Over 100,000 people (some estimates as high as 126,000) died in Provence between 1720 and 1722, including almost 50% of Marseille’s population some 46,000 inhabitants. All in the name of commerce. The Grand Saint-Antoine arrived in Marseille’s port on May 25, 1720, from Syria (previously Levan), the vessel was late, …

Finally, it’s hot in Aix, so we were very happy this week to go to the water. We visited the Lac de Quinson which is on the border of the Var and the Alpes de Haute Provence. It’s all part of the waterway which runs from Sainte-Croix to Gréoux-les-Bains. Continue …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: ….in both senses of the word. ‘Un Monde Flottant’ just opened in Nice focuses on the work of Jacques Henri Lartigue who was born in 1894 into a high-society French family. Given a camera as a child, he photographed everything and everyone around him, from …

It’s three years since I visited Delhi Delice so was happy to find it still flourishing on a recent visit. It is a family-owned restaurant run by the couple Shahnawaz and Dominique – chef Shahnawaz has previously worked in restaurants around the world including the famous Bukhara restaurant in the …

Generally, summer is a time of festivals and music all over France. It is best to check the local guides for details as there is plenty to see in the way of art and music in Provence. If you let Provence carry you away, you might find yourself Dancing in …

From 19 June until 18 September 2016, Old Town Antibes (Vieil Antibes) will welcome 19 bronze sculptures from Niçois artist Nicolas Lavarenne. Lavarenne has exhibited in the region at St Paul de Vence, Château de la Napoule in Mandelieu, Menton and Roure with other works also displayed in New York, …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Launched this month, the 2016 Guide Gantié How do you choose which restaurant to visit? This is a real question here in Provence with so many to choose from. So this week I talked to local writer Ester Laushway who is the Vaucluse correspondent for …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Van Gogh was so incredibly productive that, while in Arles and in Saint-Remy, he produced some 500 works; so it’s always seemed sad that there was, until recently, only one of his paintings in Provence (in Avignon). Two more have arrived (one in Aix and …

Twenty years ago, my husband, daughter, and I rolled into Marseille on the high-speed train from Paris.  If I recall correctly, the Aix-en-Provence TGV station had not yet been built. We rented a car and drove to Aix-en-Provence, where we would spend several nights before moving to Lourmarin, the small …

In 1999, a decade after the publication of Peter Mayle’s “A Year in Provence”, Georgina Causton and her partner decided to take a sabbatical year. Smitten by the South of France, they never returned to live in London. Instead, they bought a house and three mortgages later ended up with …