Provence, south of France

2012-01-26T14:55:00.000+01:00

It can be tempting to stay put in the Vaucluse in Provence because it's so attractive, but the region offers such easy access to other great places that you just have to move now and again. Elsewhere I've talked about the ease of getting to the Cote d'Azur, Paris, the Camargue, the Aveyron, Corsica, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Languedoc-Roussillon, Italy, Spain.... Well, last week my partner and I

Crime and Justice in Provence

2011-12-24T10:37:00.006+01:00

Well, it's everywhere. Crime, I mean.(You didn't think my rose-coloured glasses were that heavily tinted, did you?)Every time I open the local paper or turn on the news there's another armed robbery reported or another shooting in Marseille. Yesterday a 17-year-old boy was shot dead in Marseille outside an apartment block, La Castellane. The sapeurs-pompiers (fire brigade/paramedics) arrived

Cours de Cuisine at the Auberge de la Camarette, Pernes-les-Fontaines

2011-12-22T17:41:00.002+01:00

It's nearly Christmas and in Provence that inevitably means thinking about food over the Christmas weekend. This year I was lucky enough to have a friend offer me a cookery class at the fairly sublime Auberge de la Camarette, just outside Pernes-les-Fontaines in the Vaucluse, as a Christmas present. La Camarette seems to be a bit of a secret around here - it's excellent and almost always fully

Bonjour - is that France Telecom?

2011-12-16T15:57:00.000+01:00

One of the periodic frustrations of living in the Provençal countryside is that phone services and electricity are prone to give up the ghost fairly frequently. Since 2004, when I began to live here full time, the phoneline has always stopped working for a day or two after heavy rain. “Won’t be able to call or email you tomorrow” I’ll tell a friend, ”there’s a lot of rain forecast.” Often the

Angst in Brussels - Joie de vivre in Provence

2011-10-27T15:56:00.000+02:00

Another burst of joy simply about living here day to day. Yesterday, October 26th, was sublime. The morning began with gunshot (local hunters) and heavy mist. The French mist that Maupassant and Pagnol wrote about. That blocks out the early morning sun but is gradually penetrated by brilliant shafts of sunlight that instantly lift the spirit and draw you outside to walk on the limestone track

Hunting, herding, bee-keeping, carpentry and metal-work in Provence

2011-10-27T13:37:00.000+02:00

These are glorious autumn days, this year in October. Warm, bright, sunny and often still, although the mistral and vent du sud blow periodically. The hunters have been out in force for a couple of weeks now and this morning I was woken by cracking gunshot and hunters' dogs yelping hysterically. Another rabbit turns to paté, for a family from the local village, Velleron, to wash down with local

Organising Events in Provence

2011-10-05T10:38:00.000+02:00

I've lived in Provence for seven years and have known the region since the late 1970s. One of the admirable qualities of the people of Provence, or the culture if you like, is their gigantic ability to organise large and complex public events as if they were simply setting out tea and biscuits. The market in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is a good example. It's set up every Sunday, come hail or high water

Pinching Post-Harvest Fruit in Provence

2011-10-04T20:06:00.000+02:00

A friend called this week and asked if I wanted to go over to her place and steal apples. Well, not steal exactly, but snaffle the fruit that remain hanging about on trees after the recent harvest. This gathering of fruit for free, post-harvest, is common practice in France and is called "grappillage". My petit Larousse describes grappillage like this: "faire de petits gains secrets, souvents

Autumn in Provence: Fatal Mushrooms and Playing Squirrels

2011-09-23T14:10:00.000+02:00

The seasons here turn like clockwork. First of September and there's a change in temperature signalling that summer's over. Not quite, of course, because there are still many hot days but there's also an underlying change which is unmistakeably autumn. As an example, I was lying out in the hammock this afternoon watching a red squirrel skip through the trees to a water bowl left out for his

