• French Lessons

  • Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew
  • By: Peter Mayle
  • Narrated by: Simon Jones
  • Length: 5 hrs and 45 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (307 ratings)

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French Lessons  By  cover art

French Lessons

By: Peter Mayle
Narrated by: Simon Jones
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Publisher's summary

Ranging far from his adopted Provence, Peter Mayle now travels to every corner of France, armed with knife, fork, and corkscrew. He takes us to tiny, out-of-the-way restaurants, starred Michelin wonders, local village markets, annual festivals, and blessed vineyards.

We visit the Foire aux Escargots at Martigny-les-Bains - a whole weekend devoted to the lowly but revered snail. We observe the Marathon du Médoc, where runners passing through the great vineyards of Bordeaux refresh themselves en route with tastings of red wine (including ChĊteau Lafite-Rothschild!). There is a memorable bouillabaisse in a beachside restaurant on the Côte d'Azur. And we go on a search for the perfect chicken that takes us to a fair in Bourg-en-Bresse.

There is a Catholic mass in the village of Richerenches, a scared event at which thanks are given for the aromatic, mysterious, and breathtakingly expensive black truffle. We learn which is the most pungent cheese in France (it's in Normandy), witness a debate on the secret of the perfect omelette, and pick up a few luscious recipes along the way. There is even an appreciation and celebration of an essential tool for any serious food-lover in France - the Michelin Guide.

Here we have all the glory and pleasure of the French table in the most satisfying audiobook yet from the toujours delightfully entertaining Peter Mayle.

©2001 by Escargot Productions Ltd. (P)2001 Random House Inc., Random House AudioBooks, A Division of Random House Inc.

Critic reviews

"Simon Jones performs Mayle's firsthand account with absolute assurance and skill." (AudioFile)

What listeners say about French Lessons

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Delightful

What fun. This book sent be reaching for my travel planner and wishing I too could enjoy all the local festivals and food fairs deep in the French countryside. Peter Mayle writes with wit and joy as usual and lives the life I dream of. A great look into the little known side of the France I love and the food I crave. Mayle makes the simple life the French enjoy one to be craved. Tres Bon!!

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

French Lessons

This book was hilarious! I recommend it for people who love (French) food and wine -- and I dare say it -- French and France. Better yet for those who have spent some time amongst the Brits and can appreciate the narrator. Superb! This was my first book with Audible and I was completely hooked. Enjoy.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

A grating reader...

The over-cooked English accent that the reader employs sounds like a monty-pythonesque parody: impossible to sit through!

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Hilarious!

This is one of the funniest books I have ever encountered. Peter Mayle writes with such humour, and Simon Jones brings it to life in his uniques animated fashion. Fabulous!

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Appetizing Read

I do not enjoy travel and have a terribly untutored palate, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I love listening to descriptions of people enjoying food and wine, and Peter Mayle conveys his enjoyment and manages to include me at the table. I, like Mr. Jenkins, never eat anything I can't pronounce, but Mr. Mayle broadens my horizons and allows me the second-hand experience of far-away things without leaving home. The narrator was excellent, surpassed only by Mayle himself. This is a wonderful listen for a slow day on the porch or in the garden.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

French excess

Unlike the Aix books, this one is about a series of festivals of food and wine. There were some long lunchs in the earlier books, but this is all long lunches and few stories or characters. Narrator Simon Jones thinks he is Bond - James Bond. A bit too arch. Not a great combination. It seems dated in 2018. It might be best to hear a chapter at a time, with some time between them. Maybe these were written as magazine articles, which would have been perfect -- with a month or two between each chapter. Listening to it straight through when commuting, it looses its luster pretty fast. Peter Mayle is still a great author and the narrator is clear and varies his pitch well. It's just that massive amounts of fine food and wine at one sitting after another is not an attractive subject in 2018 -- if it ever was.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

We love Peter Mayle but this read is horrible

The book is so much better than the way Simon Jones reads it. Simon tells the story too fast and with such English distain. He fails to capture Peter's ability to articulate the details of fine cuisine and the appriciation of French culture. This has been the biggest waste of $15 and my wife and I are now reading the book ourselves. It is certainly a good read but such a disappointment to be published on Audible.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of the books about food ever written.

I have listened to this book 6 times, and it is still fun, fresh, educational and hilarious. Peter Mayle's writing is excellent, his wit crackling, and his research more than diligent. Narrator Simon Jones is absolutely excellent. I wish he narrated Mayle's other books. As a professional food writer myself, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A delightful romp through French food and wine

I just finished up listening to this delightful tale of food and wine. The narrator was wonderful and the author had me hooked, knife, spoon and fork. The book is autobiography of Peter Mayle and his experiences with the French and their obsession; food and wine. His wit is sharp as cheese and had me giggling like a school girl with a first glass of wine. It was lighthearted and food filled. Perfect. No villains, no murder, no scandalous rendezvouses, unless you count the encounter with frog's legs. The only trouble with this book, is that it ended way too soon! I'm popping over to get another one of his books. Cheers!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful!

This is a wonderful book! I highly recommend listening. The naration brings you into the story and you feel like you are participating in the events. It is an enlightening account of France and the French people by someone who is not French, but who has fallen in love with France and its citizens. I bought this after returning from a trip to Paris, which was the greatest trip I've ever taken, and reading this book afterwards has made me fall deeply in love with France. I cannot wait to go back!

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1 person found this helpful