Another Land of Enchantment...
This is an exquisite book of photography, capturing the "quaintness" and even antiquity of the villages of Provence. 35 villages are featured, grouped by departement. The sections cover the Vaucluse and Bouches-du-Rhone, Var and Alpes-Maritimes, and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. I found the villages of the later section the most interesting, primarily due to their remoteness. The picture of Entrevaux, on pages 188-9 is particularly inspiring. For those on the first tour, well-trodden Gordes and St.-Paul-de-Vence are also represented. Several villages in the Luberon are also featured, including Peter Mayle's old "haunt" of Menerbes. Alas, Uzes, in the Gard is missing, as is the unique Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-mer. The pictures of each village are accompanied by a succinct summary of its history by Michael Jacobs.

I was disappointed that only a small number of photos were of the people of these villages, certainly the essential element of village life. There were no markets, only a few children and elders, and no fetes. Primarily the photos are of stone, fortunately well-composed ones. In terms of photography books on Provence, I prefer Gerald Sioen, who is much better at capturing the people in these villages. But "quaintness" is a rapidly fading quality, as the real world of "uncropped" experiences will attest, wither it is the A-7 or the TGV. Both Sioen and Palmer had to photograph the same ancient "Droguerie" in Cotignac, both capturing it in the same dabbled light.

Still, Provence remains a unique treasure of sensual enjoyment, and hopefully you can afford to buy both, or even better, receive them as Christmas presents from friends and relatives with their priorities in the right place.

The Most Beautiful Villages of Provence
France is one of my favorate places to visit and the book has picked a few of the places I have visited. Great Book to own.

INTOXICATING!
I love this book! It effectively captures the drama and charm of Provence. I have been to Provence and this book is the next best thing if you can't go there. I also highly recommend the other book "The Most Beautiful Country Towns of Provence".

Disappointing
I bought this book thinking that it would show me not only nice pictures, but also information about the villages it supposedly considers the most beautiful ones in Provence. Pure disappointment... Even though the quality of the pictures is nice, they do not give you a true view of the relevant villages. They are pictures taken at random that do not represent - sometimes - the best view of the village.

But what is most dissapoiting in this book is the poor information about the villages, its populations, culture and location. In my opinion, every descrition of each village should also contain a map of its location in southern France (for us to know how could one get there), its population (to see how big it is), a some info on the villages picturesque points, etc. The few paragraphs dedicated to each village are too vague.

Finally, I think the editor should have made this book differently with half the villages and twice the pictures and info about them. I gave 2 stars for the pictures.

There is no place on the earth like my Provence!
I am French and was born in Provence, so I have spent most of my days there, except when I travel and when I was modeling in the world of high fashion. I know every village, and I fly my plane over Provence many, many times. I bought this book because it is so beautiful and shows the many wonderful places in my part of France. I am not good at taking the pictures, like these men do, and besides, I always do the flying. My sister would have to do the picture making. If you buy this book, you will be able to see my beautiful Provence in the pictures whenever you want to. Provence is very old and very picturesque, that is why the photography is so good. If it was not a most beautiful place in the world, it could not be so beautiful of a book. I am French and so I know it is this beautiful. It is more beautiful in the real world, if you can even think that. We have lots of cobble streets. Everyone loves the flowers, so you will see most beautiful flowers everywhere you look in Provence. We have hidden waters that come out into our special fountains. Every village must have their fountains and some are very, very old and are more special than any place else in the world. We like things to be beautiful, so you never see anything ugly in Provence. The earth is very good to us. We have herbs growing everywhere in the countryside. Lavender, Rosemary, and Thyme, you can find just walking in our wonderful hills. We love colors in Provence. Blue, yellow, ochre,green, we like all of those colors. Marcel Pagnol lived in Provence, too. He made his films and his books because he loved Provence. He was French. If you want to see a beautiful book that will make you smile and smile, get this book, and then come see for yourself that I am lucky to be French and live in Provence most of the time...................... ................Presented to you by Summer