A Year in Provence written by Peter Mayle begins as Mayle and his wife are making preparations for their move to Provence in France and a new life as foreigners. Both English and unaware of what lies ahead of them, Mayle and his wife take French lessons, find a beautiful house with antique age and character, loaded up their two dogs, said their last good byes and headed for their new home. On their arrival two their new home they encounter several new French neighbors and citizens of Provence. The couple deals with the different culture open heartedly and welcome all the new things their unfamiliar homeland had to offer. I enjoyed the portion of chapter one where Mayle and his wife have a special dinner in a traditional French manner in which the eaters are bombarded with course after course. This chapter also describes their new home in great detail. It seems to be a charming old French house located on a vineyard but they find out soon that with out central heating the house is ill-prepared for the harsh Provencal winters. The chapter is concluded with more cultural instances when they are trying to gather up the proper identification in order to purchase a car. In fact they run around town flashing their passports, birth certificates, and marriage licenses to anyone and everyone.
             The second chapter begins with a blanket of snow on the grounds of Provence. Mayle tells funny little stories of how the French usually drive and how they drive in the snow. The usual speed of transportation is described as a Grand prix indicating that the French drive crazy through their little town. Since the snow however, Peter describes how the French were much more polite and cordial to other drivers. Backing up on a one way street to let oncoming traffic through, would never happen on a regular day in Provence. Usually they just shout at each other in French until one driver gives in. Since the house is old and in need for repair, they make plans t...