Strasbourg is known as “the Christmas capital of Europe,” with its festive mood, lights and holiday magic. The city gives you the feeling that if you were to bite into any of its buildings, they would taste like gingerbread and chocolate. But is it the best place to experience a real French Christmas? I think not. In Provence you’ll find festive local markets, colorful parades like the bravade calendale, and santons galore. There won’t be the crush of international tourists you’ll find in Strasbourg, and the weather will be much better than way up north. One of my colleagues and I recently fa ..read more

Bonjour! It’s Thanksgiving in the US, one of my favorite holidays. And the star of many American dinner tables today will be turkey. So how about giving it a French twist? Here’s a recipe for you, inspired by one of France’s greatest chefs, Georges Blanc. It’s a little late for today’s meal but you can try it another time, maybe Christmas? Bon appétit ..read more

Christmas is coming and you might be having a hard time coming up with gift ideas. I am here to help! The French are famously literary, but they don’t sit around reading Proust and Molière all day. They like a good page-turner as well as anyone else. So how about gifting a book that was a top seller in France, but has recently been translated into English? It would be a great gift for a France-lover, or someone who loves good books, or both! I’ve put together a list of 11 books that covers a lot of bases.You’ll find serious reads, thrillers, inspiring tales, and even a touch of science fictio ..read more

Wine has been made in France for a very long time, and names like Burgundy and Champagne put stars in the eyes of wine lovers everywhere. But did you know that French winemaking first began in Provence, thanks to the Greeks? Or that more rosé wine is produced there than any other kind? Or that Italian winemakers won’t let the French use the name of one of their grapes–they have to call it something else? Learn all about the wonderful wines of Provence in The Good Life France ..read more

Burgundy is home to some of the world’s greatest wines, where names like Montrachet and Nuits-St-Georges set wine lovers’ hearts a-flutter. The wines are produced in a region of almost otherworldly beauty, where you’ll find one charming village after another nestled among the vineyard-covered hillsides. For anyone who loves great wine and beautiful scenery, Burgundy is a must-visit part of France.  Not only is Burgundy a mecca for oenophiles, it is also wonderful place to go for a bike ride. Val and I recently rode along the Voie des Vignes (Vineyard Way), a route that runs through some ..read more

Provence’s Luberon Valley is one of the most beautiful spots in France. It is chock-full of restaurants serving excellent food, and I love the ones where Val and I can enjoy a nice view along with our meals. Would you like a simple café, perfect for an afternoon glass of wine? How about a restaurant with views over the stunning ochre quarries of Roussillon? Or for a special occasion, maybe you’d like to enjoy a meal at a Michelin-starred restaurant along a lovely riverbank. I’ve made a list of our five favorite Luberon restaurants with a view. You can read all about them in Perfectly Provence ..read more

One way to gain insight into a culture is to see what its people are reading. Topping the French charts lately has been The Arab of the Future 6, the final volume of a series that has been a massive best-seller in France. It’s a bande dessinée, or graphic novel, and has been translated into more than a dozen languages. Written and illustrated by Riad Sattouf, one of France’s top cartoonists, it tells the story of his childhood. Sattouf’s heritage spans two very different cultures. His mother is from Brittany and his father from Syria, and they met when the father was pursuing a doctorate at t ..read more

France is the land of haute cuisine, with dishes like escargot and foie gras and bouillabaisse. It’s a country with food so elegant and delicious that UNESCO has declared it part of the world’s cultural heritage. So, then, you might imagine that the French, with their refined palates, would turn up their noses at fast food. But the reality is more surprising. After a rough start, McDonald’s has become a fixture of the French culinary landscape. It is so popular you could even say it’s about the only thing French people agree on! And while there are a lot of similarities with McDonald’s in the ..read more

Provence is a magical corner of France, with unique sights, surprising legends, and a rich Roman, Jewish, and Catholic heritage. Would you like to walk through a rainbow? See magic inside a mountain? Learn about the “Babylonian captivity” of the Popes? You can do it all in Provence. Maybe you’d like to explore France’s best Roman sites, or the country’s oldest synagogue, or visit the grotto where Mary Magdalene spent her last years. Again, you can do all that in Provence. To learn more about this most distinctive of French regions, read my series Only in Provence in My French Life ..read more

When people think of French mustard, they usually think of Dijon, the most popular mustard in the world. And maybe they think of Grey Poupon, remembering the funny ads that once made this brand of Dijon mustard a luxury item. Dijon mustard originated in Burgundy, and today most of it is made by big conglomerates, in factories all over the world. But one company still makes it the old-fashioned way. Moutarderie Fallot’s mustard is made in Burgundy, using traditional methods and local ingredients. And it’s so good that top chefs seek it out for their restaurants. Read all about Moutarderie Fall ..read more