Sadly, restaurant meals do not always live up to our expectations for service, food quality, price and ambiance. We asked Susana Iwase Hanson the founder of Provence Living Cotignac for her top picks for restaurants in the Haut-Var. Why Visit Haut-Var The Haut-Var is filled with striking scenery, hilltop villages and …

Navigating the streets of Uzès on a market day is not for the faint of heart, add some road construction to the mix, and it gets a bit spicier, but I was determined. On the agenda, was a hands-on cooking class at le Pistou Cookery School, and the promise of …

As summer segues into fall, I cannot help but hope summer will linger on just a bit longer. It’s not the Pacific Northwest’s impending rainy season or even the imminent cold weather that I fear, it’s just that no other season expresses Provence more succinctly. Fall in Provence Summer is …

Where are the vegetables? Do you find yourself grappling with the “myth” of French gastronomy? French Riviera Green Cuisine Expecting to eat mightily well in France, I think the most commonly penned critique among omnivores, is the lack of vegetables. Frustrating of course, and even more so for visitors who are …

French Riviera Jazz Tunes Summer on the French Riviera and in the Alpes-Maritimes (department #06) residents are really spoilt by the choice of low cost, or free, fabulous assaults on the eyes and ears. The Nice Jazz Festival 2018 with its 70th edition, promised a rich programme, which I am …

Mention Provence as a destination to your friends, and most people have either been and want to return or are dreaming of their first visit. Gayle Padgett and her husband “flirted” with Provence for two decades, often travelling during their vacation time from US government jobs in Germany. As their …

From the bright lights of one of the world’s biggest cities to a rural village in the South of France, Susana Iwase Hanson has plenty of experience with relocations. Tri-lingual (English, French and Japanese) and armed with diplomas in linguistics, and international business and marketing, she launched Provence Living in …

There is something wonderful about a traditional French market and over the years we’ve spent a considerable amount of time ambling around them in different towns across the Country. The nice thing is that each area expresses its own identity through its markets – with the wonderful seafood stalls, full …

Italian by birth, Chiara Orlandi moved from the heart of the country, near Umbria’s capital Perugia, to the somewhat rainy, northern city of Edinburgh, in Scotland. According to Chiara, “I’ve always had a passion for travelling, learning new languages and experiencing different cultures.” While in Scotland, she worked with the …

Every cook needs to have a few “go-to” recipes tucked in their apron. These recipes are the ones that you can make without checking to see if you have the ingredients, you know are delicious, and never fail to impress your guests.

For me, my mother’s Dijon Chicken, a simple baked poultry dish that is ready in under 30-minutes, is a go-to combination.