Wishing you a Perfectly Provence Holiday The holidays are here, and it’s time to wish everyone Merry Christmas – Joyeux Noël and all the best for a joyful season. However, before we head out on a little technology break, it’s time to acknowledge all our terrific contributors. Time Out in …

Nestled among rolling vineyards between the historic city of Aix-en-Provence (14km) and the stunning Luberon Valley (21km), you will find Château La Coste. Purchased by Irish real estate developer Paddy McKillen in 2002, the ordinary has been transformed into the extraordinary. Château La Coste is now a stunning domain set within 600 …

Dutch-born Anne-Marie Simons is a traveller. She studied in Paris, worked in Brussels and then moved to the United States where for a long time she worked only to support her travel-bug. Today, Anne-Marie and her husband Oscar reside in Aix-en-Provence where she continues to hone her writing. The following …

Occasionally it’s time to say goodbye to a house. Even if it is one that you built yourselves and where all four (yes 4!) of your children grew-up. Recently, I was hiking with Agathe Forest of Live & Love Provence in the Alpilles. She shared that their family home was on the market so …

Virtual Escapes Not far from Marseille’s Vieux Port is your chance to escape reality at ExitGame. The company opened its doors and “play” rooms in 2015. The concept originated in Asia, but these virtual escapes are now available in many cities around the world. The ExitGame escapes are suitable for …

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, …

In Portugal, the culinary rumour is that there are 365 (or more) ways to cook salt-cod (bacalhau) – one for every day of the year. Cod is called morue in French. It is quite common to find this fish on menus, and it is often the “centre” of attention in the traditional Provencal aioli (recipe here). Gilles recipe for brandade a purée of salt cod, olive oil and other ingredients is below.

Travel Guides for Provence Remember when we carried around hefty paperbacks to guide our travels? In the 1980s, long before smartphones, tourists faithfully checked these guidebooks for reviews on hotels, restaurants and must-see sights. Backpackers conscious of space and weight often discarded the pages for a city or region once …

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 …