Party Like It's 1399

Tarascon's annual Fête Médiévale runs through Sunday and if you like friendly natives in colorful costumes, this is the fête for you. Starting tomorrow, the Place du Chateau (the area around the castle) will be transformed into a medieval marketplace evoking the reign of King René, who built the castle in the 1400s. There will be jousting on horseback, knights in arm-to-arm combat, dancers, fire

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

New Art Festival Launches Thursday

When I heard that AP’art, a new regional art festival, was coming our way this week, I asked my artsy friend Angela Billows to give us all the details. Here’s her report.
This year sees the launch of Ap’art, an international contemporary art festival set amongst the beauty of the Alpilles Mountains. It runs from July 8 to 13, to coincide with the summer festivals in Aix-en-Provence, Arles,

Love Photography? Get Thee to Arles!

The Rencontres d'Arles is an international photography expo that takes over the city of Arles each summer with seminars, workshops, gallery shows, open-air projections and more. It's Europe's biggest photo festival and, some say, the most important event of its type in the world. The 41st annual festival opens officially today and runs through Sept 19th.


Over the years Arles has played host to

It's That Time Again...

Tomorrow (Monday May 24th) is the annual Fête de la Transhumance in St. Remy, where shepherds herd their flocks (roughly 3500 sheep and goats) three times around the village's circular "main drag" before taking them up to graze the green pastures of the Alpilles for the summer months. Transhumance is considered one of the 100 Prettiest Festivals in France and if you haven't seen it, it's great