sparkling with detail,
Encore Provence brings us a land where the smell of thyme in the fields or the glory of a leisurely lunch is no less than inspiring.
Customer Reviews:
Paperback???.......2007-03-09
The book was everything I expected...but y'all sent it in paperback. I never buy a book that I do not want to keep....and I never buy and keep paperback books.
Life in the South of France.......2007-03-04
Food, the air, water, the land and the people in the South of France. The book beautifully took me thru life in this person move to this area.
PROVENCE, ONCE AGAIN.......2006-11-05
Peter Mayle effectivately takes us once again to beautiful Provence through his second book. His writing is witty yet very unassuming and laid back. He gives the reader vivid and often funny accounts of the land and its people. He has an uncanny ability to observe the smallest details in the Provencal locals that he meets and to express it in a very entertaining way through his books.
An Entertaining Book.......2006-06-25
"Encore Provence" is entertaining, but not quite as hilarious as "A Year in Provence".
fun, witty .......2006-02-04
As always, Mayle is terrible entertaining. His breezy style is fantastic. He has the ability to make his readers feel like you are sitting in a cafe with a glass of local wine, just listening to his endless line of colorful stories. At the last page of his books, I feel that I have finished my visit with him in Provence all too soon.
Book Description
When Peter Mayle and his wife traded England's long, gray winters and damp summers for life in southern France, they entered an enchanting, wonderful, sometimes bewildering world.Now, share their adventures, pleasures, and frustrations: the joys and occasional hazards of wining and dining in France, taking part in goat races, attending a Pavorotticoncert under the stars -- and much more.Meet Provence's unique characters: a wary truffle hunter, a gourmet in a track suit, the wise and crafty Massot -- and many more.Funny, touching, endearing -- Peter Mayle's Provence proves the adage that while you may not be able to escape from it all, you sure can have fun trying.
Customer Reviews:
A Perfect Driving Companion.......2000-01-06
Our whole family has enjoyed being transported to Provence by these tapes while on long distance driving trips. The readers voices conveyed perfectly the flavor and humor of these stories, and wheted our desires to join the author in the bucolic splendor of the French countryside. After a year I still recall the feeling of the warm summer sun and the icy winter winds, the tastes of the provincial restaurants, and the uniqueness of the neighbors and friends we met and enjoyed via these remarkable tapes. Were that all books on tape were as well done and captivating. Highly recommended if you would like to savor the unexpected joys of an often not-so-quiet country retreat.
Book Description
An indispensable, richly informative, and always entertaining sourcebook on Provence by the writer who has made the region his own.
Though organized from A to Z, this is hardly a conventional work of reference. It is rather a selection of those aspects of Provence that Peter Mayle in almost twenty years there has found to be the most interesting, curious, delicious, or down-right fun.
In more than 170 entries he writes about subjects as wide-ranging as architecture and zingue-zingue-zoun (in the local patois, a word meant to describe the sound of a violin), as diverse as expatriates, Aix-en-Provence, the Provençal character, legends, lavender, linguistic oddities, the museum of the French Foreign Legion, the museum of the corkscrew, the origins of “La Marseillaise,” and a bawdy folklore character named Fanny.
And, of course, he writes about food and drink: vin rosé, truffles, olives, melons, bouillabaisse, the cheese that killed a Roman emperor, even a cure for indigestion. The wonderful accompanying artwork includes curiosities Mayle has gathered over the years—matchbooks, drawings, century-old ads, photos, tourist brochures, maps.
Provence A-Z is a delight for Peter Mayle’s ever-growing audience and the perfect complement to any guidebook on Provence, or, for that matter, France.
Customer Reviews:
Peeter Mayle.......2007-08-24
Peter Mayle's books about Provence are always wonderful, and this one does not disappoint!
Mireille McKell
"Provence4: A to Z.......2007-04-02
This is a collection of short essays about the culture of Provence in alphabetical order. I think it is typical Mayle, intelligent, bright, and whimsical without being "cute". It's a writing you can sample in at odd times.
A great book to learn about Provence.......2007-01-18
An enjoyable collection about things in and of provence. Peter Mayle has done another winner.
An easy read and quite informative.
A 'Dictionary' Full of Love.......2006-11-15
Here's a book of a couple of hundred entries, from A to Z of course, about life in the Provence region of France. Each entry then has from a short paragraph to a few pages of description. The author is Peter Mayle who has almost made a careet of writing about Provence. He's a Brit who moved there many years ago. He was going there to write a novel, but instead wrote a book on Provence which to the surprise of many turned into a best seller.
