For its fourth season, the Villa Carmignac presents The Imaginary Sea (La Mer imaginaire), an ideal subject for this idiosyncratic gallery:  part of it is housed in an old building with views to the sea below, while the other part is underground, a modern exhibition space beneath a glass-bottomed pool.  …

My visit to Fondation Carmignac, the newly-opened art centre at Porquerolles, last year was by far my favourite outing of 2018. I was lucky to get there just before it closed for winter, when lots of the exhibits went back to Paris. The centre re-opened with fresh artworks, on April …

Porquerolles is the largest of the 3 Iles d’Or (Islands of Gold), easily accessible from the coast. We did the short (20 min) crossing from La Tour Fondu, near Hyères, roughly a 90-minute drive from Aix-en-Provence, depending on traffic. I hadn’t visited Porquerolles for many years and was surprised at …

The Foundation Carmignac opened to the public on June 1st. This display of modern art is in a vast (1500 sqm) gallery inside a Provencal villa on the beautiful island of Porquerolles. Financier Edouard Carmignac has put the collection together. It includes works from the American Pop Art School, among …

Minutes away from the Cote d’Azur shoreline, this tiny outcropping is a world away from the glitz and glamour of Saint-Tropez. Porquerolles is one of three islands that form the Îles d’Hyères Archipelago. Only a 10-minute ferry ride from terra firma this spit of land is only 7 km (4.3 miles) …

Explore the Var The Var is a large geographical and administrative department in Provence. It includes varied terrain from seaside towns to the Îles d’Hyères Archipelago (including Porquerolles) to France’s Grand Canyon – the Gorges de Verdon. From the Mediterranean to the foothills of the Southern Alps, this region offers …

As is the case in the rest of France, in Provence and along the Mediterranean coast, you don’t need to go far for the landscape to change dramatically. There are mountains, vineyards, orchards, gorges, lakes and sometimes crowds. So, if you feel like you need to get away without going …

There’s only one island in Provence’s Bouches-du-Rhone with trees, and that’s the Ile Verte, off the coast of La Ciotat.  It’s just a 10-minute hop by navette from the Vieux Port of La Ciotat to this tiny island which is just 430x260m in size. Once there, you can enjoy the …

Provence is a unique region of France. There are numerous natural attractions in this region. Nice, Cannes, and Saint-Tropez are all Provence, but calanques, mountains, lavender fields and ocher canyons are also Provence. However, to see all the diversity of this region, you will need an appropriate rental car. Provence …

Join us for a road trip along the French Riviera to these must-see destinations. Welcome to the French Riviera, home to glamorous stars, sparkling water, parasols and beach loungers, and fabulous yachts. Evocative images of the Côte d’Azur exist in movies and reality. The French Riviera runs from Cassis (although …