Peter Mayle

“I am a great believer in people taking control of their own lives.”

“Sundays in France have a different atmosphere to other days, with fewer phone calls, no postman, no delivery men and no one banging on the door.”

“I would dearly love to resist the temptation, if you can call it that, to worry. It's boring, it's anti-social, it's unproductive and it's depressing.”

“I don't have a boss. Well, I have a boss: the public. If the public doesn't buy my books, I would be out of a job.”

“One must never forget that life is unfair. But sometimes, with a bit of luck, this works in your favour.”

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

“In the south of France the phones cut in and out, the electricity isn't particularly reliable. I think many people would get very irritated with that life.”

“We had a crisp, oily salad and slices of pink country sausages, an aioli of snails and cod and hard-boiled eggs with garlic mayonnaise, creamy cheese from Fontvielle, and a homemade tart. It was the kind of meal that the French take for granted and tourists remember for years.”

“Perhaps the single most enjoyable part of my researches, which covered a period of about four years, was meeting the artists themselves, the people who provide the luxuries. All of them, from tailors and boot makers to truffle hunters and champagne blenders, were happy in their work, generous with their time, and fascinating about their particular skills. To listen to a knowledgeable enthusiast, whether he's talking about a Panama hat or the delicate business of poaching foie gras in Sauternes, is a revelation, and I often came away wondering why the price wasn't higher for the talent and patience involved.”

“When I was very young in London, I had a bank account, which didn't have a great deal in it. I should think at least every three months the bank manager would call me up and threaten to strangle me because I had no money, and I was writing checks.”

“I have a very set routine. I work six days a week, but only half days. I work from 9 in the morning till 1 in the afternoon, without any interruptions, a fair slug.”

“The French don't snack. They will tear off the endo of a fres baguette (which, if it's warm, it's practically impossible to resist) and eat it as they leave the boulangerie. And that's usually all you will see being consumed on the street. Compare that with the public eating and drinking that goes on in America: pizza, hot dogs, nachos, tacos, heroes, potato chips, sandwiches, jerricans of coffee, half-gallon buckets of Coke (Diet, of cours) and heaven knows what else being demolished on the hoof, often on the way to the aerobic class.”

“The great thing about having money is that you can actually just get on with your life and not have to think about paying the bills or crouch over 'The Wall Street Journal' or the 'Financial Times' and look at the stock figures and things like that. That bores me rigid.”

“I have a robust sense of humour which helps me deal with problems.”

“No matter what their background, the southern French are fascinated by food.”

“It's very nice to meet the people who read my books.”

“There is nothing I like better at the end of a hot summer's day than taking a short walk around the garden. You can smell the heat coming up from the earth to meet the cooler night air.”

“Nowadays, if you have a journey, albeit a simple one, you consider yourself lucky if nothing happens.”

“I left school at 16 and skipped university to work, initially as a waiter. I think I missed out on what would have been great years.”

“Very little happens in my books.”