The traditional cafes in the Cours Mirabeau rarely serve patisseries with their morning drinks… and I never have the nerve to produce one out of a bag, which is what you can do in so many French villages. So I am often on the lookout for somewhere to get a …

‘L’art d’apprendre le francais’ and ‘l’art de vivre en Provence’ are combined for those signing up for courses with Destination Francais. It’s an Aix-based company started by two French teachers, tired of the classroom-based teaching methods they’d been tied to in the traditional system. They felt that learners need more …

‘Marie Georgette’ is tucked away in Aix’s Passage Agard, just off the Cours Mirabeau. It’s the creation of two brothers whose stated aim is to offer ‘specialities new-yorkaises et londoniennes’ adapted to French tastes and based on quality local ingredients. The menu has lots of creative burgersit is atempting restaurant …

Thinking about the question marks over the authenticity of the Venus (from the art collection of the Prince of Liechtenstein), which was on show at the Hotel de Caumont, I was reminded of an experiment last year at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London. It’s the world’s oldest gallery.

This post may be a little longer than usual…but that is a reflection of the wide variety of activities at Aix’s ‘English Bubble’. Even if you’ve heard of it, you may not realise how much manager Melina offers there… This information may well be worth passing on to learn about …

This exhibition brings together many of the paintings and sculptures that the musée Granet has collected over the past decade. The museum has, since its inception, been the recipient of donations from various local aristos and painters, but it is increasingly buying works to enrich the collection.

This café had only been open 9 weeks when I visited in August so it was good to revisit it and see how things were going. Young British owners Alex and Ben report lots of activity and it was certainly busy yesterday, maybe a result of being rated 2nd on …

The Mystery of the Lost Cezanne is Mary Lou Longworth’s fifth novel; number six will be published in September 2016. Her first book Death at the Château Bremont took years to write, but since 2011, she has been hard at work writing murder mysteries based in or near to Aix-en-Provence. Keep …

This is the new novel, set in Aix, from local writer M.L. Longworth, and I have been glued to it for two days. It’s a real page-turner and I love all the familiar locations: a patisserie in the Cours Mirabeau, a body found in rue Boulegon, a car-ride out to …

Returning to Aix last week, it was good to see the textile market stalls back together in the Cours Mirabeau after being scattered around during the Christmas period; but further changes are afoot from June onwards and the stall holders are not happy. All three markets – textile, foods and …