article_snippet: Lots of people loved Peter Mayle's A Year In Provence
article_snippet: but it made me more determined than ever to spend summers in Britain.
article_snippet: While some of us had to work for a living, off some of us had to work for a living went in the late Eighties with money in the bank; bought a dilapidated house; charmed the locals and wrote whole chapters about eccentric French plumbers.
article_snippet: The cash rolled in, but Provence became a cliché.
article_snippet: That's why, for 25 years, I gave the region a wide berth.
article_snippet: A week in Provence might not have the same ring to A week in Provence as the title of Mayle's book, but a mere seven days here works wonders for the soul.
highlights_snippet: Peter Mayle's book A Year in Provence put the spotlight on the region .
  
highlights_snippet: But there is more to the region than this old literary favourite suggests .
  