Artists and the Sacred Mountain Mont Sainte-Victoire was a recurring subject in Paul Cézanne’s paintings. The painter born in Aix-en-Provence completed over 30 canvases, in oil and watercolour, of the mountain situated to the east of the city. On the other hand, Pablo Picasso chose to not paint “Cézanne’s Mountain” …

Festivals and Fall Events in Provence Fall in Provence directs you towards a heartier menu. Enjoy meat (lamb, wild boar, taureaux, rabbit, fowl) roasted with herbes de Provence, root vegetables and delicious red wine blends. At this time of year, the hiking is fabulous, biking is possible, and golfers might …

After 18 years in Aix, I only realized that it’s actually someone’s job to clamber up narrow staircases and reach across the void inside the Tour de l’Horloge to manoeuvre the four (4) statues around every 3 months when the season changes. It’s down to (or should we say up …

Annette Charlton admits she is a Francophile to the core. She is also the founder of A French Collection (blog) and now a new podcast series. For a decade, the Charlton family – Annette, her husband, and three children – split their time between Newcastle in Australia and Brittany in …

Provence is abuzz this time of year with fabulous offerings of art, music, opera, film, wine tastings, and the usual fêtes that move from village to village. We travelled from New England to Provence last month specifically for this show by French painter Gérard Isirdi at Château Barbebelle in Rognes, …

With so many things closed right now, maybe seizing the opportunity of a sunny January day to wrap up and have a walk around some purely Provencal sites might be just the ticket to lift the spirits; and if you’re not in Provence right now, these seven art walks may …

Born with wanderlust in her veins, Tina Sequeira now lives in Canada after a time in the Middle East. Having travelled extensively from a young age, she says that traipsing around airports is feels like a second skin. Many travellers will never fly from Toronto to Dubai, but Tina undertook …

In the centre of the pretty village of Saint Saturnin les Apt is a peaceful square (home to the vibrant Tuesday morning market), and to one side is a small garden area that sits in front of a stark stone wall, which is a memorial to the dramatic and devastating …

Born in Africa, her childhood featured many relocations, but Sophie Claire spent summers in the South of France visiting her grandparents. It’s those memories of sunny, carefree days that inspire her novels today. Sophie Claire’s latest novel, Summer at the French Olive Grove, was published in May 2021. Her effortless …

For its fourth season, the Villa Carmignac presents The Imaginary Sea (La Mer imaginaire), an ideal subject for this idiosyncratic gallery:  part of it is housed in an old building with views to the sea below, while the other part is underground, a modern exhibition space beneath a glass-bottomed pool.  …