My wife and I were on vacation in Italy, zooming along the autostrada near Florence when she suddenly started shouting and waving. “Pull over!” she yelled. “Right now! There’s a Decathlon!” That got my attention. I spun the wheels to the right and barely made it onto the off-ramp in …

When you leave a place for several months, however much you love it, even somewhere as special as Lourmarin, you wonder. Wondering if it is as magical as the images you have so firmly imprinted in your mind. Wondering whether you’ll feel the same when you return. And then you do …

Did you know Marseille has France’s oldest quincaillerie or hardware shop? It really is a must-visit if you are interested in traditional Provencal life. Take the magnificent big hand-graters for instance – just the sort of gadget used in café kitchens many years ago for churning out carrots and cabbage …

Contributor blog post by Vaucluse Dreamer: It’s now nearly 4 months since Millie, our Golden Retriever, arrived for her first visit to France and I think it’s fair to say she has settled in very quickly and already considers Provence as home. I admit that it didn’t start too well, …

Bunny opened my eyes to books, art, travel and slightly exotic (for me, at the time) flavours. Sadly, I had to say goodbye to this beautiful friend in December as a tribute I created this sweet dessert an elegant White Chocolate Mousse in her honour.

Kneeling on a garde genoux (wooden knee protector) by the edge of the public wash basin, local peasant-class women exchanged tidbits of town gossip as they worked tirelessly to brighten their laundry. Their weathered hands vigorously scrubbed away at stubborn stains as water sloshed against the shallow stone sides of the village lavoir in …

One thing I dreamed about before moving to France was to attend a cooking class in Paris. Little did I know that my wish would come true — without leaving the little town of Uzès. Chef Eric Fraudeau of “Cook’n with Class Paris” has a cooking school right down the road — Cook’n with …

The base for these Chèvre and Mushroom Tartlets is versatile. Recently, I decided to experiment with the filling as the crust could not be easier to make. Using the same ingredients for the dough, I created a savoury filling using fresh goat cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano and mushrooms. Serve these tasty bites with a chilled rosé or white wine, and this might just become your go-to appetizer recipe!

Do you know about the sardine that blocked the port of Marseille? As I was perusing local postcards at a local flea market in Provence, I came across a curious image. The postcard depicts an enormous sardine blocking the port of Marseille. The seller, taking advantage of my ignorance and …

Contributor blog post by Jill Barth: The cork wine stopper is synonymous with preservation – not only of the wine in the bottle but of a way of life for cork farmers and the natural ecosystem of the forest. The process has been the same for generations because the system is a sustainable …