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Provence
Provence A-Z
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 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 years — matchbooks, drawings, century-old ads, photos, tourist brochures, maps.
Provence A-Z is a delight for Peter Mayle’s ever-growing audience and the perfect complement to any guidebook on Provence, or, for that matter, France.
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 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 years — matchbooks, drawings, century-old ads, photos, tourist brochures, maps.
Provence A-Z is a delight for Peter Mayle’s ever-growing audience and the perfect complement to any guidebook on Provence, or, for that matter, France.
286 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1978
95 people are currently reading
640 people want to read
About the author
Peter Mayle
136 books1,288 followersPeter Mayle was a British author famous for his series of books detailing life in Provence, France. He spent fifteen years in advertising before leaving the business in 1975 to write educational books, including a series on sex education for children and young people. In 1989, A Year in Provence was published and became an international bestseller. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages, and he was a contributing writer to magazines and newspapers. Indeed, his seventh book, A Year in Provence, chronicles a year in the life of a British expatriate who settled in the village of Ménerbes. His book A Good Year was the basis for the eponymous 2006 film directed by Ridley Scott and starring actor Russell Crowe. Peter Mayle died in Provence, France.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
January 3, 2009
This is an absolutely delightful book that can be read as a series of essays (sometimes very brief) on a wide-ranging list of topics concerning Provence. Over the years, Mayle has built up in me a stunning and almost wholly unrealistic view of Provence: a place that shines in my mind with quiet vineyards; lazy, warm afternoons under deep blue skies; the tang of salt in the air from the Mediterranean; meals consisting of olives, grapes, figs, and honey, with truffles and garlic everywhere; and quiet, contented, friendly people who enjoy a friendly discussion in a cafe or a warm evening by the fire. Oh, and they all speak English.
Honestly, Mayle (an Englishman who moved to Provence and has written some huge number of books on it) does mention the downsides (bugs, snakes, heat, the Mistral wind, downpours, tourists) -- I just have a habit of skipping over those parts. I highly recommend all his non-fiction books (and probably the fiction, though I haven't read them) when you're in a daydreamy (or actual travel) mood. Oh, and this one does suggest some interesting things to do if you happen to decide to actually go there, as opposed to just reading his books.
Honestly, Mayle (an Englishman who moved to Provence and has written some huge number of books on it) does mention the downsides (bugs, snakes, heat, the Mistral wind, downpours, tourists) -- I just have a habit of skipping over those parts. I highly recommend all his non-fiction books (and probably the fiction, though I haven't read them) when you're in a daydreamy (or actual travel) mood. Oh, and this one does suggest some interesting things to do if you happen to decide to actually go there, as opposed to just reading his books.
November 5, 2023
Although technically a dictionary, I enjoyed all of Peter’s insights to the character of the Provence native and his witticisms. I hav liked all his books on the topic.
August 10, 2025
4.5 ⭐️
September 15, 2019
Holy shit, it took me a year to finish this! Mostly because I kept having to wait on the library’s hold list to check it out again (my long reading time not any reflection on the book’s merits). Filled with Peter Mayle’s usual wit, humor, and eye for fascinating detail, I enjoyed this immensely. I really like the format, as well—an alphabetically arranged “encyclopedia” of interesting tidbits and anecdotes related to all things Provençal. I had fully intended to finish the book before going to Provence in July, but as I’m just finishing it now, the result is that I want to plan my next Provençal sojourn immediately. I listened to it as an audiobook, my favorite format for nonfiction, and it was good ear training to hear all the French pronunciations. I now want to read it in book form as well, though, so I can see how to spell some of these things!
June 5, 2020
This book is such a witty, charming delight! There were certain aspects of Provence that were meaningful or entertaining to Peter Mayle, and he put them in alphabetical order. Some facts of interest is that Provence produces vast amounts of salt, in grades varying from fine to the high grade fleur de sel, which is used as a garnish the top of foods. Another is that there is a patron garden saint, and also a saint of truffles. Yet another is that Savon de Marseille is a kind of natural soap, made from olive oil and coconut oil and essential oils, that can be used for washing your hands, hair, dishes or laundry! Oh, also that the foundation of the Statue of Liberty is made from stone that came from just outside Marseille. There were so many interesting and entertaining facts about Provence that I learned, that I’d be happy to pack my bags to visit, should the opportunity arise.
