Since 1969, Arles has established itself as a European focus for the art of photography. The vast Recontres d’Arles festival sprawls across town with 60 different exhibitions in museums, chapels, halls, showing the work of masters of the art – and new practitioners. It’s very inspiring – but Continue reading …

Before my recent trip to Provence, I didn’t know much about the area other than it was known for its lavender and pastis. It’s only 3.5 hours from Marseille to Nice, so I figured it couldn’t be that hard to find a place to stay. Despite its relatively small size …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: The lovely Canaletto exhibition at the Hotel Caumont has been extended to 20th September giving us all an extra week to enjoy these masterpieces. See review here. Next up is ‘Les Collections du Prince de Liechtenstein’ which will run from 7th November until 20th March. …

Samantha Mureau’s career in search of the latest fashion and style trends brought her to Europe on too many occasions to count. Now, she runs Trendline Europe from Aix en Provence in the South of France. You can read more about Samantha and Discovering Designers an event that she recently …

Contributor blog post by Aixcentric: Marseille-focus next weekend begins on Friday night with a special edition of Thalassa on France 3. Called Marseille plus belle la mer, it’s the first in a series of programmes celebrating Thalassa’s 40 year run. It is one of France’s oldest TV programmes. Starting at …

Contributor blog post by aixcentric: Welcome back to the blog! I hope that you have had a good, restful summer despite the high temperatures in town. No such problem in Angleterre this summer! Walking around Aix this week was lovely – I had almost forgotten how blue the sky is, …

Sarah Pernet spends her days guiding visitors around Provence. Her company Discover Provence founded only four years ago, has already achieved Trip Advisor certificates of excellence and Rick Steves’ stamp of approval. You can read the full story here. We asked Sarah to share her Perfectly Provence picks with readers: …

Millions of years of seismic activity, tectonic plate movement and freeze-thaw cycles created the diverse geology of present-day Provence. The region is also known as the Bouches de Rhône where the Mediterranean shoreline runs the gambit of beaches, brackish wetlands and vertigo-inducing cliffs. Other natural phenomena in the area include …

You can almost hear the clip-clop of the horses’ hooves maneuvering their master’s carriages on the cobblestones. Glance through the majestic iron gates into the cour d’honneur at l’Hôtel de Caumont and let the elegant limestone façade transport you to another era. The grand entrance was unique even in the …

Before we moved to France I had read Peter Mayle’s account of his idyllic year in the Luberon region of Provence, and thoroughly enjoyed it. However, when planning our great escape from the grey-skied rat-race that is the City of London we never contemplated moving to the Luberon. Somehow it …