If you’d like to taste some of the best olive oil in Provence, look no further than the Moulin Castelas, situated just below the famous fortress of Les Baux-de-Provence. Castelas is owned by Catherine and Jean-Benoît Hugues, a French couple who lived in Arizona before returning to their native country …

Anyone who knows me will tell you I have a sweet tooth, the fridge always has a few little treats in it, there’s inevitably a great supply of chocolate in the house and of course, ice creams in the freezer. I have been known in the family, as ‘the fridge …

In most people’s minds, lavender, rosé wine, and Provence are inseparable. As a result, the flowering lavender fields are a magnetic attraction for locals and visitors alike from mid-June until the middle of August. Farming Lavender The Romans first introduced the lavender plant to the South of France as they …

I think that apricots are one fruit that signals the arrival of summer in Provence. Stonefruit apricot or the Latin name Prunus sect. Armeniaca, are related to plums. The fruit grows on a small tree, about the same size as an olive tree. While it’s not unusual to see apricot …

Staring at piles of heirloom tomatoes at a summer market in Provence will convince you that this fruit (yes, it’s a fruit) is native to the region. However typical tomatoes are today, according to Britannica, the plant’s origins lie in South America, arriving only in the early 16th century to …

When Life Gives You Lemons. We Make Gin! The Citron de Menton has been cultivated since the 15th century, reaching its peak in the 18th century, when millions of lemons were shipped to the United States and Russia. Plagued by scurvy, many sailors were saved by eating lemons. In the …

We love our little house and the garden we’ve made here. I have a fig tree, a little cherry tree and even an apricot sapling, all in large tubs on the terrace, but the one thing that we don’t have is an olive tree. We planted one many years ago …

A Precocious Talent “As a young boy in Brittany,” says Joël Durand, “I had three dreams—to be a chef, a pastry-maker, or a race car driver.” A smile crosses his face. “My parents made it clear that driving race cars was not in the cards, so I started cooking when …

There are lots of different melons, from the ubiquitous cantaloupe to the fabulously expensive Yubari King. And the best of them all comes from a small town in Provence called Cavaillon. Melon de Cavaillon has a history that goes back to the days of the Avignon Papacy. The popes needed …

As in many parts of the world, hot summer months in Provence bring an increased risk of forest fires. Fire in the Olives If we ever needed a reminder that all it takes is a spark, our friends at Les Pastras lost 180 olive trees to a grass fire on …