The Top Ten Wine Drives in Provence

Bravo to Sheila Johnston and her website Marseille-Provence for yesterday’s post: The Top Ten Wine Drives in Provence. Sheila tells me it took the better part of a week for she and her husband, Robert, to produce…and I can see why. 
“Although there's a ton of info about wine on the net, it tends, I feel, to be very fragmented and confusing," she says. "We've tried here to consolidate and

Kit Golson’s Design Tour de France

One of the many super-cool people I've met in the blogosphere is Kit Golson, a California-based interior designer who's crazy passionate about Provence. And now Kit tells me she's leading a Design Tour of Provence over Easter: April 22 to 27. If I didn't already live here, I'd sign up for this trip for sure. And I'm totally planning to schlep along one day if the gorgeous-and-talented Kit lets me

Major Antique Fair Starts Tomorrow

More than 200 exhibitors are expected at the 89th International Brocante and Antiques Fair, running tomorrow through Sunday in splendid L'Isle sur la Sorgue. Arrive early to get parking, especially on Sunday when the village holds its regular weekly market as well.  


With hundreds of shops, stalls and vendors, L'Isle sur le Sorgue is considered the third most important antiques center in Europe

Provence All Over the Web...

I've seen lots of great Provence and France articles online during the last month or so. And because I live to please you, dear reader, I've collected some of the best.  Here you go...enjoy!


In the New York Times, Eric Asimov rated 20 rosé wines from Provence. Read all about it here.


The Times also featured a great piece about the Luburon.


Have any of you tasted Andrea Calek's wines?

Sous La Neige!

Photo by Francis Manguy, http://francis.manguy.free.fr/photos/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/barrail/3184983866/ Photo by Polbar: http://www.flickr.com/photos/46064269@N00/481062305/ Photo by Jaffi: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31055972@N04/4017623848/ Photo by Beril Hansson: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bertilsud/91856488/

Photo by Jonathan Giuntini: http://www.flickr.com/photos/

Gorgeous Antique-Filled Home for Sale

It's always fun to see someone you know in the paper, right? I met antique dealer Thomas Kerr in cooking class at La Mirande in Avignon...and later found we have mutual friends. Now I see he's selling his spectacular home near Isle sur la Sorgue--and everything in it--so he can move on to other projects. (I've been there, I've seen the house. Trust me...you could do worse!) This is an amazing

Provence in the Press

Summer always brings more Provence in the media than usual, it seems. Here are a few articles I noticed in the last week or so.

A tour of the Luberon in the L.A. Times.
From The Independent: the joy of a visit to Aix.

In his syndicated column, Rick Steves wrote about outdoor markets. Here it is in the Chicago Tribune.
Brad and Angelina give their kids a "normal life" in a £45million Provencal

Restaurant Review: Le Vivier

If two or three foodie friends recommend the same restaurant, I’m usually all over it. Yet despite all the raves I’d heard about Le Vivier, it took me more than a year to get there. My friends and I arrived a bit weary—it was a cold, grey Thursday in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and many of the shops and galleries we tried to visit were closed--so we were looking forward to a great lunch, a

PETER MAYLE'S RESTAURANT PICKS

British author Peter Mayle spent 15 years in advertising before leaving the business, in 1975, to write children's books. In 1990, he published A Year in Provence, which became an international bestseller; his books have since been translated into 20-plus languages. Mayle’s novel A Good Year was the basis for a 2006 film of the same name...directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe, it

LUXE IN THE LUBERON

The French soap maker L’Occitane (and two investors) have opened the 46-room Couvent des Minimes Hotel & Spa in a restored 400-year-old stone convent outside Mane, in the Luberon. (It's about an hour from Avignon.) I haven't been there yet but I hear, from well-traveled friends, that it's amazing. The four-star hotel is home to the first L’Occitane Spa in France. Chef Philippe Guerin, 38,