Win a Three-Week Stay in Provence!

Having led art retreats in Provence for four years now, Nicky Ginsberg has just moved her NG Art Creative Residency & Gallery into a beautiful new space...and she’s giving away a three-week residency in Provence to celebrate. The deadline is October 1 and all the details are below.

Previously based in a lovely old farmhouse in Eygalieres, Nicky’s international non-profit arts association is now permanently settled into a renovated 17 th-century olive mill, nestled in the foothills of the Alpilles mountains. It’s just outside the village of Maussane, a stone’s throw from the historic medieval hilltown of Les Baux.

Christened Moulin de Gréoux some 400 years ago, the grand old property offers international artists, writers, poets, musicians, performers, filmmakers, photographers, academic scholars and other creatives “a place of respite, nourishment and enlightenment to enrich their creative process.”

Moulin de Gréoux was lovingly renovated by previous owners to retain many vestiges from its agricultural past, such as vaulted ceilings, wooden beams, stone troughs and its original olive press. The old stone walls and cathedral-like interior are now home to five guestrooms, a large kitchen, shared studio/atelier, gallery, arts library, piano room and indoor swimming pool. For artists working with clay or other materials, there’s a covered outdoor wet area along with shaded terraces, landscaped gardens and more.

Artists in residence enjoy quiet time to work but also the opportunity to mingle with the public and international visitors at festive dinners, musical soirées, cooking workshops and exclusive vernissage (art opening) events. This open-door philosophy allows residents to showcase their work to a local and wider global audience.

Residents can also participate in communal dinners, cooking workshops with local and international chefs, soirées and performance evenings, professional development and mentorship, seasonal studio exhibits, gallery exhibits, outings of cultural  interest and various networking and collaborative opportunities.

Nicky, a long-time gallery owner, entrepreneur and creative director, founded  the program and now runs it with her partner, aspiring artist Edwin Holder-Vale. (The couple met two years ago in a cooking class in Greece...awww!). You can read Nicky’s bio here and follow Edwin on Instagram here.

For residencies at Moulin de Gréoux, there are four different pricing options starting at €500 a week per person. The program includes accommodation, breakfast and dinner daily, transportation to and from the residency and use of a car and bike for the duration of your stay. If needed, you’ll also have studio space including work stations, easels, professional hanging systems and projectors.

There are also subsidized residencies and a number of sponsorships and prizes offered throughout the year.

If you’re looking to immerse yourself in your work amidst spectacular, natural surroundings, I can’t think of a nicer place to do it. Steeped in Provençal history, the area boasts olive groves and mills, vineyards and wineries, a large sheep farm, picturesque town squares, scores of restaurants and cafes and myriad historic sites dating to Roman times and beyond. And it’s all bathed in that famous light that inspired Van Gogh, Cézanne and so many others.

Ok so...on to the contest! The giveaway includes a three-week complimentary residency, breakfast and dinner daily, full use of the arts studio, professional development and mentorship, use of a car, en plein air activities, meeting art enthusiasts and like- minded creative folk, the opportunity to exhibit in a dedicated gallery and more.

To enter, you must be on Instagram so this is a great time to sign up if you haven’t. Then follow @ngartcreativeresidency, share their latest post (dated September 19) to your stories and tag them. Finally, leave a comment about why you want to win! The winner will be contacted via Instagram on Friday October 1. (And while you're at it, please follow me too! I'm here.)

If you miss this chance or don’t win this time around, you can learn all about the residency program and application process on the NG Art Creative website. Future contests and news will be announced via social media and in Nicky’s newsletter, so be sure to sign up for it by clicking the subscribe tab on the website.  

Bonne Chance...and hope to see you in Provence!

Photos: (1, 2) This 17th-century olive mill in Maussane has been converted into a beautiful live-and-work space for creatives of all types. Win the Instagram contest and you'll stay here three weeks. (3) Communal dinners are fresh, local, seasonal, colorful and, I hear, perfectly delicious. No starving artists here! (4) One of the five guestrooms. (5) Previous owners did most of the renovation and built a large lovely pool in an old barn.  (6) The shared studio/atelier is large enough for four people to work at a time. (7) An artist-in-residence doing his thing en plein air. (8) Come in May/June when the poppies are blooming and you'll get to paint scenes like this. (9) Everyone is welcome to use the large, beautiful kitchen. (10) In its new home, the residency program will operate year round. In cooler months, dinners may be served in the dramatic vaulted dining room. (11) Lovely terraces provide quiet spaces for work, lunches and more. (12) One of the pretty restaurants on the town square in Maussane. (13) The first group of artists-in-residence at the Moulin this summer. (14) Nicky and Edwin met in a cooking class and quickly discovered shared passions such as art, travel and Provence.

