I really don’t want to share this one, I really don’t. But it’s pure kindness that makes me not withhold. In the Luberon valley, just below Bonnieux and Lacoste, lies an oasis of perfection called Mas des Sens. Le mas is a gorgeously manicured property in a quiet, rural location and …

Please no! Anything but that. Upon visiting Provence this past June, with the unusually high temperatures of 95-100 degrees, my pasty white, sun-deprived skin went into shock. I developed hives or eczema all over! What to do? I finally stopped in at the pharmacy in Bonnieux—the French pharmacy is the …

The retail stores and  shopping malls are decked with holiday decor signaling that it’s time to start thinking about gifts for everyone on your list. Fortunately, if there are cooks and food-lovers on your list, there are lots of options in price points that range from a few dollars to …

Whether fiction or not, Nutmeg thinks it is appropriate that Casanova the infamous Venetian writer, gambler and reputed womanizer is weaved into the history of les Jardins d’Albertas. This garden, owned by the Albertas family, is located just a few minutes outside of Aix-en-Provence in the town of Bouc-Bel-Air, where the ancient …

There’s no doubt that the food in Provence is amazing. So each year, we like to award a restaurant for the best food of the trip. We have our favorites—Le Fournil in Bonnieux, les Remparts in Venasque, la Bergerie in Maubec, and la Terrasse in Joucas. But this year, le …

Over the last 3 weeks, Andy and I have covered nearly 2000 kilometres & climbed nearly 26 kilometres between us on our bikes. That’s not through us setting out to do anything particularly, and it certainly hasn’t resulted from us setting ourselves a target, but simply because we like to …

Charming Provence Jolie vintage might be a good description for Goult. This village is one of a few in the Luberon that is not teeming with tourists, during the high season. In September 2015, Mimi and Michael Pillsbury purchased an old village house, as their new home and the base …

Just ten minutes from the centre of St.-Rémy is a shady picnic spot known only to the locals. It sits along the shores of a lake created thousands of years ago by the Romans. When hordes of tourists crowd into town, it’s nice to take a break in a quiet …

Welcome to our resource guide for the Markets of Provence and the Côte d’Azur. This article is a reference directory to some of the better-known markets, producers’ markets and a few more. It would be impossible to list every market in the region, and at the end of the day, …

It’s a toss-up between coquelicots (red poppies) and lavender, but probably no other scent or sight says Provence better than the pungent aroma of a purple field of lavender growing in mounded rows under a brilliant blue summer sky. We were lucky that it was the lavender season when we …