HOLLYWOOD – AUBAGNE – PARIS: A TRIANGULAR JOURNEY

Posted on February 19, 2017February 20, 2017 by Susan Manfull

It’s Academy Award season, and as it was with me a year ago when I wrote of Marcel Pagnol, I am drawn back to Provence, in fact to his hometown of Aubagne. On this occasion it began last fall when I was discussing with my wife Benedicte, who is French, about the genre films that Hollywood is known for which might appeal to her. In the past couple of years she has become a fan of American westerns, so I thought Foreign Legion fare could be of interest. What I quickly ran up against though was tha...

ESCAPE THE GLITZ OF CANNES WITH A VISIT TO ÎLE SAINT HONORAT

Posted on April 4, 2016April 4, 2016 by Susan Manfull

Cannes is the quintessential French Riviera resort, renowned for its glamour and bling year-round. Come May and the internationally acclaimed Cannes Film Festival, the Promenade de la Croisette that wraps around the waterfront, passing the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès where the festival is held, will swell with even more rich and famous folks who have flocked to Cannes to rub shoulders with celebrities and, oh yes, see a few film premieres. It’s hard to imagine Cannes as an unassuming...

MEET MARCO, LE PROPRIÉTAIRE DE CAFÉ GABY

Posted on October 15, 2015November 27, 2015 by Susan Manfull

If you have been to Lourmarin, you know Café Gaby. Located in the center of the village on Place de l'Ormeau, where main street Rue Henri de Savornin meets Rue du Temple, Café Gaby is the hub of this charming Luberon village. Men meet at the bar when the sun first rises, parents gather for coffee after dropping their children at school, vacationers come for lunch, young folks come for wifi to text, locals take their pastis as the day comes to a close, and regulars rendezvous for dinner. Deals a...

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...

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...

24 HOURS AT ALAIN DUCASSE‘S HOSTELLERIE DE L’ABBAYE DE LA CELLE—I ONLY WISH WE COULD HAVE STAYED LONGER

Posted on July 20, 2014April 10, 2016 by Susan Manfull

“It’s breathing history and serenity…and then there’s the food.” Tancrède Barale, Managing Director of Hostellerie de l'Abbaye de la Celle and La Bastide de Moustiers Long-time readers of The Modern Trobadors know that my stomping grounds center on the Luberon in Provence’s département of the Vaucluse, with frequent ventures into the Bouche-de-Rhone département. Seldom do I find myself in any of the other four départements of Provence. It’s not that I don’t like those areas—in fact, I l...

LA FÊTE DE LA MUSIQUE IN LOURMARIN

Posted on June 22, 2014November 27, 2015 by Susan Manfull

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...

THERE’S MORE THAN ONE D-DAY

Posted on June 7, 2014December 30, 2015 by Susan Manfull

June 6th marked the 70th anniversary of the Allied landing on the beaches of Normandy. I got a message early in the morning from good friend and retired Marine Bob Finneran, reminding me what day it was. But, I didn’t need reminding. I, like many people of a certain age, tuned into the live broadcast of the international ceremony marking this occasion from Ouistreham beach—code named Sword beach—in Normandy. I watched the heads of state of the world's most prominent countries as they arrived an...

AIGUES-MORTES: SEA SALT & SEE SALT

Posted on March 22, 2014December 30, 2015 by Susan Manfull

My dear friend and fellow blogger, David of Cocoa & Lavender, is a self-proclaimed salt-addict. When discussing his current post—in which he makes public his intimate relationship with salt—I recommended a trip to Aigues-Mortes. There is salt for him—literally everywhere but especially at Salin d’Aigues-Mortes—and history and architecture—a fortified city considered “the purest example of 13th-century military architecture”—for his partner, affectionately known as “Markipedia.” And, when ...

NO ENCORE FOR FRANCE’S PLEYEL PIANO

Posted on November 24, 2013December 29, 2015 by Susan Manfull

I read with some sadness that Ateliers Pleyel—the last remaining piano maker in France and one of the world’s oldest and most famous manufacturers of this beloved instrument—will end production next month. After making over 250,000 pianos for more than 200 years, this storied piano maker –widely known as Frédéric Chopin’s favorite—will take its final bow. This news spread quickly beyond the borders of France and aroused a bevy of commentators to voice their feelings. Many...