MML Computer-Assisted Translation

A Year in Provence - Peter Mayle

Michèle Hagard

The Café du Progrès [1] has made a consistent and successful [2] effort to avoid being picturesque. It is an interior decorator's nightmare, with tables and chairs that wobble and don't match [1], gloomy paintwork and a lavatory that splutters and gurgles often and noisily. There is, however, a long and spectacular view from the glassed-in terrace next to [3] the lavatory, and it's a good place to have a beer. A notice warns you not to throw cigarette ends out of the window, following complaints from the clientele of [3] the open-air restaurant below [3]. The regulars stay at the bar; the terrasse is for [3] tourists, and on Easter Sunday it was crowded.

There were the Dutch [4] wholesome in their hiking boots and backpacks; the Germans [4], armed with Leicas and heavy costume-jewellery; the Parisians [4], disdainful and smart, inspecting their glasses [5] carefully for germs [6]. An Englishman [4] in [3] sandals and [3] an open-necked striped business-shirt, working out his holiday finances [7] on a pocket calculator while his wife wrote postcards to neighbours in Surrey [8]. The dogs nosed among the tables looking for sugar-lumps, causing the hygiene-conscious Parisians to shrink away [1]. An Yves Montand [9] song on the radio fought a losing battle with the sanitary sound-effects [1]...