December 8, 2019
This book has been my restaurant reading for months ... its bite sized entries are just right for reading amid distractions and in small chunks of time. There's no danger of losing the thread because quite simply it's a glossary of many of the elements that give Provence its distinctive character. For a Provençophile like me, every entry was dessert. From Aioli to Zola, essentially, covering the cuisine, history, and culture of one of the most lovely and welcoming spots on earth, this book is satisfying. And Mayle has a rare perspective, being the English-speaking author most closely associated with the region, primarily through memoire and fiction. Another delightful book from his pen.
January 6, 2019
This took me months to read because even though the reading is easy, and written in Mayle's usually engaging style, it is, after all, an encyclopedia style tome of words and phrases from Provence. It's one I'll keep as a reference, but I can't recommend it as one to sit down and read as it (of course) has no plot. One would do better to read Mayle's other books, where all this information is naturally woven into the stories in a much more enjoyable way.
June 20, 2022
This books pairs well with a trip to Provence and travel guide book.
Mayle highlights aspects of Provençal life and organizes topics alphabetically. I liked learning about Provençal food, weather and history, because it was organized alphabetically no topic was off limits.
However, ideas were disjointed at times and I had to jump around in the book to stay interested.
Mayle highlights aspects of Provençal life and organizes topics alphabetically. I liked learning about Provençal food, weather and history, because it was organized alphabetically no topic was off limits.
However, ideas were disjointed at times and I had to jump around in the book to stay interested.
March 6, 2023
Wonderful for Francophiles!
Peter Mayle writes with humor of one who lives and loves the lifestyles of the French - and all others. He relishes finding laughs in the similarities between French words - spelling, prononciation, meaning and perhaps, origins. I found myself laughing with delight as he described wonderful observations on "vive la difference"!
Peter Mayle writes with humor of one who lives and loves the lifestyles of the French - and all others. He relishes finding laughs in the similarities between French words - spelling, prononciation, meaning and perhaps, origins. I found myself laughing with delight as he described wonderful observations on "vive la difference"!
September 25, 2016
This was an easy, fun read, an A to Z catalogue of what interested one noted travel writer about his adopted home of Provence. I will admit to being a little disappointed when I first got the book and flipped through it, not finding entries for subjects that interested me, such as the Pont du Gard, the Camargue, or the Calanques, but as the author put it, he “tried to avoid the more celebrated landmarks, buildings, and monuments” and “neglected great tracts of glorious countryside,” leaving those subjects to others, but it wasn’t long before I forgave him, as the entries he chose to write about were interesting, often on subjects unknown to me, frequently wittily written about, and showed daily life in Provence in a way say a book that was written by an author more concerned with Roman architectural triumphs or the Palais des Papes in Avignon might not have time for. He chose well.
Entries ranged in length from a single paragraph to three or four pages. I would say most were in the one to two-page range. There were over 170 entries altogether and a few were accompanied by illustrations, either drawings or photographs. A couple of entries included recipes (food figured prominently in the book) though by no means was it a cookbook.
This is the second noted travel writer I have read recently for the first time. I know Peter Mayle is noteworthy for a series of books about life in Provence. I can see why he has a following, as his writing has a good pace, has a nice wit, is informative but also incorporates his personal experiences, and is not overly introspective nor is he self-indulgent as some travel writers I understand can be. I know some reviewers think he might paint an overly romanticized, too glowing picture of Provence. To that I would say he doesn’t shy away from gentle criticism of the area from time to time, noting that even this heavenly area suffers from its own fair share of flies in the ointment. Having said that, on balance, it does sound like a truly wonderful area of peaceful, rural solitude, gorgeous countryside, fields of lavender, vineyards in the glorious sunshine, exquisite cuisine, interesting natural history, and rich human history.
Mayle did paint a broad picture of many French and Provencal traits that are commonly held, ranging from the French love of codifying standards for so many things (most especially food), how they are generally not in as much a rush as so many other people in Europe and North America (except perhaps with queue hopping or in traffic, though the entry for urgent says that “is a word regarded with a mixture of mild curiosity and amusement”), and how so many people are self-proclaimed experts on all manner of subjects.
