In Paris Noir Yonnet tells is about some of the darker quarters of Paris on the left bank of the Seine, centred on the place Mauberge and the rue Mouffetard, as seen from his own experience. It is mainly written during the 1940s, under the Occupation and in the immediate post-war period; there is a certain amount dealing with the resistance, but the main thrust of the book is a Paris that existed between the wars - and is well known from the film noir -but has since disappeared. It concent...

Lovable rogue and sleuth extraordinaire Sam Levitt is back in another beguiling, as-only-Peter-Mayle-can-write-it romp through the South of France.At the end of The Vintage Caper, Sam had just carried off a staggering feat of derring-do in the heart of Bordeaux, infiltrating the ranks of the French elite to rescue a stolen, priceless wine collection. With the questionable legality of the adventure—and the threat of some very powerful enemies!—Sam thought it’d be a while be...

Katherine Manners, later Duchess of Buckingham, was one of the most intriguing and influential women of early 17th-century England. Born into immense wealth and devout Catholic faith, she defied social expectations by marrying George Villiers, the charismatic favorite of King James I and one of the most powerful men in the realm. Their union was a bold crossing of religious and political boundaries, and Katherine's intelligence, piety, and strength of character made her a quietly formidabl...

When Marie and her partner Adi spent two months cycling around France with a tent, they weren't trying to break any records; they just wanted a bit of sunshine for a change.France enchanted, but the weather had other ideas. During nearly 2,000 slow miles they struggled with hailstones, hills, bad knees, and the scarcity of tea pots - only to find, as if they didn't know it already, that no matter what the weather and the road throw at you, life is still better on the back of a bike...