Forget magret de canard and moules frites – couscous served with its savoury slow-cooked stews is popular in French cuisine. It was voted France’s 3rd favourite meal in a study conducted for Vie Pratique Gourmand (2011).  There are references to couscous consumption in France that date as far back as …

After several centuries, cascades of turquoise water carved a 20km limestone canyon known as the Gorges du Verdon, which became part of the protected Parc Naturel Régional du Verdon in 1997. The Verdon River flows 166km from its source in the Alps to Lac St Croix engraving the sheer rock …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Aix’s lovely Hotel de Caumont is hosting an evening entitled ‘1715-1745: Hotel de Caumont et la vie musicale aixoise’ on Saturday. Leading local musician Guy Laurent will be leading the discussion and playing music from the period. …Continue reading here for details on this evening event this …

Buying Real Estate in France In London, the conversation during after-work drinks inevitably turns to house hunting frustrations. There is always someone drowning their sorrows after just having been outbid at the last minute. No surprise that the English adopted the satisfyingly resonant Yiddish expression gezumph to name the devastating …

Contributor blog post by Ashley Tinker: My local farm shop is selling these tender shoots at the moment. Large baskets of the just-picked leaves are set up to pick and choose. I originally placed only 2 varieties in my basket before I was told that the combination of Roquette (Arugula), …

Contributor blog post by Access Riviera: Art, photography and wine are three of my favourite things and they will all combine into one evening on Saturday 23 January at a Fine Art prints preview (vernissage) evening by photographer Justin Gage hosted at La Ga(bi)leria in Antibes. La Ga(bi)leria is an organic …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: This is the lady advertising the current exhibition at the Hotel Caumont. Her image is swinging in the wind along the Cours Mirabeau, raising the question, as posed in the exhibition, is she a model of modesty clutching her little veil or is she an …

Contributor blog post by Ashley Tinker: The other evening I witnessed the most beautiful sunset I’ve yet to see in Provence. Sadly, the camera cannot truly do justice to the intense colours we saw- but I’ll share these images with you anyways! First, while wandering the garrigue landscape admiring the …

Contributor blog post by Liz Gabay: At the recent Wine Mosaic conference, one of the facts that shocked participants most of all was the fact that the majority of wine is made with only a small percentage of the grape varieties available to us. 70% of French wine production comes …

Contributor blog post by Ashley Tinker: The French Burger This is by no means a typical French burger. In French, burger meat is called “steak haché.” When you buy minced meat at your local butcher you’ll be suitably impressed when a large quality steak is indeed taken and minced! As …