Depending on your perspective the tiny village of Aureille, on the southern slopes of the Alpilles, is either old-school Provence at its best or way too sleepy. If this part of Provence were America’s wild west, Aureille might be described as a “one horse town.” There are two main roads, …

Images from La Belle Èpoque (1871-1914) on the French Riviera generate the impression of a whimsical golden era brimming with pleasurable pursuits and indulgences. It was a time of pure fantasy; the stuff little girls might dream of — castles, palatial homes, ball gowns and glass slippers. For Madame Ephrussi, …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: It’s the number of large cranes that give us a clue to the scale of the construction projects going on in Aix at the moment. Thirty projects are underway…Continue reading here for details on just ten of them including the building of a great new music venue, a …

Provence’s pine forests, Mistral winds and the summer symphony of the cigales fuel Tracy Rawles’ creative writing. Rawles published her first book Charlie’s World of Glittering Powers, in November 2015. Charlie is a cigale, a cicada (or at least inspired by the cicadas), this is a description of the book’s central …

Contributor blog post by Victoria Koning @MirabeauWine: With its mythical and ancient forest, the sacred site of Sainte-Baume is one of the oldest religious sites in the Western world. According to the ancient Greeks, Romans and Ligurians, it was inhabited by the goddess of fertility. It is believed that Mary …

Contributor blog post by Access Riviera: The 13th edition of Top Marques Monaco is the place you want to be with your kids on the last weekend of Zone B school holidays if they are remotely interested in supercars or fast shiny things! Hosted at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, the …

Lacoste is a well-preserved village that sits on a mountain ridge with great views to the east across a valley filled with vineyards and orchards to Bonnieux and the Grand Luberon Mountains. At the top of the village are the ruins of the castle of the Marquis de Sade now …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: The repaving of the area outside the tourist office has been completed and I was really hoping for something a bit more attractive and tourist-friendly – some benches for instance wouldn’t go amiss. And why has Cezanne just been plonked down on the ground? …Continue …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Aix centre-ville has been pretty much graffiti-free since Madame le Maire waged war on the taggers, paying a company to remove them within 48 hours. And she was surely right to do so as much of it was just a mess. But increasingly, resourceful shop-owners are …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: This doesn’t take place until June but, if you are into this kind of event, it might be worth putting on the calendar now. Dozens of planes will be converging on the Istres Air Base for this show which takes place every 5 years. There …