Contributor blog post by Caroline Longstaffe: Recently someone who only had four days to spend in Provence asked me if I had to choose between a visit to Aix-en-Provence or Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, which would it be. Preferably I’d find the time for both but as stunning a city as Aix is, …

For many, Peter Mayle’s best-selling novel A Year in Provence was their introduction to the Provencal countryside. Images of the Côte d’Azur have long covered the pages of travel magazines. Still, it was Mayle’s descriptions of bumbling through a home renovation in the arrière-pays (translation: backcountry or hinterland) that shifted our …

For someone who had never spent much time in Marseille, now I’m loving it! I jumped at the chance to join a cooking class in Marseille with Gilles Conchy of Provence Gourmet. Marseille is a city of wide, busy streets and tight alleys. High-end fashions and ethnic robes. Elegant eateries …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: There seems to have been a deluge of work by Picasso recently, in Marseille, in Aix, in Les Baux, in Cannes, but the small exhibition at Aix’s Pavillon Vendome, ‘Villers Picasso – Coup de Soleil’ really is worth investigating. André Villers was just 22 and …

Plenty of villages in the Luberon Valley lay claim to les plus beaux villages de France (the most beautiful villages in France), and many of those proudly display Villages Fleuris (flowering villages) emblems on local street signs. Enchanted by weather-worn scenes of charming hilltop hamlets and gently numbed by a glass of …

Diving into Provence Ten years after Peter Mayle’s book “A Year in Provence” was published, Georgina Causton and her partner decided to spend a sabbatical year (1999) in Provence. Completely enchanted by the lifestyle in the South of France they never returned to live in London. Suddenly, they found themselves …

Provencal Coastline Images Even a photographer born in Provence, Camille Moirenc, a South of France native who has spent 30 years photographing the region and has published the same number of books, was surprised at the math. His most ambitious project to date might be “Exposition 438, Notre Littoral” a …

Here’s a suggestion for an interesting art lover’s outing, about an hour’s drive from Aix-en-Provence.  La Commanderie de Peyrassol is not only a successful Var vineyard producing 500,000 bottles of wine a year but is a fast-growing contemporary sculpture park. Continue reading here for details from Lynne’s visit to this vineyard’s modern …

I have always loved gardens, although I have to admit to not being a great gardener myself. A summer garden with deep herbaceous borders, filled with the scent and colour of roses is always a delight and we have some delightful ones around us in the UK, such as this …

Les Vacances! Holidays in Provence en Famille The trip is booked, finally a chance to spend some time in Provence with the family. However, you want this experience to be one that everyone (and every age) will remember with equal amounts of joy. Touring old Provencal villages in a hot …