The annual Fête Votive rolled into Lourmarin last week, completely consuming this tiny Luberon village, as it does every year on the last weekend in August. Unfortunately, the mistral blew into town around the same time; but nothing could dampen the palpable excitement that fills the hearts of the inhabitants of Lourmarin and their guests during this festival.   Every village in Provence has a fête votive, each slated for a particular weekend every year. These fêtes or festivals probably had their origin in the Catholic practice of honoring the patron saint of the village, but are now clearly more secular than religious. “Votive” refers to the…

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Ahhhh, Pastis….The sweet scent of anise wafts from the tall heavy-bottomed glasses on our tiny table in Café Gaby.  Memories of a subtle licorice flavor laced with fragrant herbs are called forth.  Our thirsts on this very warm late August day will soon be quenched. We arrived in Lourmarin yesterday afternoon and are now sitting in our favorite café, in the heart of this Luberon village, where we will mark the start of our vacation with—what else? —a little pastis.  We sit, nestled among locals and tourists,  in this lively café where people have come for generations for their pastis. “Since the war,” the waiter…

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Twenty six years ago today, August 15, 1944, Allied troops landed in Provence to help liberate Europe from the Nazis and end World War II. The Allied invasion of Provence, code-named Operation Dragoon, got overshadowed by the better-known D-Day invasion in Normandy two months before (June 6, 1944). So much so that it got dubbed “The forgotten D-Day.” Yet 66 years later, Provence is strewn with memorials to the Provence landings. And this August 15, at least one community will devote the whole day to remembering the historic military campaign that freed southern France from occupation. Two hours from our rental apartment in Lourmarin, the…

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Perhaps you’d like to escape the sticky heat of Paris this August by traveling to Provence. You can do so in just a little over three hours in the quiet comfort aboard the high-speed train– le Train a Grande Vitesse, or TGV, as the French call it. (Conversely, you can add a quick Paris TGV trip to your Provence agenda….although we don’t recommend doing so in August!) Powered by electric motors, the French TGV was originally conceived in the 1960s right after Japan launched its foray into high-speed trains. Today’s TGV from Paris to Provence runs at about 320 kilometers an hour, and gets there…

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Lavender is entwined with the very soul of Provence. In the summer, when the lavender fields bloom, a vibrant purple sea envelops the region’s medieval monasteries, lapping at ancient hilltop towns and traditional working farms. In July, lavender is everywhere – snaking up hillsides in parallel purple rows, splashing field after field with a touch of day-glo purple. In August, it’s harvest time — the rows still stand but their purple hues are more subdued after tractors pass through and collect fragrant bunches of lavender for the distilleries. Already, the lavender festivals are in full swing. The lavender fields are scattered across Provence ( http://tinyurl.com/25e82nk…

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