Toujours Provence – Peter Mayle
Poor Peter Mayle and his wife tried to live other places, but after four years away from Provence (they'd settled into a house outside East Hampton, Long Island) they realised they were hopelessly homesick. They missed the smell of thyme in the fields and the Sunday morning markets. Peter Mayle spent 15 years in the advertising business, first as a copywriter and then as a reluctant executive, before escaping Madison Avenue in 1975 to write educational books for children. In 1990 Mayle published A Year in Provence, which became an international bestseller; his books have since been translated into more than 20 languages, Mayle has contributed to The Sunday Times, the Financial Times, The Independent, GQ, and Esquire. He and his wife, Jennie, and their dogs live in the south of France. |
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Poor Peter Mayle and his wife tried to live other places, but after four years away from Provence (they'd settled into a house outside East Hampton, Long Island) they realised they were hopelessly homesick. They missed the smell of thyme in the fields and the Sunday morning markets. They missed the slower pace. Mostly, they missed the small moments that make up the texture of daily life in Provence - eating, of course; a conversation on a street corner; an impromptu game of boules. Happily, the Mayles knew when it was time to go home. Encore Provence resonates not only with the acute perspective of someone who is supremely glad to be back on French turf, but also with the wit and relief of a refugee who has a solid American yardstick by which to measure the good life. |
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Tags: Peter Mayle
Expat Tales | Keith Eckstein June 19, 2010