This started a trend with 'A Year in Provence' and 'Toujours Provence' being the best known. Like expats everywhere who have permanently moved from their homeland, Mr. Mayle is in love with his new chosen country. It shows through his selection of words to include in the book and in the dedication with which he has given these words their Provence meaning.
It's almost enough to make people who don't like France ready to go visit.
Everything the guide books leave out -- plus: great charm.......2006-11-03
t was at a show of paintings by Cezanne and Pissarro at the Museum of Modern Art that I realized I wanted to spend my declining years in the South of France. Specifically, in Provence. My bedroom was the key image: a big bed, whitewashed walls, a shuttered window. And this, most of all --- a view of rolling fields of lavender.
This was not a fantasy of a late-life invalid. Of course I'd write. Probably about Provence. And then I remembered: Peter Mayle has already been there, done that. Indeed, he owns the franchise on Provence.
I would be annoyed by Mayle's dominance, but the thing is, I know him ever so slightly and he just might be the most pleasant guy on the planet. Opens the good wine for guests. Laughs at your jokes, etc. And is so not a greasy careerist, eager to sell out a beautiful patch of France for a bag of Euros. Listen to Mayle tell the story of his success:
I was doing some work for GQ magazine and I had a little bit put aside. We sold our house in England. But I had an idea for a novel that I had sold to a publisher in England. I was going to go out to Provence, lock myself away and whack out this novel and financial things would be more comfortable. I got there and was so distracted by what was going on that I didn't do anything on the novel. My literary agent kept ringing me up and asking to see pages and I eventually sent him some pages on why I couldn't start the novel. He took them to the publisher and said this actually is a much better idea than the novel and the publisher agree. "If he can do another 250 pages like this we've got something." They gave me a "modest advance" -- so modest in fact that it was self-effacing. We had a two-man publication party -- me and the publisher -- and he printed 3,000 copies and said, "There'll be a few left over but I'll give them to you at a discount so you've got them for Christmas gifts." About six weeks later, I was back in France and he called and said. "We sold them all. We're reprinting another 1,500 copies." Gradually it snowballed and then the paperback came out and sold a million copies in England...
And then Knopf picked "A Year in Provence" up for the American market, and you know the rest.
In "Provence A-Z," Mayle shares the offbeat information he has gathered while living in Provence for almost two decades. Very little of it is the stuff you find in guidebooks. Much of it is information gathered in cafes, where Mayle is fond of pastis (at 45% alcohol, the most intoxicating drink in the house). All of it makes you want to fly to Paris --- tonight, if possible --- and then take the TGV down to Aix. (Cautionary note: There are 16 million visitors to Provence each year. Try not to go in August.)
Here's a sample of Mayle's gleanings:
-- the origin of a bamboo forest near Nimes
-- the charms of Beaumes-de-Venice, which is so much more than a dessert wine
-- the genius of the bouffadou in lighting fires
-- the Provencal sun tan (Picasso, Mayle notes, was "the color of a well-cured cigar")
-- what to do with leftover ends of cheese
-- how to cook eggplant on a barbeque
-- the male goat "can copulate up to 40 times a day" (cheer up: each encounter lasts for only a few seconds)
-- the world's only corkscrew museum
-- the soaps of Marseilles, the best rose wine, salt from the Camargue
-- a hundred intangibles: the smell of a cafe, a hidden path, an afternoon nap, neighbors and so much more
And here, both to whet your appetite and to show you that there is no such thing as a "small" subject when a fine writer is at the top of his game, here is Peter Mayle on the subject of the air --- yes: the air --- in Provence:
A man in a bar once told me that the air in Provence was the purest air in France, perhaps even in the world. He was a large and somewhat aggressive man, and I thought it wise not to argue with him. In fact, I was delighted to believe what he had told me, and for several years I would pass on the good news to friends and visitors. "Every breath you take of Provençal air," I used to say, "is like ten euros in the bank of health." It wasn't until I started to research the subject that I discovered the truth.
Here it is: The départements of Bouches-du-Rhône, the Vaucluse, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, and the Var make up one of the four most polluted zones in Europe, a distinction they share with Genoa, Barcelona, and Athens. (Source: Greenpeace France.) Apart from the emissions coming from heavy traffic on the routes nationales and the autoroutes, the principal villains are to be found in the industrial complex --- l'industrie-sur-mer --- that straggles along the coast from Marseille to the Gulf of Fos and the oil refineries at Berre.
How bad is it? By August 2003, there had been thirty-six days during the year on which the level of air pollution exceeded the official limit of 240 micrograms per cubic meter. More was to come as the summer heat wave continued. And, so we were told, the pollution was not necessarily confined to the area immediately around those who produced it, but could spread as far away as sixty to ninety miles.
