Sixty kilometers (38 miles) from Lourmarin, in the French department Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, lies Forcalquier where, every Monday morning, a lively market transforms the sleepy city. It is well worth the hour-or-so drive from Lourmarin to go to the market as well as to see a different side of Provence. So different that, in fact, some would not even consider this area Provence. Technically, Forcalquier is part of Provence. The administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azure (PACA) certainly includes the departments of Vaucluse, Bouches-du-Rhône, Alpes-Maritimes, parts of Hautes-Alpes, as well as Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. Ask most people what departments define Provence and most will include at least the Vaucluse, the Bouches-du-Rhone,…

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Family and friends be forewarned: I am planning a big rendezvous in Provence Fall, for me, always marks the beginning of a new year in an evocative way that January never has.  I suppose I never outgrew that heady feeling I got as I set my binders, lined paper, and new pens and pencils next to the door and eagerly anticipated the first day of school.  In college, the stack got taller with all the new books for classes, instilling an even greater sense of possibility.  (Maybe that’s the reason I kept on going, completed the doctoral degree, and became a university professor although being…

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If you have not yet received your invitation to the wedding of the year—Brad and Angelina, of course, who are rumored to be tying the knot in their French country home, Château Miraval, near Brignoles—and you still plan to be in Provence in September, drop by Jacqueline Bricard’s La Galerie d’Art Naïf  in Lourmarin.  On September 22—this date is for sure—Madame Bricard will open her gallery and welcome naïf painter Alain Donnat and photographer Yann Werdefroy who have teamed up to produce some of the most original artwork to be seen in some time.    George Clooney won’t be there and Madame Bricard will not…

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A glass of Pastis next to a scoring tool for pétanque We played pétanque, drank pastis, and spoke a little French last weekend. The only sign that we were in Portsmouth, New Hampshire was the Norwegian Maple tree—a poor substitute for the stately Plane tree that is rarely far from any game of pétanque in Provence—but, it didn’t matter. Palm trees could have framed the terrain where the games took place. All eyes were on the players and their boules….well, unless they were on the pastis. C’etait formidable! Portsmouth, New Hampshire I have watched the game for many years in France, but I’ve never had the…

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At the height of lavender season in Provence—the largest lavender- producing region in the world—the industry is worried. The iconic flower is in trouble and the culprit is the cicadelle, a tiny insect with a voracious appetite. Production has plummeted in the last decade, dropping to as little as one third of what it was in 2000. Although lavender grows wild in many areas of the world and is cultivated in many countries (notably England, Spain, Bulgaria and the three west coast states of the United States), French lavender is considered to be the finest. Provence sets the standard—its lavandula angustifolia (synonym, Lavandula officinalis and…

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This post coincides with David Scott Allen’s current Cocoa & Lavender post entitled “The Other French Laundry” French laundry conjures up all sorts of images. For my friend and fellow-blogger, David Scott Allen, visions of delectable meals from Thomas Keller’s famous restaurant surface…things like Creamy Maine Lobster Broth and English Pea Soup with White Truffle Oil and Parmesan Crisps. For my friend, Betsy Tabor with whom I have been exchanging gifts, poems, and postcards about laundry for years now —both French and American and, come to think of it, Burkina Fasoian, too—I thought she would say it’s about that crisp fresh smell that emanates from clothes left…

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Second of a two-part article.These chocolates are so delicious that most people say, ‘They are to die for.’ I would say, ‘They are to live for.’ Hope for a good long life, so you can try every one.   –My mother, 80-something C’est arrivé. The chocolates arrived just in time for my mother’s birthday. They were carefully packed with the knowledge that they would be traveling far from Saint-Remy-de-Provence and they arrived in perfect condition. Regular readers of The Modern Trobadors may recall that, last week, I wrote about my favorite chocolates in Provence: Joël Durand’s L’Alphabet des Saveurs. We have been to this renown chocolatier’s…

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First of two-part article L’Alphabet des Saveurs chocolates  Photo: 1j2M Some of the best chocolates in the world hail from France. In Paris, I think of La Maison de Chocolat, JP Hévin, La Durée, Michel Chaudun. But it is to Provence that I would head for my favorite: the best chocolate in the region is made by Joël Durand in the small village of Saint-Remy-de-Provence. We visited this alluring chocolate shop this past August. The number of times we have been drawn to Monsieur Durand’s chocolate shop has long passed double digits. This time we were en route from Lourmarin, the Luberon village we have…

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Today is the third Sunday in January, otherwise known as “The Mass for the Truffles” in Richerenches: the annual blessing, auction, and feast of the black truffle. We’ve been there, huddled among the masses in the tiny church to witness baskets of black diamonds offered up to be blessed, walked with the parade of people to the Hôtel de Ville where our successful bids put several truffles in our pockets, and relished in the glory of a lavish meal devoted to the beloved Tuber melanosporum. I wish I were there now. But, alas, I am content with the memory of that chilly January day several…

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Mondays are the best day to visit Cadenet. Okay, some people will say that Monday is the only day to visit Cadenet. Oh heck, some people will wonder why Cadenet is even on our list of “Ten Markets We Always Visit in Provence.” If you are a tourist planning your trip to Provence with the usual laundry list of places to go and things to see in a nano-second, neither Cadenet nor its market should be near the top—or even in the middle—of your list. But, if Monday has rolled around after a busy weekend and you forgot to plan for dinner or if you…

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