Grapes and Olives in Provence: Cultivation From Year Zero to the 21st Century

2011-09-23T13:53:00.000+02:00

In 2010, there was an exhibition in Arles which displayed 700 wonderful objects found on the Rhone riverbed during a long archaeological excavation underwater. Cesar: le Rhone Pour Mémoire had as its centrepiece a stunningly lifelike marble bust of Caesar, cut from Italian marble during the emperor's lifetime. The austere and impressive expression of the great Roman emperor had endured centuries

Snakes in Provence

2011-09-21T14:14:00.002+02:00

This afternoon I was swinging gently in my hammock, tied between two graceful pine trees. Just contemplating nature for a moment, and the beautiful blue sky. It's the 21st September but warm enough to be T-shirt weather. Last week, staying with friends down near Sète in the Languedoc, the Mediterranean sea was wonderfully warm to swim in. And this last weekend the pool in my neighbours' little

A Potager in Provence

2011-09-02T17:30:00.001+02:00

Although Provence has a reputation for secheresse and heatwaves, much of the land is wonderfully fertile. The markets in most towns and villages - stuffed with fruit and vegetables, oil and cheese, herbs and meat - are testimony to the soil's fertility. The land is irrigated by free-flowing water - rivers like the Sorgue, by canal water and by the rain which, when it falls, can fall in

Thunder, rain and lightning in Provence

2011-06-22T11:17:00.002+02:00

The thunder started around 3am this morning - low growls in the distance for a while and then one ear-splitting thunderbolt right above the house. Storms often build and then break during the night in Provence. I could see flashes of lightning outside around the edges of the bedroom's closed wooden shutters. The thunder was deafening but in between bolts you could hear rain hammering down on

French health care - great if you can get it

2011-06-08T17:34:00.000+02:00

France has a great health system. Everyone says so. Not everyone is entitled to use it freely though. You have to be entitled and in the system - and that means having a social security number. Although I've lived in France for years and have been entitled to a Carte Vitale - the medical insurance/entitlement card - for a year and a half, I've only just succeeded in getting hold of the social

Parasols, philosophy and poetry

2011-05-28T19:26:00.005+02:00

Although I've lived in Provence for seven years and visited the region for much longer before I came to live here year-round, I'm still often surprised by aspects of the region's culture. Since Provence, like all of France, has such a rich culture there's a feeling that you never stop learning. One of the interesting aspects of life here is the way people think. Almost everything flows from what

From Provence to the Languedoc: Eating Oysters at Bouzigues

2011-05-26T14:40:00.000+02:00

I've mentioned before that one of the great things about living in Provence is that the region is so varied. From the Cote d'Azur and the dazzling Med to the wild Camargue, from the villages perchés of the Luberon and Vaucluse to the rugged Alpilles, and from the laid-back city of Avignon to the chic streets of Aix the region is practically spinning with variety. But the other aspect of living

Hosting holidays in your home in Provence

2011-05-26T01:30:00.001+02:00

OK, I've had it with people coming to stay in summer. Let me tell you about the downside of owning a home in Provence. The downside is guests coming to stay. Or rather, unwelcome guests. Every summer, all summer. There are good guests and bad guests and it seems there's no escaping the bad ones. When I first moved here in 2004 I came across an article in French Property News that said "within

Cooking classes in Provence - L'Auberge de la Camarette at Pernes les Fontaines

2011-05-09T15:31:00.003+02:00

The Auberge de la Camarette is a bit of a hidden treasure in Provence. In open countryside just on the edge of the pretty village Pernes les Fontaines, it's set in its own vineyard with a panoramic view of Mont Ventoux, the 'Giant of Provence'. A former 17th century magnanerie, or silk farm, it's a restaurant and chambres d'hotes full of character where you dine selon le marché - that is, you get