There were so many entries to like, it was hard to choose a favorite. I learned that pistou is related to the more famous (to me anyway) Italian pesto, though garlic is used in place of pine nuts (a very popular ingredient in many Provencal dishes). There is an entry titled gestes, several pages devoted to a “second vocabulary, one of gestures,” as though “pale versions” of these gestures are found throughout France, “only in Provence will you find them executed with such relish, or with such careful attention to detail.” I had no idea that the cigales (in the U.S., cicada) are “the official insect of Provence,” with its “likeness everywhere – on pottery, plates, glasses, fabric, stamps, and postcards” writing that the “usual descriptions” of its distinctive sound (“the song of the sun, the symphony of heat, the orchestra of Provence”) are “more fanciful than accurate,” and “in full cry make a repetitive, jagged sound, somewhere between a chirp and a squeak, a faintly metallic scratchy chorus.” There is an entry for limestone, as underneath “its skin of green, Provence has a heart of limestone,” so often used in ancient, medieval, and modern construction that “wherever you go in Provence, you will see limestone.” I had no idea that the Statue of Liberty stands on “a base made form pierre de Cassis, cut from the quarries a few miles east of Marseille.” I had read before of the massive salt production of the Camargue (according to the author about 400,000 tons annually), but I had not known the salt was graded in terms of salt grain size and flavor, with the highest quality labeled fleur de sel, “the jewel of the salt pans,” gathered manually by a saunier who signs his work, the signature accompanying “each small, cork-topped pot of fleur de sel de Camargue.” I had expected information on the famed mistral, “the most famous wind in Provence,” but I had not known that other winds had their name too, such as “La Mariniere, which blows up from the deserts of Africa, coating everything in its path with a grimy residue of sand.” There were entries on melons (a beloved product of Cavaillon, one journalist in 1895 writing “there is only one melon: the melon of Cavaillon”), Canadairs (twin-engine seaplanes vital for fighting the annual summer wildfires of Provence), the Route des Cedres (a two and a half mile walking trail lined by cedars, grown from seeds brought from the Atlas Mountains of Algeria in 1861), and an all too brief entry on Musee de la Legion Etrangere, a museum dedicated to the French Foreign Legion.
Entries ranged in length from a single paragraph to three or four pages. I would say most were in the one to two-page range. There were over 170 entries altogether and a few were accompanied by illustrations, either drawings or photographs. A couple of entries included recipes (food figured prominently in the book) though by no means was it a cookbook.
This is the second noted travel writer I have read recently for the first time. I know Peter Mayle is noteworthy for a series of books about life in Provence. I can see why he has a following, as his writing has a good pace, has a nice wit, is informative but also incorporates his personal experiences, and is not overly introspective nor is he self-indulgent as some travel writers I understand can be. I know some reviewers think he might paint an overly romanticized, too glowing picture of Provence. To that I would say he doesn’t shy away from gentle criticism of the area from time to time, noting that even this heavenly area suffers from its own fair share of flies in the ointment. Having said that, on balance, it does sound like a truly wonderful area of peaceful, rural solitude, gorgeous countryside, fields of lavender, vineyards in the glorious sunshine, exquisite cuisine, interesting natural history, and rich human history.
Mayle did paint a broad picture of many French and Provencal traits that are commonly held, ranging from the French love of codifying standards for so many things (most especially food), how they are generally not in as much a rush as so many other people in Europe and North America (except perhaps with queue hopping or in traffic, though the entry for urgent says that “is a word regarded with a mixture of mild curiosity and amusement”), and how so many people are self-proclaimed experts on all manner of subjects.
