The North of France, shrouded in mist, was unaware of the South. Alphonse Daudet revealed it through his Letters from My Windmill. Provence, both the land of the sea and the mountains, suddenly came into view, with its flocks, its beautiful women of Arles, and its fragrances.
A century later, Master Cornille and his secret, the Pope’s mule holding back its kick, the priest of Cucugnan, the deputy prefect in the countryside, all these characters are still alive with the same intensity. Sad or cheerful, melancholic or satirical, these short texts are masterpieces of wit, poetry, and emotion.