When I was pregnant (which happened three times in my life!), I cooked a lot and especially pastries. For my first pregnancy, I wanted to create a food truck and sell pancakes in Australia. So, at eight months pregnant, I went to Brittany to take a course to learn how …

These wonderful Christmas crescent cookies have ground almonds mixed into the dough. What better time of the year to enjoy baking and eating these cookies? Almonds have a long history in Provence’s agriculture and cuisine. Many Provencal dessert recipes include almonds whole or ground into flour. Almonds are one of …

We departed Lourmarin just as winter had arrived, with Christmas around the corner. The trees were almost bare, only a few remnants of their golden autumn gown still clinging to the branches. Temperatures had fallen, especially when the Mistral blew her cruel, icy breath down the Rhône Valley. There were …

Winter Festivals and Events in Provence Winter in Provence. What are the colder months like in the South of France? Is it a good time to visit? So many images of the Provence and the Côte d’Azur are summer scenes with ribbons of blooming lavender fields, glasses of rosé with …

Citrus and the French Table Citrus has had a place in French cuisine, in decoration, and noble gardens since at least medieval times. As both written and iconographical sources have suggested, several species of citrus were consumed, traded and maybe even cultivated in the gardens of the medieval French elite: …

One of the more challenging aspects of moving to France for my wife was losing her garden. In Nashville, where we lived for almost twenty years, we had an acre of property with lots of room for her to plant multiple gardens. Here in Vence, we live in an apartment …

We recently invited friends Lee and Barbara to dinner to celebrate Barbara’s birthday. For a friend new to our circle, it was a delight to make a special dinner as a birthday gift. And, as I have often said, the gift of food is definitely one that comes from the …

2022 Holiday Gift Guide As December approaches, the countdown is on for holiday shopping. Discover our Holiday Gift Guide (2022) and Our Provencal Marketplace with products for the home (table, kitchen, and décor). In addition, we invite you to browse the selection of our favourite time-tested creations made with traditional …

Close to Forcalquier, the artistic centre of the Alpes de Haute Provence is a truly remarkable historic site in the village of Mane. The Salagon priory and its gardens with over 1,700 plants. The day we visited was a blinding, hot July day when not as much as an ant …

Situated in the Bouches du Rhône, Aix-en-Provence may lack Marseille’s waterfront and beaches, but the beauty of Aix more than makes up for it. A day is hardly long enough to appreciate a city that began as a Roman settlement over 2,000 years ago. But it is possible with our …