The sheep who make Roquefort cheese: From Provence to the Aveyron

2011-05-06T07:36:00.002+02:00

One of the many good things about living in Provence is that so many other places are also easily accessible. Fancy a weekend in Spain or Italy? They're in easy reach. Or a quick trip to Paris by TGV? Equally, the Cote d'Azur, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, the Dentelles, the Alps, the Drome and the Cevennes are all close to home. One region I didn't know until recently is the Aveyron, which lies about

Treating cancer in Provence

2011-05-04T16:15:00.007+02:00

Cancer seems to be everywhere in Provence, as in the rest of the developed world. The French, though, seem to have good results in treating cancer and I keep hearing of friends and acquaintances who are cured or in remission. Last week I was chatting to a guy of 82 who was diagnosed with throat cancer six years ago. He's a bit of a character who was a builder and an ardent socialist. These days

Impregnating sheep in Provence

2011-05-04T15:39:00.001+02:00

It's early May and sheep and lambs are still much in evidence. My neighbours in the nearby hamlet woke one morning this week to find all the sheep had trundled over the string barrier around their grazing land and, followed by their lambs, had wandered into the hamlet where they were busy devouring flowers and greenery. "I was making coffee, early" one neighbour told me "and I was still

A Little Rural Drama in Provence

2011-04-19T20:06:00.000+02:00

The local shepherd, Antoine, had parked his sheep down the track among the olive trees that belong to our neighbour, Sebastien, who owns the small local Presse. A dozen or so sheep gave birth in mid-April and they and their lambs were guarded against thieves and dogs by Babar, a huge white-blonde Pyrenean mountain dog. Babar is a bit prone to wandering it seems, so he has a block of

The arrival of spring in Provence

2011-04-12T16:56:00.001+02:00

One of the great things about Provence is that the seasons are clearly demarcated and tend to arrive bang on time each year. Now that it's spring, the region is opening out just as you feel it should. For one thing, it's suddenly warm and sunny and the air has that strange uplifting scent that's a mix of optimism, blossom, flowering plants and fertility. There are songbirds everywhere. Leaves

Falling in love in Provence

2011-04-07T17:56:00.001+02:00

Since 2004, I've lived along a white limestone track in pine forest near Isle sur Sorgue in Provence. I wanted to live in Provence since I woke up on the sleeper train in Avignon in 1975 and stepped out onto a platform suffused with fabulous sunlight. It wasn't my first visit to France but it was my first time in Provence and it was love at first sight. Now that I do live here, I fall in love

Divorcing in Provence: a tale of divorce Provençal style in Avignon

2011-03-24T14:33:00.004+01:00

I divorced my ex a few years ago in Avignon. There was a complicated build-up to the end of the relationship (isn't there always?) but the divorce was remarkably simple. Once I had decided to divorce I trundled off to see an avocate in Avignon, recommended by my notaire in Isle sur Sorgue. (Excuse me - I break off here for a moment to swat a capricorn which is trying to walk in through the open

Vide Grenier at Velleron

2011-03-21T08:27:00.003+01:00

It seems to me that the vide grenier has become one barometer of the recession here in the rural south of France. More people than ever seem to be 'emptying their attic' more often than usual to supplement their income. In town centres or using the site of the local marché agricole, Provencaux book space on a Saturday or Sunday then unload all kinds of household goods they're finished with and

The Salt Flats of Salin de Giraud and the Camargue de Provence

2011-02-25T17:52:00.006+01:00

I was bored last Sunday morning. My car had finally been repaired by a local atelier de carrosserie after a late-night crash at New Year and was sitting peacefully and intact outside among the pine trees. Did I have the confidence to go for a long drive? No. So I called a friend and we headed off to the Camargue in his car. One of the wonderful-fabulous-life-enhancing things about living in

Tree Felling In Provence

2011-02-23T15:42:00.001+01:00

I'm just watching a huge mature pine tree tumble outside my window. There - it's down. It's lying right across the dirt track which leads down to the village, barring the way for any vehicle that may turn up and need to pass. On the other side of the dirt track, a friend's workman just moved his tractor forward a little to tug the tree away from the house as the tronconneuse or chainsaw severed

