10
provence
Q U I N T E S S E N T I A L E X P E R I E N C E S
to have in
PROVENCE
BY TERRY WARD
Early on in British author Peter Mayle’s beloved 1989
travel memoir, A Year in Provence, an evocative tale of life
in the south of France, there’s a moment of simple clarity
for the author.
It’s shortly after Mayle and his wife have made the move
from England. He’s marveling at the weather during a
New Year’s lunch at a restaurant in the village of Lacoste.
“It was hard to associate the sunshine and dense blue
sky outside with the first of January,” Mayle writes, “but,
as everyone kept telling us, it was quite normal. After all,
we were in Provence.”
The truth, of course, is that what passes for the every
day and normal in Provence — markets overflowing
with fresh produce like the famed one on Wednesdays in
St. Remy de Provence, fields redolent with sun-warmed
lavender and the kind of ethereal light that’s inspired
countless artists over time — is far from quotidian for
most of us.
Places like Provence are precisely the reason we pack
our bags and leave home to see the world.
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