55 Quotes by Peter Mayle

Depending on the inflection, ah bon can express shock, disbelief, indifference, irritation, or joy – a remarkable achievment for two short words.

It was exciting at first... Then it became routine. I guess everything does, even if it’s dangerous.

What a marvelous sunset,′ she said. ‘Yes,’ replied her husband. ‘Most impressive for such a small village.

You don’t like it when a French housewife gets mad at you. If she gets steam behind her, she is an unstoppable creature.

A connoisseur of woe needs fresh worries from time to time, or he will become complacent.

They always asked wistfully what the weather was like, and were not pleased with the answer. They consoled themselves by warning me about skin cancer and the addling effecr of sun on the brain. I didn’t argue with them; they were probably right. But addled, wrinkled and potentially cancerous as I might have been, I had never felt better.

La Closerie, in Ansouis.

Sunglasses must be kept on until an acquaintance is identified at one of the tables, but one must not appear to be looking for company. Instead, the impression should be that one is heading into the cafe to make a phone call to one’s titled Italian admirer, when – quelle surprise! – one sees a friend. The sunglasses can then be removed and the hair tossed while one is persuaded to sit down.

The day when a Frenchman switches from the formality of vous to the familiarity of tu is a day to be taken seriously. It is an unmistakable signal that he has decided – after weeks or months or sometimes years – that he likes you. It would be chulish and unfriendly of you not to return the compliment. And so, just when you are at last feeling comfortable with vous and all the plurals that go with it, you are thrust headlong in to the singular world of tu.