House Search in the Alpilles Not everyone would have the vision and know how to transform a tiny 17th-century farm building into a bright, inviting pied-à-terre. The house was in poor condition, its last renovation dated from the 1970s as evidenced by the orange and brown colour palette. However, it …

The following is an excerpt from my second book Are We French Yet? Keith & Val’s Adventures in Provence. Bad Timing Three days before leaving on a long trip to France, I swerved to avoid a squirrel while riding my bike, which caused me to crash and break my wrist. …

Embracing Provencal Lifestyle When you think of France, you might conjure up images of Provence with its stunning scenery and beautiful hilltop villages. A place where the mid-summer Lavender fields stretch almost as far as the eye can see, and local markets where fresh fruit and vegetables are piled high …

In early 2018, when the opportunity to relocate to Provence presented itself Phil Chandler and his partner jumped at the chance to escape from the “rat race” in England. Leaving behind his own successful business in the United Kingdom (UK) Phil is now pursuing a career as a freelance travel …

It constantly amazes me how quickly two months pass. In the dead of winter, each month is dreadfully long and feels interminable. In contrast, the summer functions the complete opposite. It is never long enough and ends too quickly. These two months in Provence are always racing by, even though …

Never Argue With Your French Teacher My wife Val and I live in California but I spend several months every year in St-Rémy-de-Provence. When we first started doing this some years ago, Val spoke basic French and I spoke next to none. So we each took classes in the US …

By Paula Kane Here it is, the last full weekend of my stint in Provence. The time always whips by and it’s hard to believe I’ve been here just over two months already. This stretch is often punctuated with a wide range of emotions, and this year has been no …

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 …

Contributor blog post by Jemma: I couldn’t write this post until things had been resolved – or mostly resolved, as the case would be. Even then, I didn’t know if I should bother. It’s France. Everyone expects home maintenance problems. And how can anything be a problem, really, if we’re talking …

Contributor blog post by Jemma: French Lessons has survived a summer that one local friend dubbed “un agenda de ministre.” Even for us non-government ministers, the French expression seemed an appropriate way to characterize our schedule in a country where public spending(as a % of GDP) continues, shall we say, to …