THE LITTLE PRINCE RETURNS TO NEW YORK

Posted on April 6, 2014November 27, 2015 by Susan Manfull

Look up at the sky. Ask yourself, “Has the sheep eaten the flower or not?” And you’ll see how everything changes. And no grown-up will ever understand how such a thing could be so important. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry The Little Prince If you are a regular reader of The Modern Trobadors, I suspect that you know “the little prince.” It’s likely that you know him well. People who travel, like the little prince, open their eyes, their ears, and their hearts to the adventures the world has ...

NEW SHOW AT CARRIERES DE LUMIERES: BE ENVELOPED BY THE MUSIC, MOVEMENT, GLITTER, AND BRIGHT COLORS OF ARTIST GUSTAV KLIMT

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

What does a town do with a vast web of stone quarries with a “Closed” sign on every door? The folks in Les Baux-de-Provence turned theirs into the largest permanent multimedia show in France. Carrières de Lumières (formerly called Cathédral d’Images) is a smashing success. Close to 400,000 visitors attended last year’s show. For over 2000 years, the quarries in Les Baux-de-Provence were a primary source of limestone for this area. The Romans exploited the quarries for material to rebuild the ...

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 ...

LA CAMARGUE SAUVAGE

Posted on March 16, 2014February 13, 2016 by Susan Manfull

When you’ve tired of charming hilltop villages in the Luberon and swanky restaurants along the French Riviera, don your jeans and cowboy boots and head to the Camargue. (Forgot your boots? Pas de problème. You can pick up a pair in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.) Although I quickly grow bored with swank, I have to confess I am rarely tired of charm, especially in the Luberon—I just wanted to grab your attention to promote the Camargue, an area so radically different from the rest of Pr...

PROVENCE ROSÉ: TASTING AND TRAVEL NOTES FROM “PROVENCE IN THE CITY 2014”

Posted on March 9, 2014January 15, 2016 by Susan Manfull

Provence—today, the very word conjures up images of sipping rosé: on the beaches of the Côte d’Azur, by the pool of a handsome mas nestled into the garrigue-covered hills in the Luberon, in outdoor cafés along Cours Mirabeau in Aix-en-Provence, with bouillabaisse in Marseille’s vieux port, and, for some folks, in yachts docked at St. Tropez. Mon dieu, rosé was born in Provence and, well, bred there, too. The Greeks introduced rosé when they arrived in Marseille, some 2500 years ago. They plan...

MARTIGUES—THE VENICE OF PROVENCE—IS A PICTURESQUE STOP FOR LUNCH & A STROLL

Posted on March 2, 2014December 30, 2015 by Susan Manfull

Martigues was a magnet for painters in the 19th- and early 20th-century. Painters from the schools of French Romanticism, Barbizon, and even Fauvism were drawn to the charm of this picturesque port and its luminous colors. Today, the “Venice of Provence,” still lovely and luminous and now also known for its flowers and gardens, may capture your heart, too. It is off the beaten path of the typical tourist, but well worth a stop if you are in the area. Located just 21 kilometers (15...

ROUSSILLON: BRING YOUR CAMERA, PAINTBRUSHES, AND BASKET FOR THE MARKET

Posted on February 23, 2014February 13, 2016 by Susan Manfull

Roussillon is designated as one of "Les Plus Beaux Villages de France," and with good reason. Its brilliant array of colors--reds, oranges, greens, and blues of seemingly every shade--is enough to beckon even the most weary traveler. As one approaches this village, along D227 from the east (my favorite drive in), the verdant green landscape meets the bright orange ochre cliffs and offers contrasts striking in their beauty. The typically cloudless blue skies of this part of Provence offer the ...

SACHA LICHINE TALKS ABOUT MAKING ROSÉ IN PROVENCE AND WE TASTE HIS WINES…including the just released 2013 Whispering Angel

Posted on February 17, 2014February 13, 2016 by Susan Manfull

Sacha Lichine, the man behind the wine at Château d’Esclans, was in his old stomping grounds this week. In Boston for the city’s Wine Expo, I caught up with him at the Seaport Hotel where he was hosting a seminar on—guess what—the four tiers of luscious rosé produced in his now well-known Côtes de Provence château. In ascending order of quality, our tasting at the seminar would include Whispering Angel (2013), Château d’Esclans (2012), Les Clans (2010 and 2011), and Garrus (2010 and 2011). ...

AUPS TRUFFLE FESTIVAL: MEET THE BEST TRUFFLE DOG AND THE CUTEST TRUFFLE PIG

Posted on February 3, 2014February 13, 2016 by Susan Manfull

I am immensely grateful to Pamela J. O'Neill for her reporting and photographs of this event. Aups, the small Provence village renowned for its weekly truffle market (every Thursday morning from mid-November through February), was the place to be last Sunday—it was the site of the 21st annual “Journée de la Truffe Noire d’Aups.” Held the fourth Sunday of January each year, this truffle festival draws hundreds of people who come to eat, drink, and "root" for their favorite dog in the truffle h...

CORSICAN WINE: INFLUENCED BY PROVENCE AND ITALY, BUT DISTINCTLY ITS OWN

Posted on January 26, 2014February 13, 2016 by Susan Manfull

Corsica is a gorgeous French island just 100 miles (170 km) off the southeast coast of Provence and a short flight (45 minutes) from Marseille. Its main draw has long been its striking beaches--some 200 of them totaling over 600 miles of the island's coastline--but did you know that its wines are also a growing reason to visit L’Ile de Beauté? (And yes, Corsica is also known for its notorious mafia of French Connection fame and, more recently, for the mafia's connection to the Paris apartment wh...