A Mayle moment in Provence
The man who sparked the 'south of France' obsession keeps an easy pace – strolling in Gucci loafers (no socks) and writing 500 words a day
By Jerry Lanson | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitorfrom the May 15, 2007 edition
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LOURMARIN, France - He has been back in his beloved Provence for seven years now, still writing novels and nonfiction about the region's charms, its cuisine, and its people. But Peter Mayle's a bit more circumspect these days about throwing his personal life open to whoever might drive by or drop in. After his first book here, "A Year in Provence" – the one that made this part of France a household word – the crush of visitors eventually drove him into self-exile for more than four years near Long Island's Hamptons.
Today, Mr. Mayle meets reporters in Café Gaby, a bar-restaurant in the main square of this, his second adopted Provençal village, a place in which a comfortable mas, or farmhouse, lists for more than $3 million with the realtor up the street. Mayle and his wife, Jennie, live nearby, but he'd rather not say just where.
Next door to Café Gaby, in the town's tabac, the works of Mayle in English and in French are prominently displayed, from his famous first book about the region, published in 1989 as he neared 50, to his latest, "Provence A-Z."
Still, as an author whose "Year In Provence" has sold more than 5 million copies, been translated into about 30 languages, and made him something of a celebrity in these parts, Mayle remains gracious with his time and good natured in answering questions he's undoubtedly heard before.
He arrives wearing an untucked denim work shirt and loafers, no socks, even if the shoes, as recent interviewers have noted, are Gucci (I didn't bother to ask). He apologizes for being a few minutes late, even on this morning when rain streaks down from the normally peaceful and blue Provençal sky, even on this day when, Mayle says, the vet is coming to put down Alfie, one of his three dogs, at age 14.
Mayle orders a coffee and greets Gaby's dark-haired proprietor, who, he says, recently brought fresh venison to his house with a recipe for Mayle's wife to prepare it. And he chats with the ease of an old acquaintance as the conversation ranges from why the French eat so well yet stay thin to who his favorite authors are (maritime novelist Patrick O'Brian and essayist E.B. White are two).
What seems clearest is that after nearly two decades of writing about the character and the characters of Provence, Mayle's love for this rich and colorful region is undiminished. He talks of its bright blue winter skies, the wood fires and cold sunshine that set that season apart; the food, from daube to truffles; and the exaggerated nature of Provençal storytellers.
But then, he is one himself.
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