Encore Provence : New Adventures in the South of France

Rating:
Summary: very good
Review: I found this book very spectacular . It refreshed all my memories

Rating:
Summary: Wish he would pack up his pens
Review: Peter Mayle is singly the most irritating writer ever read on the subject of Provence. He is not liked in Provence. He has made pots of money with a lot of trite little anecdotes that are exaggerated and often insulting. For those who live in Provence and have done so for many years prior to his books, this new attempt is one more aggravation. Why can he not find another place to make money off of? Enough is enough!

Rating:
Summary: Losing steam, but still worth reading
Review: I loved his first book, but this one seems less fresh or maybe it is me, the reader, that brings a less fresh response. Still I found enjoyment in many descriptions of local characters or delightful meals. Other passages dragged a little, dwelling on insider stories that I couldn't always follow.

Rating:
Summary: Please-may Provence remain as long as this planet.
Review: The observations of Monsieur Farigoule are themselves worth the cost of this wonderful book but Mayle has peppered this vision of Provence with many personalities, each with their own insights into life-as led by themselves and life as led by we who are not lucky enough to share their little bit of peace.

Encore Provence began slowly and like a good lecturer, warmed to his topic until the beauty, complexity and warmness of what he saw in Provence opened like a blossom on one of the perennial lavenders that are so prevalent in the countryside. Mayle writes lovingly of the Mellon King, the organic gardener, the truffle grower, the many builders he encounters and of course Monsieur Farigoule-who alone in this Free Market world has his finger securely in the dyke trying, against all odds, to maintain France and Frenchness.

Mayle's book is redolent with stamp-sized mental images of a life that we should all view with an intense envy. I can only but wish that French frigate would have arrived a day before rather than a day after Sterling's First Fleet arrived here in Australia. Vive la France!

Rating:
Summary: Losing steam, but still worth reading
Review: I loved his first book, but this one seems less fresh or maybe it is me, the reader, that brings a less fresh response. Still I found enjoyment in many descriptions of local characters or delightful meals. Other passages dragged a little, dwelling on insider stories that I couldn't always follow.

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the first!
Review: The first Provence book captivated. This one merely reports.

Rating:
Summary: A third helping
Review: Not as good as the first book, "A Year in Provence." The charm that covered every page of the original is spread much too thinly in this one. The stories about local people and their unique culture are rare in "Encore." Nonetheless, it's a handy and amusing travel guide for someone planning a visit to the region.