To enjoy Provence in the fall is one of life’s most beautiful pleasures. The shades of autumn colour the vineyards and tree lined squares and avenues. The rays of the sun seem more golden than at their bright summer peak, making everything they touch glow and shimmer like a magical paint brush has daubed the […]
Most of us think of lavender, sunflowers, gorgeous markets and hill top towns when it comes to Provence. But, it’s also an area of outstanding natural beauty from its beaches with dramatic cliffs and wonderful bays to its interior landscape of hills, orchards, vineyards and rivers. We asked Emily Durand, an expat local and guide […]
There are hundreds of restaurants in Nice – the only challenge in enjoying great southern French dishes, is which one to pick. They’re big on flavour in the south of France, the Mediterranean influence is tinged with a hint of Italian style. These four restaurants are in the centre, not expensive and all offer the […]
Ecrins National Park is about a 90 minute drive east of Grenoble. It’s the largest National Park in France and features some of the wildest and most dramatic scenery in the Alps. Perhaps because of that, it remains relatively unknown, its paths less travelled than those famous trails further north around Mont Blanc. One of […]
Imagine you’re wandering through the winding narrow streets in the old town of Nice. The sun is beating down, the sky is a deep spirit-lifting blue. You stop at Cours Saleya market to buy a snack – maybe socca, the local speciality, a pancake made from chick peas. Perhaps a punnet of sweet smelling strawberries, […]
We look at some of the most beautiful villages in Provence – in a region known for its extraordinary charm, these three stand out… Gordes – the heart of Provence If there is one place on the bucket list of most visitors to Provence, it has to be Gordes. It’s almost like going to Paris […]
I am a hopeless Francophile, my husband joined me when we married 14 years ago. Any excuse within reason (and a decent airfare from Arizona) and we are on a plane headed to France, especially the Côte d’ Azur. The turquoise sea, rocky cliffs, dazzling sunshine, friendly people, incredible food and wine, it’s sheer bliss. […]
Banish the blues with a sunshine trip to the south of France. This time of the year flights are cheap and plentiful and with more than 300 days of sunshine a year recorded along the Cote d’Azur – it’s a great time to soak up a few rays. Here are 3 great reasons to visit […]
Cotignac At first glance Cotignac wows visitors with its large limescale cliffs reminiscent of ancient troglodyte living. Houses are literally carved into the cliffs and anyone can climb the steps that lead up to the old cave dwellings for a 2 euros entry fee during visiting season. The village has 2,300 inhabitants and is typically […]
If, like me, you’re used to grey skies, biting rain, sleet and snow in February – going to the Nice Carnival is the nicest possible shock to your system. I arrived at Nice train station wearing a coat, gloves, scarf and hat. Within minutes they were off and so was the jumper I was wearing. […]
Charlotte Field from the UK talks about life as an expat in charming Chinon, Loire Valley where she has lived for eight years and works as a local agent for Leggett Immobillier, the award winning French Estate Agency… Where are you from and how did you come to be living in France? I was brought […]
Night Nurse Needed – Should be young and pretty. This was the ad Henri Matisse placed with the nursing school in Nice, France in 1942. He was seventy-two years-old and still working while recovering from a serious surgery. He required constant care and needed someone to fill in while his regular night nurse was away. […]
France, especially in the north, has long had aeroplanes and aviation entrenched in its genes. There have been many great French air pioneers both male and female. Louis Bleriot was born in Cambrai and he was perhaps one of the greatest exponents. Louis Bleriot, Aviator Bleriot, from his earliest adult days, had an instinct for […]
Paris is the most visited Tourist destination in the world, it’s probably the most photographed too! We never tire of seeing pictures of the beautiful city of light. These photos of Paris are by photographer John Woods from Madison, Wisconsin, US. He and wife Nancy say any time is good to take a photo in […]
The town of Vallespir, Céret, formerly in the region Languedoc-Roussillon, now the newly created super region of Occitanie, has a beautiful stone bridge spanning the river Tech. Built over twenty years between 1321 and 1341, it had, at the time, the longest single stone arch of any in the world. Known as the Pont du […]
We talk to Sandra Iskander, Editor of Where Paris Magazine. She reveals how she moved from Australia to become a Parisienne, and she shares an insider’s view of where to go and what to see in Paris… When was your first visit to Paris? It was back in 2004 that I visited Paris for the […]
Girton, Cambridge. Nice house, good jobs, lovely friends. The most frequent question I’m asked is, ‘Why did you leave the UK?’ The most honest answer is that we left because we could. I mean, why not? We were happy in Girton, but sometimes it’s a case of wanting to do something different, something a little […]
Artist Susan Faye, a British expat in France, has always been passionate about animals, especially dogs. As a child she says she would bring home any dog she found roaming the streets but wasn’t allowed to keep them until at the age of 16, when her parents agreed she could bring home ‘Shonti’, a […]