Carolyne Kauser-AbbottExpat Living and Real EstateLiving in Provence

Formula One Race Cars to Provence Today

It was hardly a race back to Europe. Anne-Marie Simons moved to the United States (US) in the fall of 1966, for one year. And, stayed for 32 more. From her birthplace of Maastricht (the Netherlands), Anne-Marie’s studies in French language and culture took her to Paris and then to San Francisco for journalism.

You can read Anne-Marie’s Christmas article here.

Post-graduation she found herself in Antwerp, Belgium, at the European offices of a South African biweekly news magazine called To the Point International. Under the same publishing house was a car magazine, SA Motor, and Anne-Marie was asked to cover Formula One races in Europe. She followed the race circuit and wrote track-side articles from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Italy and the United Kingdom. After seeing all the fast cars, Anne-Marie says that her “Biggest thrill was Monaco – nothing like it.”

Rose Fountain in #AixenProvenceMeeting deadlines at two Johannesburg-based magazines was challenging in the days of writing before the Internet, mobile phones and laptops. We asked Anne-Marie if she would share some of the highlights from her career as a journalist.

I wrote a To The Point cover story featuring Alexander Haig Jr. when he was Supreme Allied Commander of NATO (and rumored Republican presidential candidate in the US). After my interview, Haig told me off the record that he was concerned about the growing influence of Ayatollah Khomeini. The Iranian religious leader was living in exile in a Paris suburb, and he was agitating against the Shah’s anti-religious and pro-Western policies. A year later, the Shah fled the country, and Khomeini became the Supreme Ruler of Iran. The scenario that Haig feared had come to pass. It was one of the rare times I felt ahead of the news.

After a fast-paced career following cars and politicians around Europe, it was time for Anne-Marie and her husband Oscar to choose a retirement spot. They chose Provence. We asked Anne-Marie how they made the selection, and this is what she shared.

France was an easy choice. I had always planned to return to Europe after my working life in the US and favoured France. We did look into northern Italy and Spain as well, but found that southern France had the most to offer to retirees who are looking for a pleasant lifestyle in a comfortable climate, with easy access to culture and to international travel.

Our choice of Aix-en-Provence was a bit of a stab in the dark but has worked out very well for us. It is small yet sophisticated, and if you add Marseilles to the equation there is more than enough choice in museums, universities, conferences and theatre to keep us contented. An added benefit of Aix turned out to be that it still has half a dozen bookstores in the center, as well as three multi-theatre cinemas, all within walking distance.

Honey vendor #AixenProvence #Market #Provence

Since some of our Perfectly Provence readers are expats, we asked Anne-Marie if there was ever an occasion that made them want to pack their bags and leave Provence. Good news…

No, never. Our biggest frustration was with the French driver’s license, which is difficult and expensive to get. Other than that, it takes a bit of getting used to the shops’ opening hours and the frequent strikes, but as retirees this has very little effect on us.

Anne-Marie and Oscar are retired, but they are far from idle as they continue to explore Provence and all it has to offer. These discoveries have provided fodder for books and a blog. Anne-Marie shares some detail on both below:

My book writing is a rather modest affair. After we had moved, I felt the need to share my new lifestyle and discoveries with friends. After a while, I began doing research into the background of a number of things like religious and pagan festivals, the food fetish, the Provençal language, folklore and village traditions. This grew into material for my first book, self-published and not entirely to my satisfaction.

Three years later I expanded the first one into a second book (Taking Root in Provence) on the same general subject. This is one nearly twice as long, illustrated and issued by a publisher – a great relief for someone who is not good at marketing herself. Follow this link if you are interested in reading Anne-Marie’s book.

Taking Root in Provence #Book #Provence #AnneMarieSimonsI just like to write, and after publishing my last book I started writing a blog, Provence Today. Whereas my books deal mostly with the cultural and lifestyle differences expatriates might find in France, drawn from my personal experience, my blog covers France from a socio-political angle.

Image credits: Photos were provided by and published with the permission of Anne-Marie Simons

Please share this with friends and family.

All rights reserved. Perfectly Provence articles and other content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten (including translations into other languages) or redistributed without written permission. For usage information, please contact us.
Syndication Information
Affiliate Information
As an Amazon Associate, this website earns from qualifying purchases. Some recipes, posts and pages may have affiliate links. If you purchase via these links, we receive a small commission that does not impact your price. Thank you in advance for supporting our work to maintain Perfectly Provence.
Previous post

Money Worries about MUCEM

Next post

Patricia Wells a Provence Kitchen

Carolyne Kauser-Abbott

Carolyne Kauser-Abbott

With her camera and laptop close at hand, Carolyne has traded in her business suits for the world of freelance writing and blogging. Her first airplane ride at six months of age was her introduction to the exciting world of travel.

While in Provence, Carolyne can be found hiking with friends, riding the hills around the Alpilles or tackling Mont Ventoux. Her attachment to the region resonates in Perfectly Provence this digital magazine that she launched in 2014. This website is an opportunity to explore the best of the Mediterranean lifestyle (food & wine, places to stay, expat stories, books on the region, travel tips, real estate tips and more), through our contributors' articles.

Carolyne writes a food and travel blog Ginger and Nutmeg. Carolyne’s freelance articles can be found in Global Living Magazine, Avenue Magazine and City Palate (Published Travel Articles).

2 Comments

  1. blank
    Sharon deRham
    March 1, 2015 at 11:04 am — Reply

    Aix-en-Provence seems like a wonderful place to retire. It is so beautiful, with wonderful sites and cafes popping around every corner.

    I chuckled about Anne-Marie’s comment regarding getting a French driving license. I only got my French license two weeks ago so the pain of studying 10-15 hours per week for more than 3 months is still fresh in my mind. We Americans are somewhat shocked when we learn some of the French rules! Good to learn them but nevertheless, not an easy thing.

    • blank
      March 2, 2015 at 3:37 pm — Reply

      Thanks Sharon: I agree Aix-en-Provence is a lovely place to live, there is so much to do in the city itself and so many choices with in easy reach even if you don’t have a French driver’s license :-)

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.