With her camera and laptop close at hand, Carolyne Kauser-Abbott traded in her business suits for the world of freelance writing and social media consulting. Carolyne is the founder of the digital magazine Perfectly Provence. Focused exclusively on Provence, this website is an essential online resource, a digital magazine for …

The Gift of a Town Perched on a hillside with its back to the Mistral wind, Ansouis is a gem of a village in the Luberon that definitely earns its status as one of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. With its tiny laneways, houses built into ancient ramparts, …

Porquerolles is the largest of the 3 Iles d’Or (Islands of Gold), easily accessible from the coast. We did the short (20 min) crossing from La Tour Fondu, near Hyères, roughly a 90-minute drive from Aix-en-Provence, depending on traffic. I hadn’t visited Porquerolles for many years and was surprised at …

Double-Oscar winner, American actress Jessica Lange, is currently showing her photography at the Campredon Centre d’Art, at Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, for the first time in France. Back in 1967, she won a scholarship from the University of Minnesota to study photography, but Hollywood beckoned and she played many leading roles: her Oscars …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: French fashion designer Christian Lacroix can be relied on to bring a stylish rather Baroque flourish to everything he does. A proud Arlésien, he has transitioned to Avignon to curate their new show, Mirabilis, for which he has chosen 350 to 400 works, documents and …

Cultural Arles The newly-created arts and cultural centre, LUMA, based in the old railway sheds, has a handful of shows this summer and fall. Headlining them is Gilbert & George: THE GREAT EXHIBITION (1971-2016), an 80-work retrospective that will occur until 6th January. I also like the sound of ‘Une Histoire …

The Musée Cantini has recently re-opened and is hosting an exhibition of paintings from Glasgow’s Burrell Collection, itself now closed for renovation. Sir William Burrell, a member of a wealthy Scottish ship-building family, was an avid collector of art and amassed 9000 items he donated to Glasgow in 1944.  He …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Ai Weiwei and Marseille This is a highly political show – highly personal too. Much is about the artist’s relationship with his father (Ai Qing) whose ship from Shanghai back in 1929 docked right next to where MuCEM is today. Indeed it was France that inspired …

Now the summer has arrived, it’s the perfect time for a trip down to one of Marseille’s southerly beaches, Pointe Rouge. It’s sandy and sheltered, and the lifeguards are already in place. It was developed in the 60s, and the marina now hosts 1,800 boats. Continue reading here for details …

Aixcentric is the name of Lynne Alderson’s blog, an online resource for anyone looking for current events in the Aix-en-Provence area. The blog was “born” out of Alderson’s frustration regarding discovering details about interesting happenings…just a little too late. Her second book “Art in the South of France, The Inside …