View of Le Vieux Port in Marseille       Photo: David Scott Allen MARSEILLE: “EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE” IN 2013 One of my scariest walks was to the Gare-de-Marseille-Saint-Charles. It was just as dawn was breaking and, having made a couple of wrong turns, the clock was moving uncomfortably close to the departure time of our train. Weighing the remaining minutes and the long distance to the Europcar office, my husband dropped my daughter and me off—along with a lot of luggage—so we could walk just a few blocks to the station while he deposited the rental car and ran the numerous blocks back to the station.…

By:
On:
In: Culture, Events, Places

All across France today, on January 6th, parents are asking the youngest member of the family to sit under the table as dessert is being served. Pourquoi? Because it is the Day of the Epiphany and the Galette des Rois (the Cake of Kings) is being served. “Je ne comprend pas,” you say. In France, the Day of the Epiphany–the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas–marks the day that the Three Kings brought their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the manger in Bethlehem where the little Lord Jesus was asleep on the hay. The word epiphany comes from the Greek word epiphaneia…

By:
On:
In: Culture, Food

It doesn’t matter where you were when 2012 rolled into 2013 or how you welcomed the New Year–quietly or with great fanfare—if you are lucky enough to be alive as another year begins, embrace it. It is a gift. I prefer a quiet New Year’s Eve. Even a little solitude. It gives me a chance to reflect on the past year and plan for another. What worked well? What do I wish I had done differently? How shall I approach the New Year to make the most of it? Inevitably, I put pen to paper and record my New Year’s resolutions, thereby breathing life into…

By:
On:
In: Culture, Places

Chez Manfull The allure of Provence for many of us is its wonderful cuisine coupled with an unfettered life that we imagine leisurely unfolds every day from the time we stretch to greet to the morning to the moments before we close our eyes to dream about the next day. We think of strolling through vibrant markets, baskets laden with fresh produce, cheeses, olives, and baguettes that will later find their way to our table; savoring long lunches in courtyards dotted with terra cotta pots of lavender and rosemary; sipping pastis alongside artists and writers in cafes à la belle époque; and enjoying exquisite multi-course…

By:
On:
In: Food

The Modern Trobador is back at the keyboard after a brief hiatus to work on a photography exhibition in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I have managed to weave together a post about photographs of Africa in New Hampshire, photographs of Africans in France, French Presidential trips to Africa, and the bestowing of France’s most prestigious award to Liberia’s President, all of which I hope you find interesting (and impressive that I wove it all together, coherently, I hope!). Africa is on my radar these days because I am part of an organization, the Seacoast African American Cultural Center (SAACC), which organized and just opened a photography…

By:
On:
In: Art, Culture, Events

At Le Castellas, to guess who else is coming for dinner is always part of fun.  You can count on the goats, but we’ve also been joined by cats, dogs, sheep, and pigs. On our last visit, a horse came to the table and a fox watched from a short distance. Deep in the very heart of the Luberon, about 22 kilometers (a little over 12 miles) from our favorite village Lourmarin, lies the tiny village of Sivergues.  With an elevation of 584 meters (1917 feet), it is the highest inhabited village in this area.  Last count, there are 49 people who call Sivergues their…

By:
On:
In: Food, Places, Restaurants

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,…

By:
On:
In: Markets, Places

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…

By:
On:
In: Places

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…

By:
On:
In: Art, Events

We began at Cave Aureto where we met our friend Pierre Schott, the retail cavistes of the winery’s cellar.   After a very interesting tour of their uncommonly modern winery and a tasting flight of their award-winning wines, we made our way to the terrace overlooking the vineyards from which the grapes were harvest.   Just before we eked out the last light of the setting sun, we moved to Le Jardin dans les Vignes, the wonderful restaurant that lies under the vine-covered arbor and stands above the long rows of lavender—it is the casual companion to the property’s gourmet restaurant with the newly acquired…

By:
On:
In: Food, Restaurants, Wine