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 …

“It feels like a home, an art gallery and a boutique hotel all in one” Avignon, the ancient walled city with the famous “pont,” is situated along the Rhone River on the TGV train line from Paris.  It is the perfect stopover en route to the Côte d’Azur, or can …

French Riviera in December The Mediterranean coastline is more than just a summer adventure playground. December is a very festive season on the Côte D’Azur. Welcome to the South of France – all year round!  Yes, there is the sparkling blue Med – but don’t be shy – you can …

It constantly amazes me how quickly two months pass. In the dead of winter, each month is dreadfully long and feels interminable. In contrast, the summer functions the complete opposite. It is never long enough and ends too quickly. These two months in Provence are always racing by, even though …

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 …

Sadly, restaurant meals do not always live up to our expectations for service, food quality, price and ambiance. We asked Susana Iwase Hanson the founder of Provence Living Cotignac for her top picks for restaurants in the Haut-Var. Why Visit Haut-Var The Haut-Var is filled with striking scenery, hilltop villages and …

Some of us (myself included) are fascinated by striking images on Instagram, and the Love in St Rémy photo feed is no exception. Laetitia Labrune de Luca is the founder of the company and the visionary behind an exquisite collection of products for gifts (or for personal a treat). There …

Contributor blog post by Paula Kane: My first week here has gone by in a flash. Perhaps because summer is always like that, or perhaps it was my fuzziness and lack of focus most of the week due to some lingering vertigo. Either way, it went by quickly with dinners and …

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 …

Located just a few kilometres from the French Riviera coast and the city of Frejus are the striking remains of the Malpasset Dam. This river barrier, completed in 1954, was a substantial post-war infrastructure project. However, the structure failed on the night of December 2, 1959, less than five years …