One of the first artist friends I made after moving to Uzes was Andy Newman, an American with deep roots in France. Andy had read my blog and emailed to tell me about himself, that he and his partner had a home near here, and that he had painted many …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Recently, I met up with local author Bernadette Murphy whose book ‘Van Gogh’s Ear – The True Story’ has been such a success. It was chosen by BBC Radio 4 as their book of the week and was also the subject of a BBC2 TV documentary. …

Beaucaire is a small town in the Gard department, located on the banks of the Rhône River and the start of the Rhône-Sète canal. The name Beaucaire means beautiful stone. There is evidence of a Gallo-Roman settlement in this hilly area as early as 11 BC. During the Roman era, …

Peter Mayle certainly started something back in 1989 when he published A Year in Provence. What a best-seller that turned out to be, and it launched a whole genre of ‘newcomer-to-Provence-buys-old-house/olive-grove books that document the inevitable cultural differences that we all bump up against. Is there anything more to be said? Continue …

Contributor blog post by Ashley Tinker: Provence Vacation Portraits You may be curious, if you’re a regular here, where I’ve been during recent weeks. Well, I’ve been busy with photo shoots, itineraries and market tours. Provence truly is a magical place. The light is stunning and the landscape is stunning. I …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: He is not an artist I had ever heard of, but I came away impressed by this discovery courtesy of the Musée Regards de Provence. Joseph Inguimberty was born in Marseille back in 1896. Here, one of his early works captured the scenes in the …

Although I have yet to meet Janine Marsh in person (and I do hope it happens one day), I can say with 100% confidence that she is funny, humble and slightly crazy. During the summer months, it hardly rains in Provence, so I happily took advantage of a rainy day …

Many of us love the Alpilles, the “little Alps” that rise between the famous Provencal towns of St-Rémy-de-Provence and Les Baux. Their craggy beauty dominates the surrounding landscape. But outside of taking an airplane ride, it is impossible to appreciate them from the air. Until now. Gilles Lagnel’s new book, …

To say the Côte d’Azur city of Nice is all about fancy beach clubs, great French and Italian food and the sparkling blue waters of the Mediterranean, you’d be right. It’s all that… … and more. Nice was the home of artist Marc Chagall during the last part of his …

‘The Sunflower Field,’ my debut novel, is written to honor the ‘few’, of which there were thousands, who during World War II, in words inspired by Winston Churchill, “gave so much, for so many.” In particular for three of those ‘few’, the Polish mathematicians, Jerzy Rozycki, Marian Rejewski and Henryk Zygalski, with …