Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Following on from my last post about Destination Francais, here are details of their special workshops leading up to Christmas. They take place on Friday afternoons at the delightful restaurant Le Jardin d’Amalula in Rue Mignet. Dates: November 13, 20, 27 and December 4, 11, …

The past two weeks the Barefoot Blogger has spent a lot of time with new French friends. Admitting that I live in France and that I can barely put together a sentence in French is getting embarrassing. Currently I have Rosetta Stone and another online language program on my computer. …

Persimmon or ‘Kaki’ fruit. These beautiful fruits are meant to be picked after all the leaves have fallen off the tree. When I asked my local greengrocer what to do with them – she picked one up in front of me and devoured it – with the juice all over …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Learn French while exploring Aix If like me you are slogging away to improve your French, you may be interested in a new company, Destination Francais, which has been set up in Aix. They are offering ‘lively, fun and practical French courses in small groups …

More by luck than judgement, the first Sunday of our holiday this summer happened to coincide with the final day of this year’s International Art & Antiques Fair in L’Isle Sur La Sorgue. I must admit that I’d realised the ‘happy coincidence’ a few months ago and had been looking …

This article was previously published on Ginger and Nutmeg. Cistercian Abbeys Classified as a French historic monument in 1840 L’Abbaye du Thoronet restoration work started the following year and continues today. The Cistercian Thoronet Abbey is the third “sister” to abbeys Silvacane and Sénanque in Provence. These religious structures are …

Attracted to Provence by the sun, Elke Walter is clear that the weather is better than in her birthplace Hamburg, Germany. Elke began designing clothing in the 1990s in France, and her business Elke Walter Design was officially launched in 2002 when she opened her atelier in Hamburg. Elke describes …

When the Barefoot Blogger decided to travel to France, this blog was born. It was intended as a “letter back home” to those I know so they could keep up with my adventure. Little did I know that the blog would take on a life of its own. Now it …

Sabine Werner is a recent transplant to Provence arriving with her family only in January 2014. However, she tells me that this region has long held her curiosity and is now inspiring her work. It is not that the sun never shines in Munich, Germany (Sabine’s birthplace) or Brisbane, Australia …

I’ve been thinking a lot about Uzès recently – walking, looking, taking photographs and looking at photographs. But there’s been more time spent staring at canvases on which I’ve tried to capture something of the essence of the town. From my studio I can see the Duché, the cathedral and …