Since each of us breathes about thirty pounds of air each day, statistics like this make uncomfortable reading. And yet, walking every day in the Luberon as I do, it's difficult to believe that such a thing as pollution exists. The air looks clear and tastes good. Vegetation seems untouched. Butterflies thrive. Birds and game go about their business, apparently in rude health. Can it be that the mistral is protecting us by blowing away the foul breath of industry? I must consult the man in the bar. He will know.
I'd like to meet that man. And see Mayle in situ. Shall we gather in the late afternoon at that bar?
Book Description
Like Open Road's series of foreign language menu-readers, our new compact lightweight travel guides are for those travelers who already know where they're staying and don't want to lug around a huge book during the day. With a sprinkling of restaurant selections, our Europe Made Easy series focuses on taking readers to the best, as well as the most different and unusual, sights and walking tours. Tuck this guide into your pocket and head out for a great day of sightseeing: you'll have over 100 sights at your fingertips, from the Papal Palace in Avignon to the mysterious spring in Fontaine-de-Vacluse, from the Roman amphitheater in Nimes to the strange stone huts near Gordes. Features insider tips on hip cafes, sidebars on great places to eat, interesting shops, fun outdoor markets, suggestions on where best to sample Provence's world-famous wines, and beautiful walks in Provence's loveliest towns, including a wine-themed walk in Chateauneuf-du-Pape; a stroll through medieval Avignon; a baroque walking tour of Aix; and a Roman-era walk through Arles. Bonus excursion info on the French Riviera. Attractive design features a second color on the inside.
Customer Reviews:
Too easy.......2007-04-10
This book might be better than nothing or it might do the trick if you don't care whether you make the most of your trip or you're on a directed tour and don't have any choices as to what to see or where to go. Better choices are available from Lonely Planet, Rick Steves, Cadogan, Michelin and National Geographic Traveler.
Make the Most of Your Trip.......2005-12-31
I prefer guidebooks that aren't just mammoth listings of everything (hotels, restaurants, sights). This compact book hits the target with its highlights and its walking tours.
The directions are in red, interspersed with commentary in black print. The notes give relevance to much that you would unknowingly pass by. Boxed in red are DETOURS (interesting museum or cafe close to the walking tour), SHOPPING TIPS AND ENTERTAINMENT TIPS.
This covers 35 towns in Provence, 10 in the Marseille/coast area, 24 for the Western French Riviers, and 9 for the Eastern French Riviera.
I wish I'd had this on my first visit to Provence and the French Riviera. This time, I won't miss so much.
Surprising gem of a guide book.......2005-11-14
This guide book was a last-minute impulse buy before we headed off on our 10 day trip to France. We surprised ourselves by using it almost exclusively to navigate around this wonderful region of France. Short 'n sweet descriptions of all noteworthy towns in the region helped tremendously with deciding where to head next. We used the walking tours in Aix-En-Provence, Avignon, and Arles, and felt them invaluble in getting the most out of our time in each city on our brief trip. We also visited many of the tiny scenic villages recommended in the book. "Provence Made Easy" is accurate, well-written, concise, and fun to read. (Fits in your pocket!) We also had Lonely Planet Provence with us and ended up using it almost exclusively (and seldom) for accommodation and restaurant information. For trip shaping, this small, handy book was it. We used this book in conjunction with "Walking In Provence" by Janette Norton and felt that together these two books offered us a unique, authentic view of the region. We wished we had Andy's book "Paris Made Easy" when we arrived there for the last two days of our trip! Thanks, Andy!
Book Description
Who but Rick Steves can tell travelers the best way to see Arles, Avignon, the Cotes du Rhone, Marseilles, Aix-en-Provence, Nice, Monaco, Antibes, Cannes, St-Tropez, and the Inland Riviera? With Rick Steves’ Provence and The French Riviera 2007, travelers can experience the best of everything these regions have to offer – economically and hassle-free. Completely revised and updated, Rick Steves’ Provence and the French Riviera 2007 includes:
• Opinionated coverage of both famous and lesser-known sights
• Friendly places to eat and sleep
• Suggested day plans
• Walking tours and trip itineraries
• Clear instructions for smooth travel anywhere by car, train, or foot
America’s #1 authority on travel to Europe, Rick’s time-tested recommendations for safe and enjoyable travel in Europe have been used by millions of Americans in search of their own unique European travel experience.
