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A Year In Provence
 
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A Year In Provence (Hardcover)

by Peter Mayle (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (100 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 34.00
Price: CDN$ 21.32 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details
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A Year In Provence + Toujours Provence + Encore Provence: New Adventures in the South of France
Total List Price: CDN$ 68.90
Price For All Three: CDN$ 46.79

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  • This item: A Year In Provence by Peter Mayle

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  • Toujours Provence by Peter Mayle

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Product Details

Product Description

From 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 --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly

The author describes his first 12 months in Provence, after he and his wife have abandoned England for an 18th-century farmhouse in the Luberon Mountains. Throwing themselves into the life of this rural region, they master the local customs, gain partial understanding of their neighbors' patois, overcome the frustrations of French bureaucracy, and learn to deal with workmen who operate on the idiosyncratic Provencal sense of time. In nimble prose, Mayle, columnist for GQ , captures the humorous aspects of visits to markets, vineyards and goat races, and hunting for mushrooms. Even donating blood is an occasion for fun. The Provencal cuisine is Mayle's leitmotif, however. He opens with an account of a memorable New Year's lunch, ends with an appreciation of an impromptu Christmas dinner, and describes just about every meal eaten during the months in between. His adventures, gastronomic and otherwise, are thoroughly entertaining. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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What do customers ultimately buy after viewing this item?

A Year In Provence
83% buy the item featured on this page:
A Year In Provence 4.3 out of 5 stars (100)
CDN$ 21.32
Encore Provence: New Adventures in the South of France
4% buy
Encore Provence: New Adventures in the South of France 3.4 out of 5 stars (69)
CDN$ 11.64
Toujours Provence
4% buy
Toujours Provence 4.2 out of 5 stars (20)
CDN$ 13.83
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Customer Reviews

100 Reviews
5 star:
 (65)
4 star:
 (19)
3 star:
 (6)
2 star:
 (3)
1 star:
 (7)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (100 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most helpful customer reviews

 
3.0 out of 5 stars very good service from the seller, Oct 9 2009
By Julie Des Rosiers (Montreal) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: A Year in Provence (Paperback)
I received the book a few days later. A little problem was quickly resolved by the seller at my entire satisfaction.
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5.0 out of 5 stars A nice escape, Mar 9 2009
By Caley Tse (Edmonton, AB) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I thought that this book was like a beautiful and humorous journey with Mayle and his wife as they begin to settle in their new home and country. It is full of interesting local characters and Mayle paints each with descriptive prose that ignites the imagination. I am glad to own this book and I will read it again in future when I need a little mental vacation.
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4.0 out of 5 stars A Year of Surprises, Nov 4 2008
This review is from: A Year in Provence (Paperback)
This book provides a very intimate view of the author's experiences during his first year of living in Provence in the southeastern part of France. Most of the experiences represent the every day ones we all go through e.g. hiring someone to do work on our house, meeting neighbors through a party, etc. However, the people in Provence have a decidedly different perspective and character, and thus these ordinary experiences appear strange, fascinating and entertaining. This effect comes in part from Mr. Mayle's wit, writing style and emotional reactions to the events of his life. I particularly liked his description of the dress (leather), method of arrival (motorcycle) and behavior and attitudes of students coming into a certain town-absolutely precious. As with the French, food and drink in a Mayle book take an exalted status.
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars FUN!
Fun AND FUNNY! It was like going on vacation... with someone else's money! :-)
Published on May 17 2004 by snowblaze

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous!!
I read this book after I had travelled to Paris and experienced a small part of French culture. After I read it I wish I would have gone to Provence. Read more
Published on May 9 2004 by V. Marshall

5.0 out of 5 stars funny and delightful
In A Year in Provence, Peter Mayle descibes his and his wife's first year living in Provence as British expatriats. Read more
Published on April 30 2004 by Brenda Jo Mengeling

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth a read
An account of one man's move to Provence and his first year there. The book deals with mundane issues - building a house, meeting neighbors, and eating - but it is well written... Read more
Published on April 11 2004 by J. Jacobs

4.0 out of 5 stars Lovely Book
Usually I write long and detailed reviews.

For this book let me just say that it is a unique and wonderful description of a year in rural France with all of its charm. Read more

Published on April 2 2004 by J. E. Robinson

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't wait to move!
A wonderful read that I continue to share with friends and family.
Published on Feb 12 2004 by Hank

4.0 out of 5 stars Lovely little read.....
If you've ever lived overseas, or felt like "an outsider" in a different culture, this book is for you. Read more
Published on Jan 23 2004 by Stacy

4.0 out of 5 stars An armchair escape!
If you're looking for a nonfiction trip to France, this is a good read. I like A Year in Provence (and Toujour Provence, too). Read more
Published on Dec 1 2003 by M. Basil

4.0 out of 5 stars Remove author & wife. Insert self & spouse.
An Englishman and his wife buy a farmhouse in the countryside of Provence. I presume they are wealthy and retired, because they haven't a care in the world about money and they... Read more
Published on Nov 20 2003 by Barbara

1.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly overrated
The appeal of this book is in the fact that Mayle has created a Shangri-La for his readers. But at what price? Read more
Published on Oct 27 2003

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