The following article is a guest post by Juli James, a Canadian who has settled in the charming perched village of Saignon. Discover this part of the Luberon Valley from her comfortable vacation rental suites. La Maison des Arts Et Lettres has four (4) fully furnished, self-catering apartments. These flats are …

One thing I dreamed about before moving to France was to attend a cooking class in Paris. Little did I know that my wish would come true — without leaving the little town of Uzès. Chef Eric Fraudeau of “Cook’n with Class Paris” has a cooking school right down the road — Cook’n with …

With over 369 million French speakers around the globe why not celebrate? Since 1970, when the Niamey Convention was signed, International Francophonie Day (website) is celebrated every year on March 20th. There are 77 countries in the world where French is the language of record, or in some cases like …

Learning a second language is never easy, and as a uni-lingual adult, the long “road” to mastering French is daunting. Even native French speakers agree that there are more exceptions to the language’s rules than necessary, and let’s not even begin to talk about verbs. Marina Depoorter is the founder …

Are you scratching your head to find the right Christmas gift this year? Most of us have plenty of clothes, sporting goods, electronics and other gadgets. Consider giving a brain-enhancing present that improves cognitive function, builds multitasking skills and makes you smarter. Give the gift of French language lessons. According …

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: I came across this document in a pile of papers in a French flea market. It’s dated 1896. I find details like this really indicative of their time and culture. For example, the imagery of a military hat, canon, soldiers, rifle, and sword are most …

Contributor blog post by Ashley Tinker: During one of my first jobs here in France, one of my colleagues challenged me to learn these French tongue twisters. I found this crumpled piece of paper in a pile of forgotten souvenirs under the bed the other day. I was compelled to …

In the past, most language classes followed a similar scholastic approach, typically involving the memorisation of verbs, tenses and sentence structures. The process is the same whether students were attempting to conquer one of the romance languages (Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian or Catalan), a Germanic tongue, a Slavic dialect or …

I’ve been putting off picking up my free pass to Pont du Gard for years now. Anyone who can prove they live in the Gard can get one. My friend and neighbor, Rich, said I’d murmured about it long enough. He was going to accompany me to the Mairie and …