On Eric Idle's New Book Idle In Provence: A Brief History of Thyme
Breaking news from the olive groves of southern France: the inimitable Eric Idle — yes that Eric Idle of Monty Python fame — has turned pen to memoir mode, with a book intriguingly titled Idle In Provence: A Brief History of Thyme. It’s one part comedy-chronicle, one part refuge-journal, and one part “what happens when you buy a ramshackle château and call it a ‘shackeau’”.
The setup: Python meets Provence
Idle reportedly purchased a neglected stone house in the hills of Provence in 1972 — at the height of Monty Python mania — and dubbed it the “shackeau”. With no electricity, no running water, and the sort of “we’ll fix this up eventually” enthusiasm you usually reserve for very naive DIY projects, Idle set about transforming the place into… well, himself. A sanctuary, a comedy workshop, and a stone-walled escape from the madness of show-business.
In his upcoming memoir (due 8 September 2026, via Harper Select) the blurb says the book is “equal parts memoir, travelogue and comedy masterclass.” Expect a mix of behind-the-scenes of Python sketches, late-night visits from eccentric friends (think George Harrison, Robin Williams, Harrison Ford) and idle afternoons among olive groves.
What you’ll get (and what you won’t)
What you will get:
A portrait of building both a house and a life, as Idle writes: “the story spans decades, tracing not only the evolution of a house but the evolution of a life — one built on creativity, camaraderie, and comic rebellion.”
Anecdotes of fame, of hiding-away, of the odd French neighbour thinking you’re “a strange, eccentric Englishman.” Indeed, Idle said of locals: “they don’t care about me, I’m just a strange eccentric Englishman.”
Reflections on love, loss, friendship and the kind of oddball trajectory only a Monty Python writer-composer can have.
What you might not get: the classic tired celebrity memoir “I got addicted to Instagram” route. Instead the promised tone is “charming, cheeky and unexpectedly moving.”
Behind the headlines and between the olives
Here are a few delightful bits of colour:
Idle applies for a French “talent visa” because post-Brexit bureaucracy threatened his ability to stay at the “shackeau.” He told the media: “I wrote to Monsieur Macron, and offered him a ticket if he'd let me in… only one ticket, ‘because I don't want to be accused of bribery’.”
He notes that his “getaway” house is a good escape from showbusiness.
The release is timed in an interesting way: this is his book about France and solitude, companioning his earlier memoir Always Look On The Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography (2018) and the more recent The Spamalot Diaries (2024) — so this feels like part of a trilogy of Idle’s reflections.
Why it feels especially fun right now
For anyone who has ever daydreamed of escaping the relentless pace of London-office-life (or Los Angeles-tour-bus-life) and heading off to a slow-time hilltop stone house in France — this book is reaching into that dream, tickling it, stirring it, and (knowing Idle) giving it a rubber chicken. It’s also timely: in an era when the “move-to-France” fantasy is muddied by Brexit and visas and complexity, Idle’s story is both glamorous and grounded. He actually once got kicked out of France for too long a stay.
Final verdict (with comedic flourish)
If you imagine a book with the tone of: “Yes I wrote Always Look on the Bright Side of Life at an olive-grove desk while goats bleated outside and French workers showed up whenever they felt like it” — that’s pretty much what you’re signing up for. It promises to be less of the “look at me now I’m famous” memoir and more of the “look where I parked my van, and then built a shackeau around it” memoir.
So: grab your sun hat, a chilled pastis (or two), and prepare for Idle’s comedic journey through stone walls, screwdrivers, script pages, and solitude with a twinkle.