The mornings are crisp all of a sudden. The days are still hot. The harvest, of just about everything, is in full swing. I went for a walk and followed the smell of a skip full to the brim of grape skins before I stepped into the leaking juice running …

Perhaps you remember my blog about the photo competition at Marseille-Provence airport? The winners have now been announced. First prize goes to this photo: They will be displayed throughout the airport. Good idea to add interest to the walls and, …Continue reading here

Reading MFK Fisher’s Two Towns in Provence, you might be surprised that it was written so long ago. Cours Mirabeau, the cultural center of Aix, looks much like it did when Fisher and her two daughters sought solace at Les Deux Garçons or ambled down the boulevard so many decades …

You can believe there was a lot of competition and jealousy among artists in Aix. In fact, the poster boy for Aix-en-Provence, Paul Cézanne, was spurned by fellow artist and curator of The Museum of Aix from 1892 to 1925, Henri Pointier. Pointier, who never excelled to the degree that …

The south is a world of light. Luminescent brightness is the first, clearest and most lasting impression it makes when you arrive, and its absence is what hits you when you go back north. For a painter, the challenge is somehow to evoke this world using colours and canvas. It’s …

Cotignac’s permanent population hovers around 2,300 people. The official count swells on a sunny Tuesday when throngs of visitors appraise market stalls on the main street — Cours Gambetta. A column of plane trees provide welcome shade to vendors watching their stands that are heaving with tempting melons from Cavaillon, …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric Our French teacher explained to us that a guinguette was typically a make-shift café-bar, usually next to water, with strings of lights and music and bushes pour aller flirter. They were dotted around Paris for instance for workers at the weekends and of course were …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Starting with Marseille shops, the opening of Les Docks has been announced: 10th October. This is the long line of historical docks buildings that are opposite the new Terrasses du Port shopping centre. It’s taken 30 months to renovate the buildings and also excavate down …

Thomas Jefferson, Minister to France began his southern France travels in 1787 from Paris and that initiated his love for the region. Jefferson visited St Remy de Provence and Les Baux, learning about agriculture and antiquity. Jefferson tested the famous Roman-era baths in Aix-en-Provence. Read more on Ginger and Nutmeg’s …

By aixcentric Have you seen the newly-razed ground next to the Rotonde where Cézanne has been left standing looking bemused and besieged by tourists wanting to pose with Aix’s famous son? I read that the town authorities are trying to decide what to do with the area. Well here’s an …