There were so many entries to like, it was hard to choose a favorite. I learned that pistou is related to the more famous (to me anyway) Italian pesto, though garlic is used in place of pine nuts (a very popular ingredient in many Provencal dishes). There is an entry titled gestes, several pages devoted to a “second vocabulary, one of gestures,” as though “pale versions” of these gestures are found throughout France, “only in Provence will you find them executed with such relish, or with such careful attention to detail.” I had no idea that the cigales (in the U.S., cicada) are “the official insect of Provence,” with its “likeness everywhere – on pottery, plates, glasses, fabric, stamps, and postcards” writing that the “usual descriptions” of its distinctive sound (“the song of the sun, the symphony of heat, the orchestra of Provence”) are “more fanciful than accurate,” and “in full cry make a repetitive, jagged sound, somewhere between a chirp and a squeak, a faintly metallic scratchy chorus.” There is an entry for limestone, as underneath “its skin of green, Provence has a heart of limestone,” so often used in ancient, medieval, and modern construction that “wherever you go in Provence, you will see limestone.” I had no idea that the Statue of Liberty stands on “a base made form pierre de Cassis, cut from the quarries a few miles east of Marseille.” I had read before of the massive salt production of the Camargue (according to the author about 400,000 tons annually), but I had not known the salt was graded in terms of salt grain size and flavor, with the highest quality labeled fleur de sel, “the jewel of the salt pans,” gathered manually by a saunier who signs his work, the signature accompanying “each small, cork-topped pot of fleur de sel de Camargue.” I had expected information on the famed mistral, “the most famous wind in Provence,” but I had not known that other winds had their name too, such as “La Mariniere, which blows up from the deserts of Africa, coating everything in its path with a grimy residue of sand.” There were entries on melons (a beloved product of Cavaillon, one journalist in 1895 writing “there is only one melon: the melon of Cavaillon”), Canadairs (twin-engine seaplanes vital for fighting the annual summer wildfires of Provence), the Route des Cedres (a two and a half mile walking trail lined by cedars, grown from seeds brought from the Atlas Mountains of Algeria in 1861), and an all too brief entry on Musee de la Legion Etrangere, a museum dedicated to the French Foreign Legion.
March 23, 2019
We're going to Provence in June and this book provides a great checklist of things to see and food to eat. Mayle wrote several novels that took place in Provence and lived the last part of there.
Lots of smile-inducing stories and observations.
I can't wait to go.
Lots of smile-inducing stories and observations.
I can't wait to go.
December 23, 2019
Generally, I like Peter Mayle's sometimes smoltzy tales of Provence France. This book is very dry and rather difficult to slug through just because of the A to Z format. I pick it up and put it down a lot and never get much of anywhere. Pick up another Mayle book if you want a fun read.
June 16, 2024
"Aceasta poate fi cel mai bine descrisă drept filozofică: timpul este unul dintre puținele lucruri din viață care e abundent și disponibil tuturor. Dacă rămânem fără timp astăzi, avem o mulțime de timp mâine. Așadar, la ce bun să ne panicăm?"
February 16, 2018
Fun read. Makes one want to plan a trip to Provence.
February 25, 2018
Отличная книга для того чтобы не только расслабиться и отдохнуть, но и узнать что-то новое и интересное в процессе расслабления. Правда, другого я от книги Питера Мейла и не ожидала :)
October 4, 2018
In looking over the book list of Peter Mayle, I saw that I read this back in August 2011. Not like his Provence novels, but covers lots of topics in Provence.
February 1, 2019
Not my favourite Mayle book. A bit thin.
March 7, 2019
Full of quirky bits of information about Provence - actually quite interesting to listen to.
September 24, 2019
Stellar as always. I wish that there were more expats (British or otherwise) with Mayle's wit and perspicacity lovingly lambasting their adapted cultures. Highly recommend.
January 27, 2020
A vacation in print.
June 26, 2020
A pleasant book and a very easy read. An extremely creative “guide” to Provence which uncovers some hidden gems with a traditional Mayle touch!
July 30, 2020
Thoroughly enjoyable!
February 6, 2021
Fun compendium of Provençal history, culture, and miscellanea. Recommended for fans of Mayle's other work and/or southern France.
August 14, 2021
Мейл прекрасен, как всегда. Невероятная легкость, юмор и познавательность
January 23, 2022
A glossary of terms unique to Provence with Mayle's own unique definitions. Such a silly and fun romp through a favorite part of the world. Easy and light.
August 10, 2022
Visiting France again with Mayle is a wonderful activity, while I enjoy his wonderful sense of humor. I wish he were still alive. I go to his books for a needed uplift in my life.
September 7, 2023
Mayle has a very engaging style of writing and this was present throughout the book together with super delightful insights about Provence.
July 7, 2024
I loved this book. Hundreds of mini-stories give a great view into Provençal life. And unlike most of Mayle's work this one is illustrated with photos, drawings and advertisements. A nice touch.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews