Network Provence has been set up for local women to promote their businesses. I attended one of their meetings in Aix back in November and really enjoyed learning about activities being set up. There are so many women who find themselves in Provence and set up businesses to fit around their …

Provence is filled with dining possibilities from picnics to Michelin-starred tables. The good news is it is hard to get a bad meal if you follow your nose and a few ground rules. Cafés offer table service for coffee and other beverages (think rosé and pastis) throughout the day. Cafés are typically open …

Provence’s pine forests, Mistral winds and the summer symphony of the cigales fuel Tracy Rawles’ creative writing. Rawles published her first book Charlie’s World of Glittering Powers, in November 2015. Charlie is a cigale, a cicada (or at least inspired by the cicadas), this is a description of the book’s central …

Author Mary Lou Longworth and her family have lived in Provence for nearly 20 years. They long ago fell under the spell of the natural Provencal beauty studded with olive trees, vineyards and cobalt sky. Life in France has included a few expat struggles and the birth of series of …

Artists and Art Teachers in Provence Provence is an endless canvas for artists, writers, photographers and frankly anyone with a fragment of a creative side. A place famous for its magical light, Provence has inspired master painters Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso, Van Gogh and many of today’s creators (photos below). Tessa Baker …

Here’s a recommendation for lunch, which will take you right off the beaten track and far away from tourist groups. Don’t read on if you are looking for fine dining and sophistication. Chez-le-Garde won’t offer you that. But for me, it was a truly Provencal experience a great lunch place …

The traditional cafes in the Cours Mirabeau rarely serve patisseries with their morning drinks… and I never have the nerve to produce one out of a bag, which is what you can do in so many French villages. So I am often on the lookout for somewhere to get a …

‘Marie Georgette’ is tucked away in Aix’s Passage Agard, just off the Cours Mirabeau. It’s the creation of two brothers whose stated aim is to offer ‘specialities new-yorkaises et londoniennes’ adapted to French tastes and based on quality local ingredients. The menu has lots of creative burgersit is atempting restaurant …

Château La Coste This vineyard is found just outside of Aix-en-Provence, near the town of Puy-Sainte-Réparade. It is not to be confused with the town of Lacoste (that will be another post). Paddy McKillen, a wealthy Irishman, purchased the old bastide and surrounding land in 2002. He is a man …

Launched in 1995, Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) Les Baux de Provence was a bold step for a dozen winemakers. They joined forces in an attempt to carve out a unique identity in the ocean of mediocre (at the time) Provencal wine. These wineries had fallen under the umbrella of the …