“Trobador” comes from langue d’oc, the Old Provençal language. It means “finder or researcher” and is likely the root of “troubadour,” a strolling minstrel in Southern France in the 12th c. The Modern Trobadors research all things Provence: its world-renowned food and wine, its writers and artists, its tremendous tourist appeal…. From the prosaic to the profound, the practical to the quixotic, we provide news, information, advice, opinion, and, we hope, a wee bit of inspiration.
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Foret des Cedres
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Lourmarin
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Martigues
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Gordes
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Abbaye de Senanque
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Grimaud
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Bonnieux
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Lourmarin
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Saint-Remy-de-Provence
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Carrières de Lumières
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Roussillon
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Lourmarin
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Lourmarin
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Eygalieres Market
Latest Post
JACQUELINE BRICARD’S “REGARD NAÏF EUROPÉEN” EXHIBITION EXTENDED THROUGH DECEMBER
There were just a few paintings still to hang when I left Lourmarin in late September. Before departing—and two days before the opening–I popped by to see Jacqueline Bricard, proprietor of the naïf art gallery bearing her name and curator of the “Regard Naïf Européen” exhibition. She was in the midst of the usual frenzy entailed in the preparations for a large exhibition. This exhibition includes the works of twenty-eight painters and three sculptors, representing 13 European countries. In total, about 60 paintings and a couple dozen sculptures comprise the show. The majority of pieces are in the gallery and a dozen or so paintings...Read More »
Recent Posts
BETTER CALL WALTER
September 10th, 2017
Last year, about this time, my daughter and I were on our way from Lourmarin to Château d'Esclans in La Motte, about 150 kilometers away in the département of the Var. There, we were to meet with Tom Schreckinger, Communications Director for the [...]
HOLLYWOOD – AUBAGNE - PARIS: A TRIANGULAR JOURNEY
February 19th, 2017
It’s Academy Award season, and as it was with me a year ago when I wrote of Marcel Pagnol, I am drawn back to Provence, in fact to his hometown of Aubagne. On this occasion it began last fall when I was discussing with my wife Benedicte, who is Frenc[...]
A TRIBUTE TO PAL, ONE OF THE ORIGINAL MODERN TROBADORS
October 7th, 2016
What is a Modern Trobador if not one who detects the scent of a story and, with nose to the ground, follows it through to the end? Like a dog with a bone, you might say. That was our Pal, our 15-year-old ever-faithful beagle who was with us on our [...]
WHO’S THE FACE BEHIND “LOURMARIN, LOURMARIN”?
October 1st, 2016
If you follow what’s happening in Lourmarin, the charming village at the southern base of the Luberon where the Manfull family has been hanging their hats for many years, you’ve no doubt seen something about “Lourmarin, Lourmarin.” Have you wondered[...]
STOMP SOME GRAPES IN PROVENCE
September 25th, 2016
If you are in Provence and looking for something different to do—in between touring Roman ruins and visiting hilltop villages—I’ve got the answer: Kick off your shoes, climb into a huge oak barrel filled with grapes, and start stomping. That’s what[...]
GARLIC IS IN THE AIR...IT MUST BE AÏOLI TIME!
August 14th, 2016
When the weather gets hot, our mortar and pestle becomes a fixture on the kitchen table. The familiar rhythmic sound of pestle-striking-mortar fills the air and the pungent aroma of garlic wafts through the house. Aïoli. It's aïoli time.
The word, a[...]