Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Learn French while exploring Aix If like me you are slogging away to improve your French, you may be interested in a new company, Destination Francais, which has been set up in Aix. They are offering ‘lively, fun and practical French courses in small groups …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Lunch today at Le Cercle du Progres in Saint-Martin-des-Pallieres in the Var, a restaurant that is also the village bar, the grocery shop, the fruit-and-veg outlet, the bread provider, the post office and the purveyor of Var Matin. What a great idea. The pretty village …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Practically everyone you talk to thinks that MuCEM is a thrilling building, in a wonderful site on the Mediterranean, brilliantly linked to Fort St Jean and the Panier; but how is it doing? Is it attracting visitors in sufficient numbers now that the hullabulloo of …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Slowly, the shopping and eating area tucked underneath the imposing cathedrale de la Major is coming to  life.  There are 8 stores open so far, including a very large Habitat (1500m2) and a Fragonard more of which later. …Continue reading here Via:: Aixcentric       

This is the first time I’ve been aware of a David Hockney exhibition in the south of France: he is phenomenally popular in the UK where works when not in LA. This show will draw on work created in Yorkshire where he spent time recording the passing of the seasons …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Context Travel, already operating across Europe, Asia and the Americas, have just added Provence to their list of city-tours. Their difference is that their guides are scholars or specialists: architects, art historians, environmentalists, classicists for instance, thus bringing an academic perspective to the tour. The …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: …some interesting exhibitions are listed for the coming months – and indeed the next few years. The current show ‘Migrations Divines’ is on until November 16th. It focuses on 3 centres of civilisation around the Mediterranean – Egypt, Greece and Rome – and looks at …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: This program which is running at weekends until 1st November is aimed largely at residents of PACA. It’s designed to encourage them to explore their beautiful region now that the holiday-makers have trundled off in their caravans and peace has returned. So, many local attractions …

Two years ago, I published ‘Aix-en-Provence The Inside Story’.  I embarked on it because there is so little in English on the history of this fascinating town. Guide books are very big on facades and columns but don’t say much about the people who lived in the buildings. I wanted …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: A self-guided walking tour of Aix that takes you to all the best places in town has been created by Carolyne Kauser-Abbott of Edible Heritage. It brings to life the monuments, fountains, buildings of centre ville along with stories of the lives of famous local …