Year In Provence : Popular Penguins

Peter Mayle and his wife did what most of us only image doing when they made their long-cherished dream of a life abroad a reality: throwing caution to the wind, they bought a glorious 200-year-old farmhouse in the Luberon and began a new life. In a year that begins with a marathon lunch and continues with a host of gastronomique delights, they also survive the unexpected and often hilarious curiosities of rural life. From mastering the local accent and enduring invasion by bumbling builders, to discovering the finer points of boules and goat-racing, all the earthly pleasures of provencal life are conjured up in this portrait.