Peter Mayle sells Provence house

PETER MAYLE, the writer who opened up Provence for millions, is selling up again, but he still isn't leaving Provence.

Mayle, whose One Year in Provence sold five million copies in 28 languages, has put his 18th-century Provençal home on the market for €6 million, but fully intends to stay in the area.

He said: "I'm not severing my ties with France and have no intention of doing so."

The house, on the edge of Lourmarin, was bought after inquisitive fans drove him from the farmhouse in Menerbes that featured in the first book.

Now he is simply doing what he has done before; moving on, but elsewhere in Provence. "My love affair with France is as strong as it ever was," he said.

Mayle is leaving as he works on a follow-up to his 12th book, Vintage Caper, which was set in Los Angeles and Marseille and featured lawyer and gourmand Sam Levitt. Caper ended with a hint of a follow-up and the new book is expected to follow the characters and take it further.

The three-storey Lourmarin house is set in 5.7 acres and is described by selling agent Emile Garcin as having, inter alia, an olive grove, two ponds, a rose garden, orangery, dovecote, summer dining-room and a wine cellar.