** WARNING: do not read this book on an empty stomach, or if you are not in the immediate vicinity of a bottle of wine and a wheel of brie.
Toujours Provence is the follow-up to the wildly famous A Year in Provence, by Peter Mayle. Mayle's Toujours is a vibrant series of vignettes about life in Provence. Not as "plot-driven" as its predecessor, it covers such diverse topics as dog shows, truffle hunting, and digging for buried treasure, though there is one subject that carries throughout -- the importance of gastronomy in the Provencial lifestyle.
This is a fun book that doesn't take itself too seriously. Therefore, it makes a perfect summer beach read. It allows vacationers to justify a week of self-indulgence -- "if the French can live this way all the time, surely I can put my cell phone and laptop computer away for one week!"
Mayle has a very poetic voice that richly paints scenes from his everyday encounters with townfolk, tourists, and visiting friends. One complaint that I would make about this book is more of a jealous scoff -- wish I could move to France and get paid for writing about my everyday life!
