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. – Peter Mayle
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. – Peter Mayle
I was lucky enough to spend some of my school days in Barbados, where my father was working, and this gave me a taste for hot weather. – Peter Mayle
The funny thing in France is that writers are not allowed to retire, because the French government say you are still earning money from books you wrote 20 years ago. – Peter Mayle
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. – Peter Mayle
One must never forget that life is unfair. But sometimes, with a bit of luck, this works in your favour. – Peter Mayle
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. – Peter Mayle
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. – Peter Mayle
You don’t like it when a French housewife gets mad at you. If she gets steam behind her, she is an unstoppable creature. – Peter Mayle
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. – Peter Mayle
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. – Peter Mayle
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. – Peter Mayle
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. – Peter Mayle
Nowadays, if you have a journey, albeit a simple one, you consider yourself lucky if nothing happens. – Peter Mayle
