french lifestyle Archives - Curious Provence

My Stylish French Box

May 28, 2018 by ashleyt 3 Comments

My Stylish French Box

I have been following on social media for some time My Stylish French Box and basically coveting their gorgeous boxes full of hand-picked French items. The concept, created by writer of My French Country Home Sharon Santoni (see her beautiful Instagram and stunning house here) is that every three months a box is delivered to your home full of stylish French products. Sharon’s first book, My Stylish French Girlfriends, is a beautiful reference for authentic French living. This really is a stunning book and really stands out on my bookshelf as one of the most beautiful. Sharon’s experience in publishing is evident as she clearly has access to some talented people to help her assemble this masterpiece. I would imagine that you’d be hardpressed to find Book Designers that could do a better job than the ones that Sharon enlisted to work on her book.

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Provencal Fish Soup Recipe

February 27, 2018 by ashleyt 7 Comments

Provencal Fish Soup Recipe by Curious

provencal fish soup recipe curious provence

My Provencal Fish Soup.

A Dabble in Catering

Last summer I offered to cook a Provencal fish soup for a friend and their 12 friends…I like to make my life difficult…

Bouillabaisse

Fish soup is taken seriously here in Provence. Bouillabaisse is the king of the various types of fish soups. This often takes 2 days to make, is very expensive, and would require filleting various types of different fish at the table. Not something I would be good at!

Bouillabaisse was originally a fish stew made by Marseillaise fishermen using the small, and wide variety of rockfish that were too small to sell. It’s this wide variety of fish that gives the soup its flavour. I watched some fishermen making the traditional version of Bouillabaisse at the market and I couldn’t believe all the different types of fish being thrown into the pot!

These fish were simmered for some time most likely in a well-used pot on the beach or boat. Everyone seems to have their own opinion to which fish should be in a Bouillabaisse but the absolute musts, according to my local fishmonger and Online Fishmonger, are the Rascasse and St Pierre. Otherwise, there can be crab, turbot, monkfish, mullet, conger, hake, shellfish etc. You’ll even see Bouillabaisse royal or sexy Bouillabaisse? with lobster.

Despite its humble origins, Bouillabaisse will always be unique due to the addition of saffron and Mediterranean spices as well as the way in which it is served.

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Visit Beautiful Gordes Market on Tuesdays

July 14, 2017 by ashleyt 18 Comments

Beautiful Gordes Market in Pictures

Gordes, classified as one of the most beautiful villages of France. This famous hilltop town looks out over the Luberon National Park. You feel obligated to stop your car driving into the village as the village is arguably even more beautiful from the outside. The architecture here is similar to the bories village settlements where dry stone dwellings were made from rocks in farming land. You can visit some of these settlements nearby the town. All to say, Gordes Market is worth visiting if you’re in the area.

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Tellines à la Persillade, a simple market dish

October 27, 2016 by ashleyt 5 Comments

Tellines (pronounced tellEEne)

There was a little commotion yesterday morning at Saint Remy de Provence market. Gilles, the oyster and mussel vendor, placed a large tub of tellines at the front of his stall. First to notice, with coffees in hand at 8 am, were the other foraines (market workers). Some even stopped in the middle of the bise* greetings to make their way over to Gilles’ stall. Threats were made to keep some for them. The lip-smacking in anticipation for dinner started particularly early.

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My Vegbox in Provence

October 14, 2016 by ashleyt 2 Comments

French seasonal produce from a weekly vegbox

The contents of my vegbox in Provence. Delivered to my door every Friday.

May I brag for a moment?

Have you seen how ridiculous this Provençal version of a vegbox is? This was in September. We started receiving our vegbox during the summer when I found out that half my street also gets the same parcel delivered once a week by a local Paysan. Why didn’t anyone tell me sooner?

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May 1st in Provence: Arlésiennes et Gardians

May 1, 2016 by ashleyt 18 Comments

Fête des Gardians

Le Fête des Gardians is the annual festival in Arles celebrating the lifestyle and traditions of the gardians. Gardians are basically the French, more refined, version of cowboys that rear bulls for delicious daube provençal. There’s an enormous parade, blessings of the animals, a queen of Arlésiennes is elected and to top it all off there’s a 4-hour long spectacle at the antique Roman arena involving horsemanship games and bull running.

The first of May is also the day where you’ll be expected to buy ‘muguets’ or ‘clochettes du porte bonheur’ (lily of the valley) in honour of French labour day….

Velleron Night Farmers Market

April 18, 2016 by ashleyt 3 Comments

Velleron night market is one of the best producer’s markets in Southern France. It has been continually included within the 100 “marchés d’exception” in France by the Conseil National des Arts Culinaires.

This is not a tourist market.

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First Year Anniversary of Curious Provence!

April 8, 2016 by ashleyt 2 Comments

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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Apt Saturday Market- One of the Best?

March 21, 2015 by ashleyt 13 Comments

Is Apt Saturday Market one of the best?

The Saturday market in Apt has been labeled as a “marché d’exception français” (exceptional French market) due to it’s atmosphere, history, and originality. It’s also considered to be one of the top ten food markets in France. I had to see for myself…

Apt Market in Spring

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