Choosing Vines for Soil in the Vaucluse

2011-02-12T18:23:00.000+01:00

So I have two vines that aren't growing well. They're on each side of my terrace and have struggled since 2004. One grows and produces plenty of leaf but few grapes; the other is stunted and won't grow at all. I was given the address of a pépiniériste (nurseryman) at Caromb and decided to go and talk to him. He specialises in vines. A neighbour who wants to expand his little plantation of 20

Provence - The Dark Side. Part 1: Suicide in Provence

2011-02-10T10:20:00.000+01:00

People who holiday in Provence are often - understandably - seduced by its obvious charms. Particularly in summer, visitors to the region will find that almost an overkill of sensual pleasure is easily available. The markets, the cafés and restaurants, the olive groves, the bees humming drowsily in the lavender.... Add a two or three month dollop of hot sun and a swimming pool and it's clear to

Time Travel: A Visit to the Archives in The Palais des Papes at Avignon

2011-02-09T12:25:00.000+01:00

The Vaucluse here in Provence is an area, like many others I suppose, with a rich history when it comes to industry and agriculture. When I first bought my home near L'Isle sur Sorgue, I realised there was a long history of olive cultivation on the land around the property. Everywhere in the surrounding pine forest there were young, untended olive trees that had struggled out of the roots and

Place Georges Brassens in Provence

2011-01-10T18:47:00.003+01:00

Last week I invited some friends round for an aperitif. One of them said he had to leave around 8pm because he was going to another friend's place. The other friend, Felix, was away in Figueres in Catalonia, Spain. He's Provencal but with Spanish origins and was taking a trip back to his (and Salvador Dali's) home town. "Why are you going over there when Felix is away?" I asked. "There's

Raising Rabbits in Provence

2011-01-08T11:59:00.002+01:00

Provence has long had a much-deserved poetic image. The sun. The stunning natural beauty of the countryside. The coastline. The glamour. The richness of rural life. The heritage and culture. Provence is widely seen as a great place to live or take holidays, infused with joie de vivre and a lighthearted approach to life. Author Marcel Pagnol did a lot to reflect the beauty and poetry of Provence

The joys of airport parking in the south of France

2010-12-15T10:43:00.001+01:00

An unlikely title I know. A friend has just invited me to her flat-warming party in Edinburgh in January 2011. After a divorce and a few testing years, she's just started living with her much-loved new boyfriend in a wonderful new flat they've rented overlooking the Firth of Forth. Hmm. Leave Provence, which is cold enough in January, for Scotland - which will be freezing? I weighed the pros

Maison Bru - Sublime Restaurant in Eygalières, Provence

2010-09-30T17:27:00.002+02:00

I've just got back from a so-good-it-was-practically-narcotic lunch at Maison Bru in Eygalières. The food was sublime. Open since 2009, Maison Bru is related to Chez Bru in the centre of the village. When Chez Bru opened years ago there were dark mutterings in Eygalières about the swanky style, high prices and fact that it was owned and run by Belgians. (Is there any nation anywhere that likes

Lost Sheep, Wild Boar and Dogs Passing Through

2010-08-01T08:22:00.001+02:00

I woke up this morning with the cat not calling for breakfast. Unusual because normally, unfortunately, he sits on the terrace outside my bedroom and miaows persistently from about 5.30am till I get up and feed him. He's a pretty Burmese-Siamese cross, not the straggly, pointy-faced look, but a more solid individual with lovely caramel-coloured fur and burnt-chocolate ears, face, legs and tail.

