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 …

Marseille’s super Musée Regards de Provence has been inspired by the MPG2019 Year of Gastronomy programme and is serving up two foodie exhibitions. L’Art Mange l’Art (until October 31, 2019) has a wide range of contemporary works, all food-themed; there is some witty photography (eg behind the scenes in restaurants) and …

After a couple of gloomy posts about store and restaurant closings in Aix-en-Provence, it’s good to be able to welcome a new enterprise. BRUT is a spacious restaurant which opened in the Place des Tanneurs in November to offer an interesting menu of ‘assiettes‘ for diners to combine and enjoy. …

Marseille has been working hard to get itself on the tourist ‘must-see’ list and the Tourist Office now offers many organised visits to different parts of this vibrant city. Apart from the obvious sites, visitors can opt for food-tasting tours, street art walks, lunch on a cruise ship, or behind …

By Aixcentric: The French Formula 1 Grand Prix will be taking place at the Paul Ricard circuit again this summer, 20-23rd June 2019, the second event of a five-year contract bringing the sport back to Provence. Of course, it is a memorable occasion with the world’s top F1 teams, the …

By Aixcentric: What a terrific show at the Caumont Centre d’Art in Aix. It features the work of Marc Chagall, from his black and white gravures from the 1920s and 30s, via his white marble sculptures, to his joyously colourful gouaches and oil paintings. His small sculptures, featuring entwined couples …

For new arrivals in town, what is nicer than a one-hour trip from Marseille’s Vieux Port to admire the key sites and hear about their history? This is the offer from Localanque with Story Boat. I have this information from ‘Pass My Provence,’ who offer 2-for-1 to cardholders: one person …

By Aixcentric: Here’s the list of upcoming Musée Granet exhibitions (2019) for all art-lovers and visitors to Aix-en-Provence. ‘Traverser La Lumiere’ (November 10, 2018 – March  31, 2019) The works of Roger Bissiere, Jean Bazaine, Elvire Jan, Jean le Moal, Alfred Manessier and Gustave Singier. The organisers tell us that this …

By Aixcentric: The British press has been fulsome in its praise of the Musée de la Romanité in Nimes which opened in June – I couldn’t wait to visit. Brand-new museums worldwide are making use of the latest building techniques and materials to construct breath-taking spaces to show beautifully-lit exhibits.  And this …

You may be interested in the new space that opened in Fort Saint-Jean in July. It’s called the Galerie des Officiers, the arcaded section you can see in the photo.  Each of 5 small rooms has a short film on an aspect of the history of Fort Saint-Jean, with it a …