One thing that always warms my heart during the holidays in Provence is the culture’s commitment to quality and tradition. We always see pictures of the endless lavender fields and crystal azure skies, but I feel as though Christmas time is when the real Provence shines brightest. Free from the …

Aix-en-Provence in One Day It’s surprising to me that when people come to Provence, their tours are often so short. Travelling from the Côte d’ Azur to Marseilles, to Aix-en-Provence, to Montpelier, to St. Rémy, to the Luberon, to Avignon, and all the quaint villages in between is a pretty …

Provence is blessed with a fantastic climate, especially for grapes! The region gets lots of sunshine and not too much rain with warm days and cool evenings. The Mediterranean moderates the temperatures and the famous “Mistral” wind keeps the vineyards dry, free of pests and the skies clear. Viticultural Provence …

An Artist in Provence Born in London, Tessa Baker’s spent her early years in the English countryside. Her creative education included Chelsea School of Art and later at Slade School of Fine Arts. Baker also studied culinary arts in Switzerland. Fast forward, she has painted for over 30 years, and …

By Aixcentric: Most museums have massive amounts of ‘stuff’ filed, heaped, mounded away in archives, basements and warehouses. The question is: what do they do with it all? It really is an issue. Marseille’s MuCEM inherited the contents of the Musée National des Arts et Traditions Populaires in Paris and now …

There are few things I enjoy more than eating seafood. A gourmet tour designed by Absolutely Southern France in the seaside city of Sète introduced me to a whole lot more favorites for food lovers. I was brought up going to a fish camp on the Catawba River, just outside Charlotte, …

Culinary Holiday in France Occasionally magic happens in the kitchen, but the odds are better if you have some training. In the case of Chef Francois de Mélogue and his wife Lisa, they have a collective 30+ years in the hospitality industry, and both enjoy entertaining – a winning combination. …

Joy of Cooking in Provence True confession: I am a committed foodie (although the grammar checker doesn’t seem to like the word). Maybe that admission will get me off the hook for being unable to delete thousands of photos of markets objectively. Over the years, we have taken many (did …

As summer segues into fall, I cannot help but hope summer will linger on just a bit longer. It’s not the Pacific Northwest’s impending rainy season or even the imminent cold weather that I fear, it’s just that no other season expresses Provence more succinctly. Fall in Provence Summer is …

You don’t need to spend much time at the Marseille airport or at the city’s Noailles market (le marché des Capucins) to sense a strong North African influence in the region. At the market, you can shop for all the ingredients that you need for this B’stila b’djej recipe