Fondation Blachere at Apt and the Conservatoire des Ochres at Roussillon

2010-05-03T20:11:00.002+02:00

I went to the Fondation Blachere this weekend while I was in Apt because a friend had told me it was an interesting place, showing African art and objets. It's actually just outside Apt, in an unprepossessing zone industrielle, and when you get there you wonder if the most you can do there is buy taps or gravel. But inside it's really quite interesting. Blachere is a guy who owns a French

Google Analytics and Those Who Drop In To Read This Blog

2010-05-03T19:30:00.001+02:00

I looked rather idly at Google Analytics this evening, just wondering who - if anyone - drops in to look at this blog. The results were rather startling. Google informs me that most people who drop in are sitting at their laptops in Barcelona and London. Then then are curious people in French towns and cities - Marseille, Aix, Lyon and Paris mostly. And then there are people in Glasgow and Reno

Oysters, Ants, Pollen Clouds and Miniature Goats.

2010-04-25T14:20:00.001+02:00

Along with hundreds of thousands of others, some neighbours here were stuck in Boston after the unpronounceable Icelandic volcano exploded into the skies, dusting European airspace with volcanic ash. The day after French and other European and UK fights were grounded, I opened my door here in the forest to a haze of yellow dust. Just another natural phenomenon - the breeze blowing clouds of

Wild Asparagus and Morille Mushrooms

2010-04-09T11:48:00.001+02:00

That time of year again. I love collecting the slim, slightly bitter wild asparagus spears that grow in Provence. You soon develop an eye for them, spotting the tangle of spiky, bottle-green asparagus plant and then, off to one side, an elegant spear. Takes time to find and collect them though so no wonder they only turn up occasionally in the local market and cost quite a bit. They're lovely

Buying Houses, Selling Houses, Renovating Houses in Provence

2010-04-09T11:21:00.001+02:00

A new neighbour of mine was widowed last year. She left the beautiful villa in Narbonne which she'd shared with her husband and moved to Isle-sur-Sorgue. There were too many memories in the Narbonne house. (Which she's selling - if you're interested in a large, perfect, move-in-condition villa with a great pool and oodles of space, just ask.) The first thing she did here was order a new kitchen.

Pruning the olive trees, 2010.

2010-03-31T12:36:00.000+02:00

2009/2010 was a horrible winter here in Provence. Long, dull, exceptionally cold and rainy. The light, sunny days were very few and everyone seemed to be in low spirits. It wasn't till the end of March that we started to see a bit more light and even then it was far from warm. We started to prune the oliviers round here on the 29th of March. My neighbours were busy from morning till night with

Using banks and banking in France (Can be a Hassle)

2010-03-31T11:58:00.001+02:00

This account may just be personal experience but numbers of French and other friends recount similar experiences. When I moved to France some years ago I chose my bank because it was housed in the prettiest building in town. How pleasant to go there once or twice a month. I don't suppose the other banks are much better in terms of service but they're in unattractive modern buildings. The first

Snow in March. In Provence.

2010-03-08T11:44:00.000+01:00

Last week, at the start of March 2010, I lay out for a couple of hours on the bain de soleil warming myself for the first time after a long cold winter. Everyone round here agrees that France had its coldest winter for decades in 2009. Finally the sun seemed to be making a comeback. Till the 7th of March. And then, wham, a thick rug of snow hit rapidly in the afternoon, turning my car into

A Must See Exhibition in Arles: "Cesar, Le Rhone Pour Memoire"

2010-02-02T17:39:00.005+01:00

Even if you're nowhere near Arles - make a point of getting there to see this exceptional exhibition. It's on almost all year (till 19th September) and is fantastic. A marble bust of Caesar, made in his lifetime, is the centrepiece of around 700 Roman artefacts objects pulled out of the Rhone (and the Mediterranean) by the lovely old city of Arles during 20 long years of underwater excavations.

