Vianne Rocher and her six-year-old daughter Anouk arrive in the small village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes--"a blip on the fast road between Toulouse and Bourdeaux"-- during the carnival. Three days later, Vianne opens a luxuriant chocolate shop crammed with the most tempting of confections and offering a mouth-watering variety of hot chocolate drinks. It's Lent, the shop is opposite the church, it's open on Sundays and Francis Reynaud, the austere parish priest, is livid.

Anyone contemplating running a fruit farm in Spain would do well to read Peter Kerr's Mañana, Mañana, which describes how he left Scotland with his wife and two wary sons to set up a little valley farm growing oranges in the Mallorcan countryside.

Driving Over Lemons - Chris Stewart: 

All Provenced out? Then head further south this year, to the breathtaking mountainous climes of Andalucia. Just don't be squeamish about driving over lemons.

Chris Stewart, skilled sheep-shearer and sometime Genesis drummer, took one look at the Alpujarr´s, the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, and decided that's where he wanted to be. This is the story of his adventures coming to terms with the terrain, the lifestyle and, of course, the locals, who possess all the rugged, homespun charm you'd expect. Stewart soon discovers all the hidden foibles of his bargain purchase, and spends the following year (rendered here in detail) installing the little luxuries of life like, say, water.

The Rough Guide to Spain - Mark Ellingham : Now in its tenth edition The Rough Guide to Spain is a clear, informative and reliable guidebook to a magnificently varied country. Whether you want to stick to the beaches or negotiate your way through the Sierra Nevada, this will prove an indispensable addition to your suitcase.

Italian Neighbours - Tim Parks: 

In the bestselling ITALIAN NEIGHBOURS, Tim Parks explores the idiosync rasies and nuances of Italian culture. When Parks moved to Italy he found it irresistible; this book is a testament to his love of Italy and his attention to the details of everyday Italian life. ITALIAN NEIGHBOURS is travel writing at its best; infused with an objective passion and an eye for the details and the peculiarities of culture.

From the eighth to the third centuries BC, the Etruscans were among the most powerful people on earth. They worked the metals of the Tolfa hills, laid roads for their carts and developed an excellent system of irrigation--criss-crossing their farmland with miles and miles of hand-dug tunnels. By the time American journalist Joan Marble arrived in Italy in the 1960s, Etruria had endured Roman invasion, malaria and the Black Death, the subsequent centuries of poverty leaving the area rife with impassable roads and political corruption. But Joan fell in love with Etruria, seeing it as the perfect place to grow a dream garden.

The Luberon Garden - Alex Dingwall: 

Alex Dingwall-Main left London with his wife and dog nine years ago for the Luberon region of the South of France. A landscape gardener of international renown he was in search of a challenge - a new climate, a new way of gardening and a new way of life. This is his account of gardening his way round Provence, and in particular, of attempting to restore the secret garden of Menerbes. 

Like so many other Scottish farmers, Peter Kerr and his partner Ellie had passed many a bleak winter's evening "indulging in dreams of someday swapping the rigours of growing crops and raising cattle in the harsh Scottish climate" for the more idyllic option of a small farm in Spain. On the day their dream came true, when they finally moved into their Mallorcan farmhouse, 1500 miles southwards of Scotland, it snowed. But they were lucky to be there at all: Peter and Ellie discovered their new home after taking a wrong turning while on a summer holiday, instantly falling for its "white walls, faded wooden shutters and terracotta tiled roof" which "peeped sleepily over the deep green domes of orange trees, while the mountains looked benignly on". With prose as elegant as this, Snowball Oranges is one travel book that needs no illustrations. 

THE OLIVE FARM is television actress Carol Drinkwater's lyrical account of a new life in France; about her house Appassionata and the trials and tribulations of acquiring an olive farm, restoring it, farming the olives, overcoming the heartaches of taking on a 'new' French family and understanding slowly the workings and lifestyle of a vivacious Provencal community. THE OLIVE FARM opens the door on a bustling Mediterranean world using Carol Drinkwater's old abandoned villa as the gateway to it.

Rosa Fiore is a solitary woman who has resigned herself to a loveless life, and expresses her passionate nature through her cooking. Then, one day, she meets an enigmatic chef, known only as l'Inglese, whose research on the heritage of Sicilian cuisine leads him into Rosa's library and her heart.