This Holiday Season, Give A Sensory Story from Provence, not a Thing

In a time when so much of life lives on a screen, I have been drawn to making photographs you can actually feel. My series, “Stories You Feel,” began in a lavender field in Valensole on a hot afternoon when the sun turned the air to honey, and the rows of purple seemed to hum. “A Summer Afternoon in Provence” carries that day into the home as an archival print, softly matted so the light and quiet of the field can breathe on the wall. With it comes a letter that tells the story of that place and why lavender holds such a deep thread through memory, a sachet of real lavender from my friend Marie Hélène’s field, and an AR experience that opens when you scan the image with your phone. The photograph unfolds into layered sound, full of bees, breeze, and the low murmur of summer.

©Francois de Melogue

“‘A Summer Afternoon in Provence’ by François de Melogue goes far beyond traditional photography. Through its poetry, finesse, and remarkable vision, it becomes a truly immersive experience. With augmented reality, the photograph is no longer a fixed surface, it becomes a living place. Sound blends with the subtle scent of lavender rising from a small Provençal sachet, deepening the sense of being carried to a summer afternoon in the south of France. A call to journey and an awakening of the senses.” ~ Jean François L.

©Francois de Melogue

What’s Included?

For me, it is not just about making an art piece; it is about making a small ritual. Included are three greeting cards of the same lavender scene, each with its own code that opens the matching soundscape, meant to be sent to someone who might need their own brief visit to Provence. A recipe card for salted honey madeleines invites you to bake something simple and warm while the scent of lavender rises, and the sound of the field plays in the room. These are gifts that tell a story, that ask you to look, listen, breathe, taste. In a world that keeps asking us to move faster, they are a quiet reminder that we still need to feel. Here is what is included in each gift package:

• One signed 11X14 inch photograph of A Summer Afternoon in Provence, printed on high quality matte paper and matted to 16 x 20 in an antique white mat.
• A written letter telling the story of that lavender field and that summer afternoon.
• One sachet of fragrant lavender from my friend Marie Helene’s field in Provence
• A QR code that opens the audio and visual experience of the lavender field
• Three greeting cards featuring the same Provence scene, each with its own QR code for the matching audio visual escape
• One recipe card for salted honey madeleines
• Free shipping in the USA

Buy this Package

©Francois de Melogue

What is an AR Experience?

According to the technology giant IBM, “Augmented reality (AR) refers to the real-time integration of digital information into a user’s environment. AR technology overlays content onto the real world, enriching a user’s perception of reality rather than replacing it.” In the case of my Sensory Story Prints, the QR code opens the “door” to a multisensory experience that goes beyond a beautiful image. Open the QR code on your device and I invite you to the sounds of an “An Afternoon in Provence”

Lavender in Provence

The lavender industry in Provence is a significant economic driver impacting agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, and retail. There are 2,000 producers and roughly 25,000 people employed in the industry. The main growing areas are the four (4) departments the Drôme, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Hautes-Alpes, Vaucluse, with some small production in the Auvergne, Quercy and the Ardèche (source: FranceAgriMer). Over 20,000 hectares are under cultivation. According to France 24, “The number of producers has grown from 1,000 to around 1,400 and France now also has 120 distilleries.”

Read about Provence’s Lavender Essentials

Rosé all day: wine tour with sommelier-guide and 3 winery visits in Provence

Splash of rosé here, splash of rosé there, splash of rosé everywhere. Let's explore three wonderful wine estates in the world-famous rosé area that is Provence!

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Chef François de Mélogue

François de Mélogue grew up in a very French household in Chicago. His earliest attempts at cookery began with the filleting of his sister’s goldfish at age two and a braised rabbit dish made with his pet rabbits by age seven. He eventually stopped cooking his pets and went to the highly esteemed New England Culinary Institute, where he graduated top of his class in 1985. Over the next three decades he cooked in a number of highly acclaimed kitchens across the country, including Chef Louis Szathmáry’s The Bakery in Chicago, Old Drovers Inn, a Relais & Châteaux property in New York, and Joël Robuchon’s restaurant Gastronomie in Paris, before opening Pili Pili, his wood-fired Mediterranean restaurant in Chicago. In 2003, Food & Wine named Pili Pili one of the ten best new restaurants in the world.

Today, François lives in St Albans, Vermont, with his wife Lisa and their son Beau, the self-proclaimed family saucier. At heart, he is a storyteller who works in two mediums, food and light. In the kitchen, his stories unfold in slowly simmered daubes and simple, thoughtfully crafted dishes that express their seasonality in every bite. With a camera, they become quiet images of food, honest products, and the rural landscapes of Vermont and Provence. He is the author of French Cooking for Beginners: 75+ Classic Recipes to Cook Like a Parisian, a book that wanders well beyond Paris into the markets and kitchens of France. You can explore his photographic work at https://www.francoisdemelogue.com/ and follow his Provençal-flavored writings on Medium in his column Pistou and Pastis.