St. Tropez, Back in the Day

I thought I had finally had my fill of “expat in Provence” memoirs but last night I snuggled in with A Feast at the Beach and am so glad I did. It takes less than two hours to read…maybe three if you savor all the recipes…and it’s a delight. 
A Feast at the Beach (3L Publishing, Sacramento, CA) is William Widmaier’s loving narrative about the glorious vacations (summer, mostly, but also Christmas

Foodstock sur la Plage

To celebrate it's 10th anniversary, the group known as Le Fooding is hosting "Fooding a la Mer" tomorrow (Saturday) evening on the Hi Hotel Beach in Nice. The event runs from 6 p.m to midnight and 1,000 people are expected. Food is being provided by a great group of chefs and restaurants: Mauro Colagreco (Le Mirazur, Menton), Mickaël and Gaël Tourteaux (Flaveur, Nice), Armand Arnal (La

The Stress-less Côte d’Azur

Everyone loves the idea of the South of France in summer. But the reality? The crowds, the traffic, the high prices, the attitude? Not so much.
But at Club Med Opio in Provence--which reopened three years ago after a $40 million renovation--it's possible to avoid every one of those height-of-the-season hassles. Within an hour of my arrival, I felt blessed rather than stressed. Call it the

Yes You Can Do Cannes...Sort Of

The travel website Jaunted has a post today about how regular folks like us can take part in the Cannes Film Festival, coming up next month. Go HERE.

The Cocktail Drinkers' Guide to Gardening: February

Born in Hampshire, England, my smart (brainy) and smart (elegant) friend James Clay is an artist and sculptor who settled down (somewhat) in St. Remy close to 20 years ago. Over the years, he lovingly created a gorgeous one-hectare garden, filled with fruit, palm, pine, and olive trees (he has 60 olive trees, all of them transplanted), plus many varieties of bamboo, flowering plants and shrubs.

Five Star Facelift for Famous Hotel

The Palais Stephanie in Cannes has finished its extensive €38 million renovation, the first of its kind in decades in Cannes, and has just been awarded its fifth star.

Palais Stéphanie sits on the original site of the Palais des Congrès, where the first Cannes Film Festivals were held until the new Palais des Festivals was inaugurated in 1983.The dramatic redesign pays tribute to the legendary

Air France to Take On Ryanair and EasyJet?

La Tribune reports this morning that Air France is planning to go head to head with EasyJet and Ryanair by launching a range of low-cost domestic flights linking French cities. The plan is to use Nice as a base for the operation. I checked in with my contact at Air France who said the company had no comment at this time.

The story says Air France will use its sister brand, Transavia, to offer