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 playing.) At sixty, I no longer harbor illusions of speaking fluent French. My ambitions are greatly reduced. At this point…

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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 spent a week there this past summer, I could see that it was not the somnolent Ansouis I first met in the mid-1990s.   La Closerie  Photos…

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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 as one of the most significant artists of his time, credited with laying the foundation for 20th-century Cubism and described as “the father of us all” by…

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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 Midnight Mass, but that they will be served all at once, on three layers of white table cloth. (Okay, tell your friends why there are three.)But,…

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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 tiny villages and large cities alike—okay, bien entendu, I’ve seen some pretty kitsch decorations too—and marchés de Noël  and fêtes de Noël are in full swing. Packages of…

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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 these neighboring quarries and, three hundred years after that, in the 14th century, the ramparts of Aigues-Mortes rose up from the ground with limestone…

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It’s not a short walk from Charles de Gaulle’s Terminal 2E, where Air France parks its planes from Boston, to Terminal 2F where one connects with another Air France flight departing to Marseille. The jumble of people waiting to board AF flight 7664 from Paris to Marseille on June 12th is  more civilized than it used to be—at least, there is some semblance of a line compared to the free-for-all that characterized the boarding process years ago (before CDG was renovated and boarding areas were ever so slightly enlarged). Photo by WT Manfull Having just arriving from Boston, where I would still have been sound…

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There is no shortage of places to go, people to see, or things to do in Provence, especially in August when festivals of every sort abound. But many of these events, understandably, are not geared to include children.Let’s agree that children typically sit too much nine months out of the year, generally don’t like to sit, and are better off reaping the benefits of moving about in the fresh air and sunshine, particularly on vacation. (Ahem, perhaps this rings even more true for adults.) Our daughter traveled everywhere with us—from the time she was four months and came along to Buenos Aires to now, when…

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The great part of staying in a maison village–home in the village–is that you are in the thick of things. The downside is that you are in the thick of things. Such is the case for good friend Pamela and me tonight, the first day of summer, June 21. In France–and in over 100 other countries around the world–the summer solstice is celebrated with a Fête de la Musique. We can hear the music from our living room in Lourmarin, as if the band were practicing in the neighboring home. It’s pretty loud and gives no hint that it will be stopping anytime soon. It’s…

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The Luberon’s lavender season usually begins around the end of June and extends into August when harvesting begins. I’ll be in Provence this year to see those gorgeous swaths of solid purple gracing the hillsides of my favorite region of France. I am excited! Lavender field outside of Sault.  Photo by W.T. Manfull Many images come to mind when one mentions “Provence.” Rosé, bouillabaisse, truffles, sunflowers, colorful fabrics, hilltop villages, and the Côte d’Azur, for example. But none is more firmly entwined with Provence than lavender. The most famous lavender field in Provence lies in front of l’Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque, otherwise known as the…

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