Category: France

Perfectly Provence: Newsletter January 5, 2024
Happy New Year to all! 2024 is an Olympic year for France. While many events occur in and around Paris, there is plenty to get excited about in Provence. There will be sailing and football (soccer). However, before that all starts, the Olympic flame arrives in Marseille’s Vieux Port on Bélem, a beautiful three-masted ship from 1896. From there, the flame travels around the country after a few regional appearances. Here are the details.
January 6th is the Epiphany. So, in Provence, it’s time to enjoy Galette des Rois, a delicious puff pastry (pâte feuilletée) filled with frangipane and a fève, which can be a bean or a tiny ceramic figurine. Don’t break a touch on the fève. It could be your chance to rule the roost for the day. As with the rest of the holiday period in France, there is a ritual around eating this pastry.
Our 2024 winter menu is a culinary creation…

Recipes & Travel:
Newsletters, Perfectly Provence

Estérels French Riviera
Located in southeastern France, the Estérel coastal mountain range straddles both the Var and Alpes-Maritimes departments. Of volcanic origins, the massif is roughly 32,000 hectares of rugged terrain awaiting exploration. Mont Vinaigre is the highest peak at 618 metres. According to the Estérel Côte d’Azur tourism office, there are 72 trails for biking (road, gravel and mountain), hiking, and walking that crisscross the range, including many within the protected Forêt domaniale de l’Estérel. We highlight here a few of the popular trails. From the coastline Sentier du littoral (previously the customs footpath) to the forested hills of the Pay de Fayence there are many hikes in the Estérels for all ability levels.
Les Gorges du Blavet ©Estérel Côte d’Azur
Sentier du littoral ©Estérel Côte d’Azur

Recipes & Travel:
French Riviera, Hiking in France

AOP Les Baux de Provence
Launched in 1995, Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) Les Baux de Provence was a bold step for a group of winemakers. They joined forces to carve out a unique identity in the ocean of, at that time, mediocre Provencal wine. Previously (since 1972) these wineries fell under the umbrella of the AOP Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence. The les Baux vintners felt that their production was blurred in the vast volume produced by that large AOP. Appellation d’Origine Protégée (AOP) Les Baux was re-established in 1995 reverting to the original appellation formed in 1956. Today ten vineyards are members of the AOP and follow the same guidelines for making wine.

The Stunning Alpilles
The landscape of the Alpilles is not exactly the land of milk and honey. Rather this is a harsh alpine climate that supports the growth of grapes, almonds, herbs de Provence, and olives. Known as the Alpilles (small Alps), this 30km band of jagged limestone cliffs and scrub…

Recipes & Travel:
Alpilles Mountains Provence, French Wines, Vineyards in Provence

Nutmeg had read about a small vineyard in Paris, located in the shadows of the Sacré-Coeur spires. The last time either Ginger or Nutmeg had been to Montmartre was in the 1980s. After a crazy taxi ride complete with construction bottlenecks, pre-Christmas traffic, impossibly narrow streets and hills only fit for funiculars they arrived in the middle of a mob scene. A clear Saturday afternoon right before sunset, it was immediately obvious why there had been a 30-year gap since their last visit.

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Recipes & Travel:
Clos de Montmartre, French Wines, Travel in France, Travel to Paris

Some time ago (number of years not to be disclosed here) Nutmeg travelled to San Sebastian, Spain via train. At that point, backpack travel was heavily influenced by “Europe on $20 a Day” and where your Eurail pass would take you. So, she and her travel companion spent a total of two hours in Biarritz and about the same in Bordeaux.
A visit to France’s southwest was long overdue.
This time G&N are not travelling on Eurail passes or sleeping in hostels. They were booked on a six-day guided walking tour through the Pays Basque. Nutmeg convinced Ginger to visit Bordeaux, its famous vineyards and venture to the Atlantic coast for a few days before the walking trip started. As their available time shrunk, so did the itinerary. In the end, they decide on two nights in Bordeaux, two in wine country and two in Biarritz. Spain would have to wait for another time.
The drive from Provence to Bordeaux is a…

Recipes & Travel:
Blaye, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Wines, France, Travel Tips

No one expects to find the Heart of Darkness or Niger Focus (later Nerluc) in Provence. It might have been an appropriate name for the hamlet on the shores of a murky, swampy river. The muddy, opaque waters fueled rumours cultivating the nightmares of residents who asked was the beast:
A huge serpent?
A dragon?
A fierce half-lion?
A vicious turtle?

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Recipes & Travel:
Provencal Mysteries, Tarascon and Beaucaire, Tarascon Castle, Tarascon Monster, Tarasque the Monster

Château de Vauvenargues is located in the village by the same name, a few kilometers from Aix-en-Provence. This castle has a lengthy history.  The present structure was built on the site of a former Roman settlement. Over the centuries, Provencal counts and then the Archbishops of Aix occupied the castle. Clearly, it pays to be the doctor of a king; in 1474 Roi René gifted the Château to his physician Pierre Robin d’Angers.

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Recipes & Travel:
Aix en Provence, Artists, Mont St Victoire, Pablo Picasso, Painters, Picasso, Provence

Whether fiction or not, Nutmeg thinks it is appropriate that Casanova the infamous Venetian writer, gambler and reputed womanizer is weaved into the history of les Jardins d’Albertas.
This garden, owned by the Albertas family, is located just a few minutes outside of Aix-en-Provence in the town of Bouc-Bel-Air, where the ancient village was built on a bouc (small hill).
The roots of the Albertas family stretch from Alba, Italy to Aix-en-Provence, where their influence on the Provençal city is notable. Henri and his son Jean-Baptiste d’Albertas, both held the high-ranking title of Président de la Cour des Comptes (Court of Auditors).
One of the most recognizable and photogenic squares in Aix is Place d’Albertas.  This sunny plaza carved out of the narrow winding streets of the old town resembles a small Italian piazza. Henri felt that the exterior of his home and his “view” were not distinguished enough. He commissioned a local architect to renew the façade of his house and…

Recipes & Travel:
Aix en Provence, Bouc bel Air, Gardens, Jardins d'Albertas, Provence, Travel in France

Provençal postcards, Pinterest boards and Instagram are filled with photos of sunny sunflowers. Long before the Internet these beautiful flowers inspired Vincent Van Gogh to paint a still life series called Tournesols (Sunflowers). He painted the first of the group in 1887, in Paris, and then later (1888-89) in Arles.
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Recipes & Travel:
Provence, Sunflowers, Tournesol, Van Gogh

Nutmeg is here to tell you that Big-Box shopping is the same nightmare in France, as it is in Palm Springs, Chicago, Airdrie and Scarborough.
Big-box retail (think Target and Walmart) has evolved as a cost effective development strategy, under the guise of offering consumer convenience.  Without boring you all with the details, this concept works well for the landlord and tenant as no party is too “invested” in the location.  The big-box retail model has evolved from “destination” single stores, into power-centres where the customer can spend an entire day cruising hundreds of outlet stores. 

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Recipes & Travel:
Provence, Shopping, Travel in France