Hilltop Crestet Crestet can be described as what I like to call Burgunesque, a word I made up for places that remind me of the rural charm of Burgundy that I first fell in love with. This village is not in Burgundy but in the gorgeous Provençal countryside with a …

Dancing Under the Stars On a warm July evening, the setting sun kisses the Rhone Valley grapevines good-night as dancers perform in a 7000-seat Roman theatre. No, you are not dreaming. For 22 years, the Vaison Danses festival brings together international dancers to perform for audiences in the Vaucluse. This …

Kneeling on a garde genoux (wooden knee protector) by the edge of the public wash basin, local peasant-class women exchanged tidbits of town gossip as they worked tirelessly to brighten their laundry. Their weathered hands vigorously scrubbed away at stubborn stains as water sloshed against the shallow stone sides of the village lavoir in …

Sablet is located between Séguret, a village classified as a “Plus Beaux Village de France,” to the north and Gigondas, a small town renowned for its red wine to the south. From the road, Gigondas seems little more than a cluster of stone houses set on a hillside with a …

Has Provence been on your travel bucket list for a while? Or, are you already a Provence fan looking for an experience away from the major tourist sights? The founder of Your Private Provence, Emily Durand, has created a wine-focused experience for an intimate group this September. Durand is an …

Water sloshes against the sides of the shallow stone basin of the lavoir as weathered hands vigorously scrub at stubborn stains. Kneeling on their augets washerwomen exchange tidbits of town gossip as they work to brighten their laundry. Before communal lavoirs, personal washing was done sparingly by the side of …

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 …

Mathieu Schillinger hails from France’s Alsace region with its fabulous white wines. However, he tells me that it was only when he moved to England that he gained an appreciation for food and wine. An Epicurean paradox? In 2007, Mathieu and his wife returned to France to open a B&B …

Jessica and Elodie are celebrating an anniversary. These tourism graduates launched their travel agency Provence Authentic one year ago, in January 2015. Originally from Lyon, Jessica has lived in Provence for a decade, and Elodie is local. She was born in Carpentras, only 15kms away from their headquarters in Vacqueyras. …

Local enough to hear the latest gossip makes you a local in Provence Sharon de Rham (tour guide and expat) says she gets the heads up from her friend at the tourist office when there are movie stars staying in the “neighbourhood.” After nearly ten years in Vaison la Romaine, …