So here it is, the new Aixpress bus. The manufacturers call it an ‘ie-tram’, whereas the Aix mairie refers to it as an ‘autobus’. This reflects the vehicle’s dual use in that it will run inside its designated lane for most of its journey (like a tram) but can also …

Most museums have massive amounts of ‘stuff’ filed, heaped, and mounded away in archives, basements and warehouses. The question is: what do they do with it all? It really is an issue. Marseille’s MuCEM inherited the contents of the Musée National des Arts et Traditions Populaires in Paris and now has …

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 …

If you are among the many locals who enjoy eating at Mana Espresso and admire the enterprising young Brits who started it, then this new restaurant is for you! Their second restaurant opened recently, giving them much-needed space for their clientele. Mana a la Maison du Collectionneur is in a …

Double-Oscar winner, American actress Jessica Lange, is currently showing her photography at the Campredon Centre d’Art, at Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, for the first time in France. In 1967, she won a scholarship from the University of Minnesota to study photography, but Hollywood beckoned, and she played many leading roles: her Oscars for …

There seems to have been a deluge of Picasso work recently in Marseille, Aix, Les Baux, and Cannes, but the small exhibition at Aix’s Pavillon Vendome, ‘Villers Picasso—Coup de Soleil,‘ really is worth investigating. André Villers was just 22 and recovering from 6 years in a tuberculosis sanatorium when he …

French fashion designer Christian Lacroix can be relied on to bring a stylish rather Baroque flourish to everything he does. A proud Arlésien, he has transitioned to Avignon to curate their new show, Mirabilis, for which he has chosen 350 to 400 works, documents and collections, from prehistory to ethnic …

Cultural Arles The newly-created arts and cultural centre, LUMA, based in the old railway sheds, has a handful of shows this summer and fall. Headlining them is Gilbert & George: THE GREAT EXHIBITION (1971-2016), an 80-work retrospective that will occur until 6th January. I also like the sound of ‘Une Histoire …

The Musée Cantini has recently re-opened and is hosting an exhibition of paintings from Glasgow’s Burrell Collection, itself now closed for renovation. Sir William Burrell, a member of a wealthy Scottish ship-building family, was an avid collector of art and amassed 9000 items he donated to Glasgow in 1944.  He …

Ai Weiwei and Marseille This is a highly political show—and highly personal, too. Much is about the artist’s relationship with his father (Ai Qing), whose ship from Shanghai in 1929 docked right next to where MuCEM is today. Indeed, it was France that inspired him to become a poet, a …