St. Tropez
St. Tropez, whose ancient name was Athenopolis, belonged to Greece who founded Marseille in 599BC, and it was the Romans who invaded the region in 31BC and built opulent villas. Artist, Paul Signac discovered this light-filled place that later inspired Matisse, Bonnard & Albert Marquet. Painting styles of pointillism and…
Collobrieres
The mountain road to Collobrieres climbs to over 700m with sensational views across to Le Lavendou and ‘Les Isles de Porquerolles’ beyond. Located in the heart of the Maures hills, this cobblestoned, picture-postcard village dates back to the 12th Century and times of copper mining and cork production. Today, its…
Moroccan Orange
I recently enjoyed an on-line cooking class via Zoom with Canadian Chef, Rosa Jackson, owner or Les Petits Farcis based in Nice. With her was friend and chef Fouad from Fez, who runs cooking trips to Morocco with Rosa. Together, they made a friendly team in the little Nice kitchen,…
Lavender Blue
When I moved to my home on the Sunshine Coast in beautiful British Columbia, I planted a row of lavender in my garden to remind me of Provence. That was fifteen years ago, and I now boast an abundant crop of aromatic, bright violet buds blushing in tufts all across…
Cooking with Carmelo: Creme Caramel
It was the ancient Romans who understood the binding capacity of eggs and were first known to cook them with milk and honey into various custard-like dishes. Italian legend has it that the Medici family, a powerful and influential banking family from Florence in the 15th Century, were responsible for…