IT’S ALL ABOUT FOOD: FRENCH IDIOMS INSPIRED BY FOOD

Posted on October 3, 2010November 13, 2017 by Susan Manfull

“Elle travaille de la cafetière!” “Ah, occupe-toi de tes oignons.” “Mais, elle pédale dans la choucroute….ça tourne au vinaigre.” “Oh, purée, mon petit chou. Quelle salade!” “Bien, bien...les carottes sont cuites.” You may wonder if I am working from my coffee pot or pedaling in sauerkraut….another post on food? You thought this blog was about France. Ah, mais oui, it is about France; but, in France, mes canards, it’s all about food! Let’s face it: The French are obsessed with food. De...

FÊTE VOTIVE ROLLS INTO LOURMARIN

Posted on September 5, 2010November 27, 2015 by Susan Manfull

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 pro...

JE SUIS DANS LE PASTIS!

Posted on August 23, 2010March 4, 2016 by Susan Manfull

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 loca...

PROVENCE TO COMMEMORATE “THE FORGOTTEN D-DAY”

Posted on August 15, 2010December 30, 2015 by Susan Manfull

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...