Category: Culture

6 Quaint Villages In Provence, France You Must Visit

When it comes to quaint French towns and villages, Cucuron, Roussillon, Lourmarin, Lauris, Gordes, and Apt in the Luberon area of Provence do not disappoint.

The Luberon, part of the Vaucluse region of Provence in the south of France, is known for its historic and even ancient villages. Many are located on mountaintops with expansive views of the forests, fields, vineyards, and farms of the Luberon, and nearby are the famous lavender fields. The quaint villages usually consist of cafes, small town squares, medieval churches, art galleries, boutiques selling locally made products, and restaurants in addition to residents’ homes. Small hotels and bed and breakfasts are also available in each village. Here, we share the best villages to visit, plus recommended restaurants and hotels.

1. Cucuron

The town center of the village of Cucuron has a vast, rectangular pond with spring-fed water and 200-year-old plane trees towering over it. Cafes, restaurants, and a small hotel dot the square. Every Tuesday morning there’s a food and flea market at the pond, where locals get their produce and necessities. At the end of July is a flea market with antiques, tapestries, rugs, china, bric-a-brac, and artworks. Continue reading “6 Quaint Villages In Provence, France You Must Visit” →

Bras off: Lockdown triggers rise in French women going braless

growing number of French women are ditching their bras in the name of comfort and liberty, according to a recent survey, a trend that seems to have been triggered by the three-month Covid-19 lockdown in which many women got used to going without the undergarment.

Source: Bras off: Lockdown triggers rise in French women going braless

At a workshop near Paris, migrants train to upcycle used designer clothes

In the Parisian suburb of Villejuif, a workshop run by the French NGO Renaissance trains unemployed people – including migrants – to create luxury fashion pieces from castoff clothes and linen. It’s a transformative experience as participants embark on a journey of acquiring professional integration skills in a sustainable, eco-friendly manner.

“My dream is to sew a dress for Zinedine Zidane’s wife,” reveals Ibrahima, a 32-year-old football fan and Guinean refugee who arrived in France just two years ago. Ibrahima may be new to France, but he already has a very precise goal: to make sewing his profession

It’s an objective shared by participants at a workshop run by Renaissance, a French NGO that promotes sustainable and eco-friendly recreations of luxury clothing.

The workshop is held in Villejuif, a southern suburb of Paris. Here, Ibrahima and his colleagues are in the process of reintegrating into the workforce. Some are long-term unemployed, others are young people without degrees and still others are asylum seekers or refugees.

Trained by Philippe Guilet – the founder and head of Renaissance who worked for leading fashion designers such as Jean-Paul Gaultier and Karl Lagerfeld – the team of around 10 women and men have been learning haute couture techniques since September. Continue reading “At a workshop near Paris, migrants train to upcycle used designer clothes” →

Jane Birkin: ‘Serge Gainsbourg was never a boring genius’ 

Jane Birkin.
 

Jane Birkin began keeping a diary aged 11, with the entries addressed to her beloved stuffed toy Munkey. She was born in London; her mother was an actor and her father a spy during the second world war. Birkin’s concerns, initially, were typically teenage – boarding school, boys – but quickly become more juicy: aged 18, she married the James Bond composer John Barry; a year later, she appeared in Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blowup. In her 20s, she became involved (creatively and romantically) with the French musician Serge Gainsbourg and set out on a lifelong path of singing, acting, writing and being one of the most renowned muses of the 20th century and beyond. Now 73, she lives in Paris with her bulldog – regularly seeing her daughters Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon, who are both actors and musicians; her oldest daughter Kate Barry, a photographer, died in 2013. Munkey Diaries: 1957-1982 is published this month.

Continue reading “Jane Birkin: ‘Serge Gainsbourg was never a boring genius’ “ →