There were just a few paintings still to hang when I left Lourmarin in late September. Before departing—and two days before the opening–I popped by to see Jacqueline Bricard, proprietor of the naïf art gallery bearing her name and curator of the “Regard Naïf Européen” exhibition. She was in the midst of the usual frenzy entailed in the preparations for a large exhibition.  This exhibition includes the works of twenty-eight painters and three sculptors, representing 13 European countries. In total, about 60 paintings and a couple dozen sculptures comprise the show.  The majority of pieces are in the gallery and a dozen or so paintings…

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If you follow what’s happening in Lourmarin, the charming village at the southern base of the Luberon where the Manfull family has been hanging their hats for many years, you’ve no doubt seen something about “Lourmarin, Lourmarin.”  Have you wondered what “Lourmarin, Lourmarin” is?  Earlier this year, it started popping up on FaceBook and Instagram and I, for one, wondered what it was. It is the new name for the Association des Commerçants et Artisans, explained Richard Dufay, current president of the association and proprietor of Faces, an avant garde boutique for women that he opened about three years ago in Lourmarin.  I spoke with…

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We—or rather those of us of a certain age—grew up asking ourselves “who’s afraid of the big bad wolf” and later, as adults, were compelled to ask the same question about Virginia Woolf. I’ve never had the occasion to pose the question about Peter Mayle, internationally known English author of a long list of wildly popular books about Provence, most notably A Year In Provence, and recipient of many honors, including the prestigious Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honor)….Who would? Frank Churchill wrote the lyrics to “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf,” a song that was made popular by…

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After 40 years at the helm of one of Provence’s most renowned restaurants, La Fenière, Chef Reine Sammut and sommelier husband Guy are handing over the reins of the cuisine to Nadia Sammut in October. Nadia, who is the third generation of Sammuts at La Fenière, credits her grandmother and her parents for her culinary knowledge and passion for food but brings her own personal experience and education to the table, too: growing up with celiac disease and learning to cook creatively sans gluten (and dairy, too!). The transition began a year ago, Nadia told me in a recent interview.   By July, when I dined…

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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 surfaced back in March 2011, I discovered a very informative website, all about driving in France. There,…

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