A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle

A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle

They had been there often as tourists. They had cherished the dream of someday living all year under the Provencal sun. And suddenly it happened.
Here is the month-by-month account of the charms and frustrations that Peter Mayle and his wife -- and their two large dogs -- experience their first year in the remote country of the Luberon restoring a two-centuries-old stone farmhouse that they bought on sight. From coping in January with the first mistral, which comes howling down from the Rhone Valley and wreaks havoc with the pipes, to dealing as the months go by with the disarming promises and procrastination of the local masons and plumbers, Peter Mayle delights us with his strategies for survival. He relishes the growing camaraderie with his country neighbors -- despite the rich, soupy, often impenetrable patois that threatens to separate them. He makes friends with boar hunters and truffle hunters, a man who eats foxes, and another who bites dentists; he discovers the secrets of handicapping racing goats and of disarming vipers. And he comes to dread the onslaught of tourists who disrupt his tranquillity.
In this often hilarious, seductive book Peter Mayle manages to transport us info all the earthy pleasures of Provencal life and lets us live vicariously in a tempo governed by seasons, not by days. George Lang, who was smitten, suggests: Get a glass of marc, lean back in your most comfortable chair, and spend a delicious year in Provence.

Peter Mayle spent fifteen years in the advertising business before escaping Madison Avenue in 1975 to write an extensive series of books centered around life in his beloved Provence. His work has been translated into dozens of languages and he has contributed to a variety of newspapers, magazines, and television productions. A Year in Provence won the British Book Awards' Best Travel Book of the Year. He and his wife live in Provence. Patrick Macnee was born in 1922 in London, England. He first appeared on stage and made his film debut as an extra in Pygmalion. After World War II, he resumed his stage and film career, with bit parts such as Young Jacob Marley in Scrooge. The role that brought him worldwide fame and popularity was the part of John Steed, in the classic British television series The Avengers. During the 1980s and 1990s, he became a familiar face on American television in such series as Gavilan, Empire, Thunder in Paradise and Night Man. Patrick has recorded a number of audiobooks including eight of Jack Higgins' thrillers and Peter Mayle's Toujours Provence.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780679731146
ISBN 10	0679731148
Title	A Year in Provence
Author	Peter Mayle
Series	Vintage Departures
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	1991-06-04
Number of pages	224
Prizes	Short-listed for Book Sense Book of the Year Award (Book of the Year) 1992
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable