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north shore news

a

: The cost of being

Peter Mayle
sticks to vrench
subject matter

By David Wishart
Contributing Writer
PETER Mayle did what
many of us yearn to do.

He gave up his job, in his
case an advertising career in
New York, moved into an old
stone farmhouse in Provence,
France, and wrote a book
about his § experience, the
bestseller A Year in Provence,

Eight years later, the book
has sald bur million copies
and been translated into 22
languages; even the Chinese,
it appears, are enchanted at
the notion of life in rural
France. Along with this kind
of fame usually goes fortune,
so it was not surprising, to
encounter Peter Mayle in
Vancouver looking every inch
the English gentleman enjoy-
ing the g fe. He was
here to promote his new
book, Chasing Cézanne, and
still uncreased and good-
humored despite five weeks
on the road in Germany,
Britain and the United States.

“The trouble with book
tours,” he said, “is that they
are a gastronomic desert. I’m
on the go all the time, usually
ending up at ny hotel too
tired to do more than order a
sandwich.” He did allow
there had been a good lunch
in Hamburg, and he added
politely, Vancouver, where he

“went to Lola’s.

For a man who loves his
food and lives for lunch (The
first words of A Year in
Provence are: “The year
began with lunch”) te was not
an inspired choice on a rare
sunny day, However we made
the best of the afternoon with
a patio table at The Lazy
Gourmet and talked about
the lunch locations in Chasing

Cézanne. Mayle didn’t have

to insist they were real. As it
happens the brasserie Lipp on
Boulevard Saint Germain is
one of my favorites in Paris.

y Wr

The man sitting at your elbow
could be a cabinet minister or
arock star, The Paris hotel in
the story is the one Miatyle

es, the Montalembert, in
nearby Rue de Buei. The
Montalembert ig unbeatable
for market busile, people
watching, and oyster lunches.

Mayle’s fondness for the
French landscape, coupled
with his good humour, makes
Chasing Césanne a treat, It's
a well-crafted story of shady
business in the art world
involving a magazine editor
who scouts the homes of
wealthy people looking for
valuable paintings, which end
up being copied by a f
and sold on the sly to
unscrupulous collectors
Some of his characte
outstanding, such as the
eccentric Lord Lamprey,
Mayle told me he knows such
aman, a very dear friend who
ance advised him how to
spend an English winter:
“Just go to bed and keep
your hat on.”

What Mayle has done so
well is to elevate travel writing
from a taste ofa place toa
damn good meal that will
warm the hearts of those who
know his favorite pi
offer pointers to readers
intrigued to follow in his
footsteps.

Mind you, the success of
A Year in Provence also
brought hordes of tourists to
the Luberon Mountains
between Avignon and Aix.
Some tourists couldn’ resist
knocking on his front door.
“Heck,” said Mayle, “there

were days when we had no .
peace at all.” For Mayle, who
writes daily from 9 a.m. to 1
p.m., it was a severe test of his
good humour.

“The secret is not to be
distracted. If you want to
write a book it helps ta move
somewhere that will enable
you to adopt a new routine
that includes a fixed writing
period.”

Now the farmhouse has
been sold and he and his wife
are looking for a new place in
Provence. In the meantime,
home is in Long Island, New

Annual '

Summer

Blowout

Sale - ae

“Save up to. 50% on
Summer Clothing \,

(selections and discounts
vary store to store)

sf

The Salvation Army Thrift Store

13 Lower Mainland iocations including

241 Lonsdale, W.Van.
Ts O6t E2tl Ave! Var:

2714 W.Broadway, Van.
(47 Greater Vietotia-letattohs)*

iter

York, which Happens to be
near three of fis children and
ives hint the variety of a
ie,

He wold me his neighbor
in Provence was a formidable
wortan who could spend the
day wringing chickens’ necks
and repairing the tractor, and
still look chic in the evening.
Clearly, he enjoys rhese peo-
pie and their mores, and of
course his lunches of flamiche
and a litre of pink wine.

He likes the Freneh so
much he even pays dares in
France,

/ ~

Ho.
a, ;

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Do your
The Canadian Red Cross Society

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@ KIDS 8-16
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Starts Mon.,
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Sentinal Sec.
9-1 2noon
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9 ; 1-4pm
Rendall Conca photo
A Year In Provence author Peter Mayle,

Asoat store

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