A Year in Provence

Feb 28, 1993

January, Annie and Peter Mayle decide, in their own words, to take the plunge: they quit their jobs as a tax investigator and an advertising executive and move to Provence in the south of France.

Mar 7, 1993

Febuary, now into their second month in Provence, the Mayles continue to learn about local customs and culture. They track down Columbani the plumber and electrician and agree on an upgrade to the kitchen.

Mar 14, 1993

March: Peter enters the mysterious world of truffles when his friend Harry calls from England and asks him to find two kilos of the stuff. He first approaches his neighbor Amédée who sends him off in the right direction. The whole trade verges on black market dealing as the locals are trying to avoid taxes.

Mar 21, 1993

It's April and the weather has turned nice but the Mayles still have their uninvited house guest, the boorish Tony. Annie puts her foot down and says it's either Tony or her. When Tony says he will be leaving if he doesn't buy a property soon Peter offers to be his interpreter and ensures that none of the properties they visit are suitable.

Mar 29, 1993

May rolls around and the Mayles get two pieces of bad news. The first is that Tony, their visitor who overstayed his visit, has bought Rivière's property. Thinking the Mayles had something to to with it, Rivière brings them a live rabbit for their lunch. The second bit of news is that they seem to have a burglar in the neighborhood.

Apr 4, 1993

June and Annie gets a letter from an old friend asking if she and Peter would like to write an article on Provence for her magazine. They soon realize that they need an angle or a human interest story to make their article more interesting.

Apr 11, 1993

It's July and Peter mixes up their visitors schedules. The result is that they suddenly find themselves with a houseful of guests. They are an interesting lot: one fancies himself a handyman an sets about repairing anything in sight while his wife can't help bu calculate the cost of every meal; another is a lush whose wife is constantly ill; while a third couple are quintessential tourists who expect to be escorted everywhere.

Apr 18, 1993

The heat of August proves to a bit much but in the village on a Sunday afternoon, the Mayles learn there is to be the annual goat race. They get a hot tip and decide to take a bit of a flutter. Peter also decides to challenge the village champion at boules but he and Annie proves to be less than good at the game.

Apr 25, 1993

With the arrival of September, Peter's attention is now focused on his vineyard and the upcoming harvest. He has an agreement with Amedee Clement where he will do all of the work and Peter, as the owner, will get one third of the product.

May 2, 1993

October: The Mayle's kitchen remains unfinished and Zanetti the carpenter hasn't returned for a month. It finally dawns on him that the man has probably been snatched by Madame Hermonville but all they end up with is an invitation to a party for her visiting Parisian friends.

May 9, 1993

November: Annie has been giving English lesson to the local school children twice a week so is distressed when she reads in the local newspaper that the school may be forced to shut its doors.

May 16, 1993

December arrives and the Mayles are now approaching their first anniversary in Provence. Annie however is fed up at the never finished work in their house.