Was Peter Mayle hired by Linguaphone? (A Year in Provence - Peter Mayle)

Member Name: absynthe

Product:	A Year in Provence - Peter Mayle
Date:	08/06/01 (54 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Pure escapism - just across the channel

Disadvantages: It will be hard to resist the delicatessen counter of your local supermarket after this.

The reason I ask that question is that his book "A Year in Provence" and it's sequel "Toujours Provence" has probably been responsible for more French language courses to have been sold than any other promotional source.

Even those of us who probably won't take "le plunge" and up sticks to move to rural Provence, have our dreams. And if those dreams of peaceful country bliss, where the sun seems to never stop shining, where the olive oil is akin to eating "pure sunshine", where the wine is plentiful, palette-orgasming and cheap, where the simplest food is inexpensive and cordon-bleu, lead us to thinking of brushing up on our French verbs and vocabulary, then some language firms must be profiting by this literary trip through Wonderland Français BIG time!

Major tip if you are going to read this book for the first time: have food close at hand because it will make you ravenous! Friends who have said to me that reading this book will make you gain wight just by reading it, know whereof they speak.

Not that "A Year in Provence" is just about the abundance of affordable French cuisine - oh no. It is the whole lifestyle which is so mesmerising. The sleepy, romantic, peaceful allure of the Provençal countryside. The long, hot summer days in and around a swimming pool or reclining in a cafe courtyard admiring the sunbleached ruins on the horizon - and yes, it must be said - the food and wine do enhance the whole experience.

Peter Mayle's talent is such that he can almost make you taste the fare on offer and make your taste buds salute to the variety of wines he discovers in his adventures into French life.

The clarity and vividness of the characters he encounters make for amusing stepping stones between haute cuisine meals and although I have never tasted a truffle in my life, after reading this book, I feel that my existance won't be complete without one! <
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If you are looking for escapism with that element of reality about it, you can do much worse than read this book which takes you through each month of a typical Provençal year as seen through the eyes of the local foreigner who is trying desperately to become a local.

I swear, even on the coldest day, you can almost feel the sun shine through the pages of this book.

Easy to read, intoxicatingly hedonistic in places, Mr Mayle's simple and smooth style has you transported in the turning of a page to a world of delights, French style.

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