Eric Idle relished the experience of writing his new memoir.
The 83-year-old star has just released Idle in Provence: a Brief History of Thyme, his new memoir that chronicles his own life in relation to a property in France that he first purchased in the 70s, and Eric has admitted to loving the writing process.
He told People: "I find out the older I get, the less I want to write fiction and the more I want to do memoir, because it’s more interesting.
"I have met a lot of very interesting people, and a lot of them came here, and they were famous, but not bothered, and that’s kind of a gift of anonymity."
Eric also explained that his property in Provence, France, is now "part of [him]".
He said: "It’s an agreeable house. It’s a lovely house. It’s part of me.
"It is sort of an odd thing to do, but it’s also a nice, interesting thing to look back on and think, ‘Why did I do that?’ or ‘When was that done?’ I think those are the interesting questions in your own life."
Eric had to dig into his own memory bank in order to write the memoir - but he still loved the experience of penning the book.
The Monty Python star - who has received a Grammy Award, as well as nominations for two Tony Awards, during the course of his career - said: "I had to try and remember things — when did that happen, and what year was that, all of that and the above. But that’s easy enough.
"It’s sort of research, but I did find the hardest thing was trying to pull it together was ‘What’s this about?’ Because, it’s building a house here, but it’s actually about you, in a way, and what did you do with your life when you weren’t in the spotlight.
"I think that’s important how you define yourself, because if you define yourself only by your show business career, that’s not very good, I think."
