Explore the French Riviera with Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence: An In-Depth Guide

Amazon Customer: I've known it for years. When I need to escape to France, I read this book. I'm embarrassed to be English. My personal circumstances prevent me moving to France. Forever sad.

United Kingdom on Oct 05, 2023

GOR Man: This was a very entertaining book. Couldn't put in down, well written, tale, that many us could only dream of.

United States on Aug 14, 2023

Mr H I Williams: Quite good gives insight into life in Provence

United Kingdom on Aug 09, 2023

DaveC: Very good feeling Book. Excellent delivery

United Kingdom on Jul 31, 2023

DavidK: Speedy delivery, of what I believe is Peter Mayle's, best novel!

United Kingdom on Jul 09, 2023

Grubb Street Rapscallion: A Year in Provence is an absolute joy to read, detailing one year in the life of Peter Mayle and his wife, as they work to make the home they purchased in Provence, in Southern France, livable!

It is full of insights into quirky characters, offbeat adventures, animals, cafes and restaurants and joys and frustrations that the Mayles had not anticipated, but came to cherish!

The book has often been called the best introduction to Provence and led to the influx of a large number of tourists to the region, including this reviewer. It certainly was the guide for people to stop unannounced and visit with the Mayles, friends calling from England to come to the Mayles' home for a summer stopover, and made many realize that it even snows in the idyllic world of Provence!

For those who dream of going to Provence, buy the book. For those who have been there, buy the book and rekindle your love for Provence...and thank Peter Mayle for making that world known to you.

United States on May 24, 2023

Vibha: This book is an easy read, author detailing out their adventures in Provence in such a detailed manner replete with sarcasm, humor, and a dash of emotions. The author goes into depth of details to describe French food and wine, French mannerisms, and temper. It's a happy read overall 😊.

India on Jan 18, 2023

Cathryn Conroy: This is a classic fish-out-of-water story—and a true one, at that. A British couple who enjoyed summer vacations in Provence, France, a scenic region in southeastern France bordering Italy and the Mediterranean Sea, decide to move there. Accustomed to the very hot summers of their vacations, they buy a ramshackle house without central heating that is located on a large, working vineyard. Let the fun begin.

Written by Peter Mayle, the book chapters are organized by month, beginning with January and ending with December. In addition to the ongoing tales of house renovations, adapting to the French language, and farming the land, there are other wide-ranging stories that can best be described like this:

• Mouth-Watering: The many, many, many descriptions of the food, mostly in restaurants, but also the food served in the Mayle backyard. The big takeaway from this: If you aren't an adventuresome eater, this is not the place for you to live or possibly even visit.

• Mildly Amusing: The constant revolving door of British guests seeking free lodging, food, and wine for a vacation in France.

• Mindboggling: Many of the homes in Provence are holiday...

United States on Apr 06, 2022

Joe: Since catching the travel bug early, I've always yearned to travel to places far and wide, with one significant exception. Those places I cannot travel to, I read about. Between actual trips and wanderings in the pages of books, I've been just about everywhere. The one place I never had any interest in going to was France. I'd probably spent more time reading about travel to Slovenia than to, say, Paris. This all changed a couple years back. Perhaps the trauma of middle school French class had finally worn away. Recently I've developed a keen interest in French history, culture, cuisine and geography, accumulating the info needed to perhaps someday travel to that country.

One doesn't get very far in researching travel to France before running into A Year in Provence by Englishmen Peter Mayle. I'd heard about this book and the hordes it inspired to journey to the South of France with visions of quaint, rustic farmhouses dancing in their skulls. I wondered if Provençal's have the same love hate relationship with A Year in Provence as Savannahians do with Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (which, in Savannah, is simply known as The Book). I approached the book with...

United States on Jul 05, 2013