Synopses & Reviews
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 yearsmatchbooks, drawings, century-old ads, photos, tourist brochures, maps.
Provence A-Z is a delight for Peter Mayles ever-growing audience and the perfect complement to any guidebook on Provence, or, for that matter, France.
Synopsis
The author of several books set in Provence, including the now-classic travel tome "A Year in Provence" and a more recent novel, "A Good Year," Mayle has once again trapped the sunshine, the wind, and the very lavender-laden air of the southeastern French countryside.
About the Author
Peter Mayle is the author of eleven books on Provence. Recently he was awarded the Légion dHonneur by the French government. He lives with his wife in Provence.