Château Roubine, from whence the rosé I am drinking comes, is built atop Knights Templar property. In the center of Provence, in the heart of the department of the Var, in the town of Lorgues, lie these vineyards on land once owned by the (in) famous medieval order of the Knights Templar. More on Château Roubine’s refreshing rosé to come, but right now I want to pursue the Knights Templar. This once powerful military order, formed in 1119 and sanctioned by the Catholic church in 1129, is back in the popular press with the recent release of Dan Brown’s new book, Inferno. Knights Templar lore…

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In: History, Wine

I always wanted a Deux Chevaux. I first saw that much beloved French car when I first visited Paris in 1972. I remember thinking that something that funny looking must have been a model car project gone terribly awry. A sardine tin on wheels. But there were so many…partout.  My grandfather, with whom I was traveling, along with my grandmother, had a certain fondness for the car, an affinity that should not have surprised me since he and my grandmother had owned one of the first Corvairs and drove it back and forth across the country, from New York to California, in the early 1960s.…

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Today I co-posted with David who writes the food blog entitled Cocoa & Lavender. See his blog for one of the recipes mentioned in this post! We always harbor the hope that we will discover a good wine at a really reasonable (read: cheap) price. Who doesn’t? We’ve had some real duds in this quest—wines that wouldn’t even qualify as marinades and went straight down the kitchen sink—and we’ve made some terrific discoveries. The wines from Gascony and its neighboring appellations definitely fall into the latter category. Gascony, to be clear, is not in Provence, the familiar stomping ground of The Modern Trobadors. It lies…

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For years I thought I didn’t like melon. However inviting those deep orange slices of juicy cantaloupe appeared, I knew they tasted like cardboard and had the texture of baby food. One of my most vivid memories of melon encounters goes back to adolescence: I was staying with a best friend’s family in their cabin in Shaver Lake, a small community nestled in the Sierra Nevada’s of California. I came to the breakfast table and, to my horror, found half of a cantaloupe waiting for me. Panic set in: how could I possibly eat the entire half? Jeralynn and her sisters dug their spoons in…

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I offer my thoughts about taking the kids to the Luberon area of Provence, where we have many years of vacation-with-kids experience, but I do so with the caveat that what worked for us—a family of three with many child guests–may not match the temperament and spirit of your family. Chart your own course—and let us know about your adventures. It’s nearing that time of year again: the annual family vacation. For us, summers have long been associated with packing up the family and heading to Provence. This summer, however, will herald a change in this long tradition of annual family vacations. Years of cramming…

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Château Miraval, summer home of the uber famous Brangelina family, was celebrated among rosé lovers and baby boomer rock and rollers long before the renowned family moved in. Pink Floyd anyone? Readers of a certain age may be able to dust off an old album that was recorded, in part, in this château: Pink Floyd’s legendary The Wall. French jazz pianist Jacques Loussier, who owned the property from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, installed a recording studio in the chateau. Loussier initially recorded his own work and later invited French clients like Maxime Le Forestier and Pierre Vassiliu. In 1979, the popular British…

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Cabrières d’Aigues, home of the Domaine de Vaudois, is not on the typical traveler’s itinerary. It lacks the visible charm of other Luberon villages such as those featured prominently in a Rick Steves’ tour guide or a Peter Mayle novel. In fact, a quick google search for information about this village reveals little more than “a tranquil village in the Luberon” and the distance to neighboring villages, like Cucuron and Ansouis. But, don’t underestimate what you might discover in a morning in this unassuming village. If you are interested in a destination that is slightly off the well-worn tourist path, plan a stop in Cabrières…

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In: History, People, Wine

Lavender and Provence are inextricably tied together in the minds of almost everyone who yearns to visit—and revisit–Provence. What comes to your mind when you think of Provence? Someday I will survey people about the images “Provence” conjures up. But, in the meantime, I’ll put my euros on lavender as the first image that pops into the minds of most people.   Rosé wine, pastis, truffles, bouillabaisse, markets, the slow pace of life, the mistral, and Cézanne—all certainly contenders, but, to paraphrase France’s well-known author Jean Giono, it’s the lavender that taps into the soul of Provence. Or, as the well-known English writer Peter Mayle wrote, perhaps…

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In: Art, Lavender

The Romans left a lot behind in Provence: temples, aqueducts, baths, theaters, forums, arches, and whole cities, to mention just a few of the larger structures we find in this region. Some of the best preserved Roman architecture in the world stands in Provence. Even the ruins left standing alone in desolate fields are pretty amazing. Arles and Vaison-la-Romaine are thriving cities today, whose residents indifferently file past Roman remains that are so interesting and beautiful, the rest of us would be stopped in our tracks. I know; I have been stopped in my tracks in both cities. Evidence abounds that these ancient Roman cities…

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This article is part of a series about our ten favorite markets in Provence. Thus far, we have written about Aix-en-Provence, Apt, Cadenet, Cucuron, Gordes, Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, and Lourmarin. When we chose our top ten markets, we considered the quality and variety of the offerings, the friendliness of the vendors, and the ambience of the venue. Practical issues (e.g., traffic and parking) were also weighed, but, in the end, it was the market itself that mattered most. Get there early and avoid the inevitable traffic and parking challenges! These are the markets we visit again and again when we are in Lourmarin.  Saint Rémy comes alive…

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In: Markets, Places