And the winner, for the 5th year running, is - France

2010-01-28T12:27:00.003+01:00

Here’s some unsurprising news. France has just been judged as the best country in the world in which to live, by website 'International Living'. For the fifth year running, France topped the annual index of countries ranked by quality of life. The USA was ranked seventh. And poor old Britain, beleaguered by fear of terrorism, by crime, recession, binge drinking and ‘celebrities’, languishes

France Telecom, oh France Telecom

2009-12-28T00:27:00.002+01:00

Living in a forest on a dirt track communications are quite important. In October I bought a Livebox so I could have wifi internet access around the property and a cordless phone. For five years I'd had ADSL that worked reasonably well though it always went off for a day or two after heavy rain or a storm. The day after I got the internet and phone working with the Livebox, the red light came

How to make your own olive oil

2009-12-21T15:14:00.000+01:00

Each year here we get our olive oil just before Christmas. I have around 30 trees – not many, but a well-maintained olive tree can provide many kilos of olives every winter. Some of my trees are rehabilitated ones, survivors of the desperate frost in 1956 that killed olive trees right across this region. Others are young trees that I had planted three years ago. As my crop is small for the time

Shark! Only kidding. It's (more or less) safe to stay in the water.

2009-08-25T15:33:00.005+02:00

Various scientific studies of sharks in the Med in recent years have concluded that populations continue to show a drastic decline. There are nearly 500 species worldwide but fewer than 50 are lucky enough to cruise the shores of Cannes and St Tropez. The most common species here, and most commonly seen on fish stalls and menus, is the roussette or saumonette – the dogfish. It seems sharks are

Siamese cats and red squirrels in Provence.

2009-08-23T10:01:00.005+02:00

Here in the country between Fontaine-de-Vaucluse and Isle-sur-Sorgue everyone has a cat or a dog, or several of each. Often supplemented by hens, kids, geese, goats and a sad-eyed donkey.A couple of neighbours resolutely refuse to castrate their cats – vets' bills being moderately expensive – so we have a never-ending supply of new kittens which vary on ginger and siamese themes. The cat which

Driving in Provence

2009-08-22T18:41:00.005+02:00

Is often dangerous but also often surprising and funny. Hordes of people get killed and injured on the roads and it's easy to see why. The driving style is eclectic and rules are interpreted fairly approximately. One of the first things you notice driving here is that there is always another car practically driving into the back seat of yours. Drivers seem to find it impossible to keep any

Ramadan in Provence

2009-08-21T11:59:00.001+02:00

Ramadan starts on Saturday. There are between 5 and 7 million muslims in France, 200,000 of whom live in Marseille. The local paper, La Provence, writes that it’s estimated that until the third week of September around three quarters of muslims will try to abide by the custom and obligation of not eating, drinking or having sex between dawn and nightfall.In temperatures of more than 30 degrees at

Buying a car? Renting a car? A Renault? A Peugeot?

2009-08-19T12:57:00.003+02:00

Nothing duller than cars unless they're being discussed by Jeremy Clarkson. At least then you get some seriously controversial rubbish, some laughs and a few bits of common sense to lighten up a deathly topic. Plus, the floppy-haired other ex-public-schoolboy, James May, who's quite compelling in an irritating way. And the little handsome one, Hammond, who's sweet and clearly insane. But, if you

The crucial question of water in Provence

2009-08-19T08:57:00.005+02:00

The weather this week is officially a heatwave - a canicule. The countryside is flagging, with crisp or wilting vegetation baking in the sun. It's hot all day and all night - sleeping outside in the forest is little cooler than sleeping inside. It has the advantage though that you fall asleep to stars and moonlight and get woken by sunlight filtering through the pine trees at dawn. Straight away

A question on the Gillette family

2009-08-18T12:55:00.005+02:00

This post has nothing to do with Provence but it's French-related. Like me - I think. Here's the question.My mother's grandmother was a Gillet, pronounced with a soft g, French-style.She lived in the north-west of England and we know nothing much about her family. My mother was always given to understand though that she was of French extraction, and that her family were Gillettes, and I wonder if

