In this newly designed edition, acclaimed writers who have fallen in love with France--with the food, the land, the irrepressible French people--provide a mesmerizing literary tour of this special place. maps. Illustrations.

From Romans and popes to painters and Peter Mayle, this locale has an irresistibly rich culture. This book of tales covers it all. Illustrations. Maps.

"True stories by Paul Theroux, Caroline Alexander, Lawrence Durrell, Patricia Storace, Robert D. Kaplan, Henry Miller, and many more"--Cover.

Essays by well-known travel writers--including Frances Mayes, Jan Morris, Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, and Ferenc MbtT--guide readers through the beautiful, sun-baked hills of Tuscany in search of friendly locals, breathtaking scenery, scrumptious dining, and award-winning wine. Original.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In this witty and warm-hearted account, Peter Mayle tells what it is like to realize a long-cherished dream and actually move into a 200-year-old stone farmhouse in the remote country of the Lubéron with his wife and two large dogs. He endures January's frosty mistral as it comes howling down the Rhône Valley, discovers the secrets of goat racing through the middle of town, and delights in the glorious regional cuisine. A Year in Provence transports us into all the earthy pleasures of Provençal life and lets us live vicariously at a tempo governed by seasons, not by days.

Integrates folklore, anecdote, and memoir in tales that evoke the lords and peasants, Christian princes and infidels, and a rich and sun-drenched landscape bequeathed to the shepards of Provence by the wandering troubadours of old