Customer Reviews:
Good but not great.......2007-02-08
I felt that Rick's Provence and the French Riviera guide has some of the essentials but not the inspired coverage of his other books. There isn't the excitement that he presents in his Italian and other European guides. The coverage of the hill towns of Provence is somewhat perfunctory.
Rick Steve's Provence and the Riviera.......2007-01-31
Great resource book. Tons of information that is well researched.
Rick Steves' Provence and the French Riviera 2005.......2007-01-04
One must have this book if they are touring Provence. Makes it liveable and lovely
Good planning book.......2005-10-25
I have a wonderful time using this book to plan my visit, although I would still recomend getting a few more reference document such as local map to accomondate this book.
Fine for planning your itinerary I suppose.......2005-08-18
As far as information goes, this book deserves 5 stars ... it's great for figuring out how to get around, what to see (and what not to see!), and how much money to bring. However, I couldn't give 5 stars, simply because I was hoping for better maps and maybe a few color photographs. The book has crudely drawn maps -- almost with a cartoonish look about them -- that don't seem all that helpful. And as for photos, well, the one on the cover is about it. This is a great book to have when planning your trip to Provence ... however, I would advise supporting it with a 2nd guidebook that touts glossy pages with color pictures and maps!
Customer Reviews:
A great summer read.......2007-06-27
I enjoyed this book so much, I'm getting another copy for my daughter to take on vacation. It was interesting to learn not only about life in France but about Kristin as she adjusts to her life there. She observes herself as acutely and entertainingly as she does her new home. I found the book while browsing the travel section, I'd never heard of her blog before this - the reviewer below me is right, she's got a terrific blog with beautiful photos, but I think he's way off about the book. I found it worked both as a story read straight through, which gives a fascinating and satisfying total picture, or as vignettes read as separate chunks.
Pure charm from the first page.......2007-06-09
I first found out about Kristin's writing from her "word a day" emails. It was a natural progression to get her book and it is thoroughly charming cover to cover. This is the book that I pick up in between my trips to France to remind myself of all the things I love about the country and its people.
If you've never been to France, read it and you'll be on the next plane. If you've been to France, read it and you'll be returning again soon.
I hope Kristin soon publishes another volume!
Hey! They're just like us ...........2007-06-02
The value of this charming and instructive book by a natural writer and observer of the (French) social scene is that it makes picking up new vocabulary easy because you remember the lovely stories in which they were packaged.
This is part soap opera, part cultural exchange, part charming honesty, part ingenuousness, and, overall, a very natural and entertaining way to enhance one's French vocabulary at the same time one gains an understanding of the culture that comes along with that language.
It is delightful to be a fly on the wall during the culture shock of a French major from the American Southwest finding love and community in La France.
I have been a reader of her blog for a while and benefited from that, but it is a different, and better, experience to read some of her best columns in book form, which, by the way, suggests in its design the south of France, a Mediterranean touch stylewise. It's a handsome dustcover.
This unique book will have you learning French while chuckling at her account of getting 'hung up' on entering the church for her wedding. Such refreshing candor! You'll love this book.
Addenda:
Kristin's web columns are so good I wondered how I could access as many as possible of her previous work. Voila! As a Google mail holder, I found could go to one of their services called Google Reader which allows one to add RSS (really simple syndication) feeds to that page and access them in a convenient fashion (summary or listing). When I added the URL for her webpage, Google went out, got the RSS and placed it on a list to the left of the page. I found the LIST format most useful for scrolling backwards in time more than a year to see all her French Words on which I could click to get the original page with all her vocabulary suggestions and her delightful stories.
Her genius is that she places new French vocablulary gently amongst a story, otherwise in English, that is so interesting that one wants to read it to the end, and then look over the associated words and phrases.
In effect, one learns new French words from the context in which they are placed in the English language story. Enormously clever and effective. It resembles the way we learn vocabulary in our own language: from context.
FRESH.......2007-05-17
A WONDERFUL FRESH BOOK THAT ADDS DIMENSION TO WORDS IN FRENCH TO MAKE THEM MORE MEMORABLE FOR A STUDENT. LIGHT AND PERSONAL AND A GREAT AID TO MAKE A LANGUAGE YOUR FRIEND. WELL DONE!
Essence of experience..........2007-04-17
The great thing about the stories are the truth behind them...
In the vernacular phrase of our day, "It is what it is...", great stories, by a great author, written in a great part of the world as back drop.
Bravo Kristin for living your dream and telling others about it!
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Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Toujours Provence
Encore Provence: New Adventures in the South of France
French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew
A Good Year (MTI)
Hotel Pastis: A Novel of Provence
The Complete National Geographic 110 Years
Franklin TRE-400 Seven Language European Translator/Dictionary
