a Curious Canadian in Provence : photography, art & renovation!
As I was perusing local postcards at a local flea market in Provence, I came across a curious image. The postcard depicts an enormous sardine blocking the port of Marseille. The seller, taking advantage of my ignorance and confused expression, insisted that this indeed did happen.
I asked Patrice, the local market fisherman, and he told me the whole story of how a tiny sardine managed to block the beautiful port of Marseille.
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L’Occitane, the creator of lovely soaps and essential oils in Provence, reached out for an interview last month with Curious Provence. A Provence blogger on the rise; they must have found out how much I love this beautiful region that has so much character.
Voici l’article en Français, and in English.
I always used to buy from this company in my native Montréal. Now, I live in such proximity to their lavender fields and almond orchards. Sadly, I didn’t get a box of their products! Maybe next time?…
During our recent stay at Mas d’Augustine in Languedoc-Roussillon, we took a quick drive to check out the nearby village of Saint Quentin la Poterie. Saint-Quentin has had a history of pottery making for centuries. Kilns (where the clay is baked) date back to the 13th century here. Today, it’s full of ceramic artist workshops. As I have a strong interest in pottery- I was able to drag Robin away from the pool for a couple hours to check it out.
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1 Year Curious Provence Blog Anniversary!
First Almond Blossom! The first image and post on the site last March
As soon as I moved to Provence with Robin it seemed like just about everyone I knew was pushing me to start a blog about our experience here. I stalled for quite some time, which is a shame as I missed opportunities for great content, for many reasons. Firstly, I had always been someone to shy away from technology on principal. There’s a reason I moved to Europe- give me history and imperfection! I had a hard time grappling with the seemingly narcissistic aspect of writing a blog. I still can’t seem to bring myself to take a selfie. Why would people care about me and my little life?
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Robin and I worked at a large property 2 years ago. The enormous gardens were abandoned and left to be engulfed by the wild Provençal countryside. The owners informed us that somewhere off the road there was an entire cherry orchard. Apparently, the trees that hadn’t bore fruit for years. In January, we found this mysterious orchard. It was made obvious by some nomadic shepherds who had roped it off as an enclosure for their donkeys. After a couple weeks, the donkeys moved on and we were distraught to see they had eaten all of the tender red bark off the bottom of the trees!! It was doubtfull that in Spring, we would be picking cherries.
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