THE MUSÉE EXTRAORDINAIRE CELEBRATES ITS 40TH ANNIVERSARY

Posted on July 5, 2015December 30, 2015 by Susan Manfull

Forty years ago, Georges Mazoyer (1925 - 1996) opened his Musée Extraordinaire in the tiny Luberon village of Ansouis. Deep-sea diver, artist, and world-wide traveler, this extraordinarily unusual man spent ten years refurbishing the small space--a former stable--adjacent to his studio and filling it with the souvenirs of his adventures. Encouraged by friends to share his passion for underwater life, the museum was a labor of love that today is carried on by his daughter, Nicole, and her husband...

BREATHALYZERS AND OTHER CURIOUS ITEMS LEGALLY REQUIRED WHILE DRIVING IN FRANCE

Posted on May 24, 2015November 27, 2015 by Susan Manfull

With a trip to Provence on the horizon, I looked into the status of the legal requirement to carry breathalyzers in one’s car. The answer, as I write this post, is that at least one is required. However, don't hold your breath, things could change by August. Such is nature of this law and, to some extent, many of the laws pertaining to driving while in France. While researching the status of the on-again, off-again breathalyzer requirement, a story I have kept an eye on since it first s...

THINGS TO KNOW IN PROVENCE: WHAT IS L’APÉRO?

Posted on May 11, 2015December 30, 2015 by Susan Manfull

Recently, I told a group of people we are meeting in Provence that “It all begins Sunday evening with l’apéro,” prompting many of those people to sheepishly inquire exactly how Sunday evening would commence. What is l’apéro? It is a derivative of the Latin word aperire, which means “to open,” and refers to opening the palate for a later meal. It’s the beverage—called an apéritif—that is served to whet the appetite, but its full meaning encompasses the whole social occasion in which this im...

FRENCH LESSONS HAVE TAUGHT ME MORE THAN FRENCH

Posted on February 23, 2015November 27, 2015 by Susan Manfull

French Lessons. There they are again on my list of goals for 2015. I shudder to think how many years “French Lessons” have hovered near the top of my annual list of aspirations deemed important in moving toward personal-fulfillment or, from a practical standpoint in the case of French, to making travel in Provence a lot easier. Right up there with writing, reading novels, travel, wine, squash, and running, all areas of my life in which I hope to make progress. (I finally dropped piano playin...

SLEEPY ANSOUIS: ONE OF “LES PLUS BEAUX VILLAGES DE FRANCE”

Posted on February 9, 2015November 27, 2015 by Susan Manfull

In most tourist books about Provence, rarely is more than a small paragraph devoted to the charming village of Ansouis. In some popular books—notably Rick Steves’ Provence and The French Riviera—the village is not even mentioned although, remarkably, the old standard Michelin Guide: Provence includes a full page about Ansouis.It’s no wonder this beautiful village is also referred to as “sleepy and “quiet.” (Read: surprisingly few tourists.) Selfishly, I would like to keep it that way, but having...

MEET MADAME CÉZANNE

Posted on January 11, 2015December 30, 2015 by Susan Manfull

Post-impressionist artist Paul Cézanne, born in Aix-en-Provence in 1839, spent most of his sixty-six years in his beloved Aix and he died there in 1906. He grew up there, studied law at the university, took art classes at the city’s Musée Granet—even won a second-place prize for his painting at that museum—and famously painted nearby Mont Sainte-Victoire some five dozen times. Cézanne is generally regarded as the most famous painter to emerge from Aix-en-Provence and is certainly regarded a...

PROVENCE’S LES TREIZE DESSERTS: NOT JUST ANOTHER ARTICLE ABOUT THOSE 13 DESSERTS

Posted on December 15, 2014March 16, 2017 by Susan Manfull

Regular readers of The Modern Trobadors know that thirteen desserts—Les Treize Desserts de Noël—are traditionally served on Christmas Eve in Provence, after the big supper—Le Gros Souper—which, actually, is more lean than “big” with its emphasis on herb-laced broths, seafood, and vegetables rather than meat. Ah, dear TMT reader, you can probably recite to your clueless friends what the thirteen desserts consist of and why there are thirteen. You know that they might not be set out until after Mi...

IN PROVENCE, OYSTERS AT CHRISTMAS ARE LIKE TURKEYS AT THANKSGIVING

Posted on December 8, 2014December 30, 2015 by Susan Manfull

It’s Christmastime in Provence and there is an unmistakable flurry of activité de Noël throughout the region. In homes, the wheat grains has been planted in shallow bowls in hopes that it will grow straight and tall, foretelling an abundant harvest and prosperous year; the Santons have been arranged in the crèche; three white table cloths have been ironed in anticipation of le Gros Souper; and preparations are in process for les Treize Deserts. White lights bedeck t...

FOR OUR FIRST THANKSGIVING IN PROVENCE, WE TURNED TO LA RÔTISSERIE DU LUBERON AT THE WEEKLY MARKET

Posted on November 23, 2014January 23, 2016 by Susan Manfull

As the days move closer to Thanksgiving, I am thinking of the year we were in Provence—in the charming village of Lourmarin—on that quintessential American holiday. Like most people who are drawn to travel abroad, we love to learn about the traditions of other cultures and are eager to embrace them when we are in those countries. Some, we may even take home with us and celebrate as our own. I’m thinking of the Santon village that will soon grace a corner of our living room and the wheat that, wi...

THE LIKES OF LEONARDO DA VINCI, RAPHAËL, AND MICHELANGELO ARE HEADING TO THE CARRIÈRES DE LUMIÈRES

Posted on November 9, 2014December 30, 2015 by Susan Manfull

The quarries in Les Baux-de-Provence were once renowned for their abundant supply of limestone. Over 2000 years ago, the Romans made use of this limestone for rebuilding the Celto-Liguirian town of Glanum and for building the Municipal Arch and Mausoleum that still stand across from Glanum. The Roman city of Arles was built with limestone from these quarries. Over a thousand years later, in the 11th century, the infamous Lords of Les Baux built their formidable citadel from the limestone in the...