Martine Bertin-Peterson is intrepid; she had a window of 90 minutes of “downtime” between her back-to-back tour groups, yet she agreed to meet me for a glass of rosé. Beneath the walls of the immense Palais des Papes in Avignon, we chatted about her food and wine excursions in Provence. …

Linda Garson spent her youth in Manchester, in the United Kingdom, a place best known for soccer matches and beer-filled celebrations, not necessarily for wine expertise. A visual communications graduate, Linda relocated to Canada (Calgary) in 2003 on a contract with Trade UK – the British Government’s export division. The …

Culinary Tours Pitcher and Powell is an international travel concept that combines the creative talents and cooking passions of two accomplished ladies. Even their last names work well together! Barbara Pitcher is a Canadian by birth, with an international spirit, she is a painter who lives in Provence with her …

I’m feeling pretty smug these days that I get to live in the South of France. I’m sorry, but it’s true. I feel like I’m the luckiest person in the world to be here. Lately I’ve had more good luck to be included in the travel plans of my “blog world” friends. …

Bilingual guide Chiara Orlandi grew up in the heart of Italy, in Umbertide, a place that she still holds dear in her heart even after several years away in the United Kingdom and Edinburgh, Scotland. Orlandi studied event management at Edinburgh’s Napier University, her second Masters (her previous degrees are …

A Magical Place Inside the ancient ramparts, the old streets meander, some broad, some narrow, some bright, some muted – each one has a story to tell. Heather Robinson is an American by birth, but Arles is now in her soul. She brings the city to life with tales of …

Are you an intellectually curious traveler? Context Travel aims to be different, far removed from the average tourist tour, and certainly not with just any tour guides. Tour leaders at Context Travel are called docents, with good reason these are multi-degreed (MBA, Ph.D.) specialists in their fields of study who are keen …

Occasionally, I get asked what do I enjoy the most about Perfectly Provence? Hands down it is the personal connections forged via this online community of contributors and readers. Some of my favourite moments (to date) include a lady’s lunch in Nice, exchanging recipes and wine pairing ideas with new …

Contributor blog post by Access Riviera: What child doesn’t love a treasure hunt? I’m not talking about just geocaching either where you find the ‘cache’ by using GPS coordinates, but good old-fashioned treasure hunts using maps, clues and riddles to find answers to questions or a secret code word (perhaps in …

Finally, another way to see Avignon! Every visitor should see the Palais des Papes and the Pont d’Avignon, but once you have seen those it is time to dive into the local’s side of the city with Avignon Gourmet Tours. This 3-hour tour will introduce you to the city and …