Greetings dear readers and friends. First of all, I’d like to wish you a very Happy New Year – plein de belles choses – all kinds of lovely things for 2019 as they say in French. We had a very nice Christmas and New Year in the northeast of France (the Lorraine) – huddling together […]
Read more
Greetings dear readers and friends. Christmas is just around the corner and we’ve been enjoying all of the holiday decorations in the local towns and villages. Today I wanted to share with you a lovely walk we had through the village of Le Castellet during a “bloggers’ weekend” organized by hotel Mas du Brulat. Along […]
Read more
Greetings dear readers and friends. We are in full Christmas-mode over here, and there are so many holiday events taking place that it’s hard to keep up. We’ve been to a lighting-ceremony in the center of the village – complete with hot wine & Christmas carols (luckily they handed out the words or I would […]
Read more
Greetings dear readers and friends. Well, it’s certainly starting to look a lot like Christmas around here and I’d like to share with you today what’s happening around the region during the holiday season. I’ve particularly got my sights on an overnight trip to Isle-sur-la-Sorgue to visit their Christmas market and perhaps stay for the Festival […]
Read more
Greetings dear readers and friends. Well, here we are… another Olive Festival come and gone. As I mentioned in a post a few weeks back, this festival is one of the most anticipated events of the fall season and something we look forward to all year long. And this year did not […]
Read more
Greetings dear readers and friends. We’re enjoying a lovely start to October here in the South of France. And one of our favorite events of fall is taking place this weekend, the Olive Festival in Ollioules. One of the “classic” events of the season, people come from near and far to this small, picturesque village about […]
Read more
Greeting dear readers and friends. I hope you’ve enjoyed these last few weeks of summer, and I’m delighted to be able to present to you a book review and giveaway on the blog today. I was very pleased to be asked to review Martin Bailey’s follow-up to Studio of the South: Van Gogh in […]
Read more
Greetings dear readers and friends. Well, things are slowly cooling down here in the South of France after a very hot summer. The summer attitude is still here, ie. folks still feel like they’re on vacation, but the temperatures have dropped considerably – which indeed makes going to the beach and enjoying these last few […]
Read more
Greetings dear readers and friends. We had the pleasure of visiting the recently opened Mas du Brulat hotel in the village of Le Brulat – a stone’s throw away from the beautiful hilltop village of Le Castellet and part of its commune. The Mas du Brulat is the second accommodation offering of Olives and Vines, […]
Read more
Greetings dear readers and friends. Well, if you ever wanted a great summer read to get “lost in Provence” this is it. I’ve been following author Deborah Lawrenson’s blog and novels over the years and was delighted to learn that she’d written – in collaboration with her husband – a murder mystery under the nom de […]
Read more
Greetings dear readers and friends. Well, if there was any time of year to be grateful for living in south of France, it would have to be right about now. For most of the year, life proceeds in its normal routine: work / school, making dinner, cleaning house, grocery shopping, etc etc…. But in the […]
Read more
Greetings dear readers and friends. We had a special occasion to celebrate (wedding anniversary) so we headed to our new favorite restaurant in Sanary-sur-Mer: La P’tite Cour. And, as it turns out, this restaurant isn’t just for special occasions as the two “set menu” options are both very affordable at €30 and €45 respectively. This […]
Read more