The English writer Peter Mayle moved to Provence with his wife in the late 1980’s, after a career in advertising, in order to write a novel. They bought an old house in the Luberon at Ménerbes which required so much attention that he was unable to start the novel. However, on his publisher’s suggestion he wrote a short book about his experiences restoring the house using some very colourful local tradesmen.

The rest is history – the book A Year in Provence became an international best seller and made him a millionaire. Less a narrative than state of mind, the book fired people’s imaginations and he became a one-man tourist attraction eventually having to sell the property to escape. A succession of other best sellers, including Toujours Provence and Encore Provence, soon followed and then came some novels including A Good Year which was later made into a film starring Russell Crowe and directed by Ridley Scott.