Restaurants in and around Isle-sur-Sorgue

2009-08-18T11:36:00.004+02:00

Three favourite restaurants - excellent but not too expensive: Le Vivier http://www.levivier-restaurant.com/Michelin-starred and with a chic, urban feel to it even though it's right on the Sorgue and a stone's throw from open country. Le Vivier is great for a special occasion, a celebration. You can eat inside or outside looking over the river. Sample menu? (with cheerfully mixed French & English

Sex in Provence

2009-08-17T14:06:00.006+02:00

Not sure if I've talked about sex yet but now's a good time as I was tinkering around on the net earlier and read some coverage of the BNF's (Bibliotheque Nationale de France) exhibition of porn and erotica last year. On display in Paris was an historical trip through the human mind's endless preoccupation with sex. The writings and images which had all previously been squirrelled carefully away

60 thrushes and an ex-wife for dinner

2009-08-17T11:46:00.002+02:00

A friend invited me to dinner to celebrate his 60th birthday. An ex-chef and sailor turned stonemason and painter, Felix is a big, barrel-chested, expansive, local guy of Spanish origin. His new girlfriend has a little girl, conceived late during what her mother mistook for the menopause. He lives in a large agricultural hangar which he's converted into a muscular, masculine, open-plan home with

Learn French - or English - in Provence

2009-08-17T10:59:00.004+02:00

Read other posts here and you'll see that I'm based in the Provencal countryside near Isle-sur-Sorgue in the Vaucluse. A beautiful area with a great climate. Many friends have holidayed here, staying in the apartment adjoining my house. After several years of organising and delivering free holidays in this way I'm pretty experienced at all that goes with hosting visits, including translation and

Somewhere to stay in Provence - gites, apartments, villas...

2009-07-29T16:33:00.007+02:00

It's mid-summer and the area is full of highly-visible tourists, wearing shorts, holding hands and displaying ultrawhite limbs with sore patches of red sunburn. Tourists move differently. Local people drift along, rather relaxed. They move quite slowly. Tourists tend to stride, slightly ill at ease, with this awkward couple-here-together-in-a-place-we-don't-know habit of holding hands. Bet they

Wild food in Provence - morels and asparagus, rocket, cherries and plums

2009-04-06T15:41:00.002+02:00

April, and the land is warming up. The winter stock of pieds-de-mouton and hellevelles - a variety of morel - is almost used up, just enough for another two or three meals still deeply frozen. So it's time to look out for spring mushrooms. Morilles are said to grow wherever they want to but some people round here say they're most often found on ground that has been disturbed or on land burnt by

Speaking French

2009-02-17T10:55:00.003+01:00

French is a great language. Compare it with Dutch, say, or German. It sounds beautiful. Even compared with other languages around the Med, it lilts more, is more musical. It’s soft. But it’s hard to learn and to speak well. Speaking French gives you wrinkles all round your lips if you pronounce it clearly enough and speak it long enough. The grammar is complex. Enunciating subtle French sounds

Food in Provence

2009-02-15T18:29:00.006+01:00

Like the rest of France - but particularly sensual - Provence is overflowing with beautiful produce straight from the fields, fresh in the markets and selling at tiny prices. My local market reminds me of those old Russian novels where people eke out their existence spending a kopeck here and a kopeck there. (Technically, I believe, one hundredth of a rouble.)

The French are good at organising

2009-02-15T17:54:00.003+01:00

The French are good at organising. Very good. They have excellent roads and first class motorways which connect a zillion cities and towns and villages continually fit to burst with things going on. Which is to say, they’re good at organising physical stuff - infrastructure - and social stuff too – events of all types as long as they involve masses of people and lots of bonheur. And people in

Here in Provence

2009-02-14T14:44:00.003+01:00

With the economic crisis set to str-etch out for years (some politicians and economists say ten or FIFTEEN) more people than ever in cold northern countries are wondering: Is it really worth putting up with grey skies, cold winds, endless rain and long-long-faces when there's not even any of the frickin' compensation there used to be in the way of secure jobs, decent incomes or sound investments?