The Cocktail Drinkers' Guide to Gardening: August/September

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 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. James

The Cocktail Drinkers' Guide to Gardening: July

Each month here on ProvencePost, Gardening Guru James Clay dishes up great advice about two of his favorite subjects: gardening and drinking. This month he's all excited about datura--an amazing white shrub for the terrace--and one of his all-time favorite boissons, the classic margarita. "If the cocktail doesn't blow your house guests away," James reports, "then the plant most certainly will!"

Apricots Are Us

Katie Dahlstrom is a journalist with BBC World Service News. Originally from California, she moved to London after university, and fell in love with both England and Europe. After years of rainy summers, she and her husband Ben--a musician--sought out the sun and found it in southern France. They now divide their time between London and the tiny village of Le Barroux in the Vaucluse. Katie's

The Cocktail Drinkers' Guide to Gardening: June

Originally from Hampshire, England, James Clay is an artist and sculptor who has lived in St. Remy for almost 20 years. He knows pretty much everything about gardening in Provence. Plus, he likes to drink...and write...often at the same time, of course. Each month here on ProvencePost.com, James goes out on a limb for us, serving up essental gardening tips along with appropriate seasonal drink

Where Would Patricia Wells Eat?

Where should we eat in Provence? As a food writer living in the South of France, it's the one question I'm asked more than any other. So this week I turned to none other than Patricia Wells for help. 


Patricia is a journalist, author and cooking teacher, an American who has lived in Paris since 1980. Her groundbreaking "Food Lover’s Guide to Paris," which debuted in 1984, was hailed as “

The Cocktail Drinkers' Guide to Gardening: May

Originally from Hampshire, England, James Clay is an artist and sculptor who has lived in St. Remy for almost 20 years. He knows pretty much everything about gardening in Provence. Plus, he likes to drink...and write. (Often at the same time, of course.) Each month here on ProvencePost.com, James serves up gardening tips and ideas...with appropriate drink suggestions. This month, he's just back

Road Scholar

Ron van Dijk has led bike trips in France for more than 30 years, first with Euro-Bike Tours and now with Austin-Lehman Adventures (which purchased Euro-Bike Tours in 2008). The Billings, Montana-based company was named the No. 1 tour operator in the world by the readers of Travel+Leisure in 2009; they're known for very personal service and first-rate guides. (Among their 47 adventures

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.

The Cocktail Drinkers' Guide to Gardening: January

Born in Hampshire, England, James Clay is an artist and sculptor who settled down (somewhat) in St. Remy close to 20 years ago. Over time, 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 varieities of bamboo, flowering plants and shrubs. There are few things James loves as much as

One Restaurant I Love: Chez Bob

Jill Mitchell is a native Californian who has been living in Provence (in Venelles, just outside Aix) for three years. She specializes in selling French vintage school posters and other antique goodies online at stores.ebay.com/The-French-Wall. She also shares her buying tips and secrets with fellow Americans on her Vintage Buying Tours in Provence and Paris (LeTrip.org). Because Jill gets around

Cocktail Drinkers' Guide to Gardening #2

In a post dated September 25th, I introduced you to James Clay and his new monthly column. And then I forgot to post October. So we'll pick it up again with November, and call this column #2. If you're dying to know what James wrote about in October, drop me a note or post a comment below and I'll happily send it to you.

First, a bit about James: Born in Hampshire, England, he's an artist and

Todd & Gina's Excellent Adventure, Part #2

Canadian journalist Todd Babiak, his wife Gina and their two daughters, are spending a year in Provence. Todd is writing about it for newspapers back in Canada. On Sept. 20th I published his first column, the one about the stinky mattress. Here's his second, about Speedos and rules and France. Enjoy!

Cezanne, Van Gogh, Picasso Slept Here

Ewa Zebrowski is a Montreal-based photographer who recently spent 10 "magical" days in Provence. She sent me the following photos and text, which I'm delighted to share with you here. Her contact info appears at the end of the photo essay.

What would a trip to Provence be without the art? I left for Provence knowing I wanted to see the Cezanne-Picasso exhibition at the Musee Granet in Aix. I

The Cocktail Drinkers' Guide to Gardening #1

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.

Todd and Gina's Excellent Adventure: Part #1

The other day I got a terrific email from Canadian journalist Todd Babiak. (Then again, how bad could any email be if it starts "Dear Julie, I love your blog"?)
It turns out that Todd, his wife Gina and their two daughters are spending a year in Provence...and Todd is writing about their adventures for a chain of daily newspapers back in Canada. I read Todd's first column and knew immediately I

Where Should We Eat?

I'm always asking friends to tell me about great restaurants they've found around Provence, where the greeting is warm, the food great, the prices fair. At the same time, people ask me the same thing: where should we eat? So I decided to start a new feature --One Restaurant I Love--and anyone who wants can take a turn writing it. This week, our guest reviewer is James Clay, my smart, funny and

Postcard from Châteauneuf

My friend Jancis Robinson, wine writer extraordinaire, is one of the most accomplished people I know. Not only is she the editor of the award-winning Oxford Companion to Wine and co-author, with Hugh Johnson, of The World Atlas of Wine (both standard references worldwide), she has written 20-plus other books, many of which have won major awards. Her column appears weekly in the Financial Times.

Provence on Paper

Some years ago, after finishing the book "French Dirt: The Story of a Garden in the South of France," I did something I’ve never done: I wrote a fan letter to Richard Goodman, the author. He and I went on to become friends and, because I admire his work so much, I asked him to pen something for The Provence Post, on any subject of his choosing. This is what he sent.

What I miss in most of the

Funny in French

I ran into an English friend, Matt Beer, the other day and asked how his French was coming along. Not so good, was the reply. It turns out that Matt, one of the funnier people I know, still finds it virtually impossible to be funny in French. Because I’m also one of the funnier people I know, I totally relate. I asked Matt to write a little something about that and here’s what he sent.

So the