Win a Copy of the 2021 French Country Diary

Every day I hear from people telling me how they can’t wait to travel again...and can’t wait to get back to France. Meanwhile, I thought the newest French Country Diary by Linda Dannenberg might take the edge off the cravings. So I dropped a note to Linda and asked if she’d like to offer me a copy or two of the 2021 edition, to give away here on my blog. In classic Linda style, she came back tres vite: “Oui, bien sur! How about three of them? And I’ll sign them, of course!” 

Linda is one of the biggest Francophiles I know, the author of 12 books on French design, lifestyle and food. She was bitten by the bug early, during a post-grad year in Paris spent working at a couture textiles firm. “I fell in love with the bistros and cafés on every corner, with the galleries on the rue de Seine, with the smell of Gauloises in the air, with the Paris Métro,” she remembers. When her Gallic escapade was over, Linda moved to New York and launched a media career, starting at CBS News and moving on to editorial jobs at Family Circle and Working Woman.

“The jobs were amazing and fulfilling,” she says, “but eventually the Lorelei call of France, and a book contract, proved impossible to resist!”

Linda returned to France to write The Paris Way of Beauty (Simon & Schuster) and more than a dozen books followed, including a quartet of iconic Pierre Deux French Country titles. Her Paris Boulangerie-Pâtisserie was nominated for a Julia Child Cookbook of the Year Award while her book with 3-star chef Alain Ducasse, Ducasse: Flavors of France, was nominated for a James Beard Award and went on to win the Versailles International Cookbook Award.

She’s also written on cuisine, design and travel for Town & Country, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Travel & Leisure, House Beautiful, Harper's Bazaar, Elle and Departures.

And every year, for 33 years now, Linda has published the much-loved French Country Diary, a weekly hardcover calendar showcasing sumptuous interior design, lush gardens, extraordinary landscapes and lots of “poetic art de vivre.” Published by Abrams Books with photos by the Paris- and Brittany-based photographer Guillaume de Laubier, the latest edition takes us to a thatched-roof farmstead in Normandy’s Marais-Vernier to the majestic Château de Montgeoffroy in the Anjou (a time-capsule of 18th-century style) to a gardener's cottage in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. Among the amazing private collections featured are 19th-century faience in Bordeaux, Napoleonica in Paris and a home devoted to parrots (!!) near Dieppe. The Diary also notes nationally recognized holidays and observances, with ample space for notes, appointments, addresses and reminders. As in years past, the book is embellished with Provençal textiles from Olivades. It has a cloth spine, a ribbon marker and 58 gorgeous photos.

“My readers tell me they use it as much for decorating ideas and planning French travel itineraries as they do for recording important dates throughout the year,’’ Linda tells me.

Madame Dannenberg, for her part, says the thing she misses most when she can’t visit France (she hasn’t travelled more than 10 km from her home in Westchester, NY since mid March!), is definitely the bistro cooking.

“I miss the ambiance and romance of an iconic bistro such as La Fontaine de Mars in Paris or Le Bistrot du Paradou in the Alpilles,” she says. In place of the real thing, Linda reaches for books filled with evocative descriptions of memorable meals, such as A. J. Liebling's classic Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris, Amanda Hesser's The Cook and the Gardner and Martin Walker's Inspector Bruno series.

“And when I’m truly inspired and longing for Paris,” Linda continues, “I pull out one of my own early cookbooks, Paris Bistro Cooking, and prepare a family meal of classic bistro favorites: a Salade Verte au Chèvre Chaud (Wild Greens Salad with Warm Goat Cheese) from Michel Rostang's Bistrot d'à Côté; Boeuf à la Mode (Braised Beef and Carrots) from Benoît; and a Tarte au Citron (Lemon Tart) from Polidor."

Lucky family!

So speaking of luck...on to the contest! To win a signed, personalized copy of the 2021 French Country Diary, simply leave a comment below and tell us what you miss most about France when you can’t be here...and what do you do to visit virtually. Do you cook French? Lose yourself in French music, movies or books? Do you brush up your French skills with language-learning apps or an old textbook? We want to know! This contest is open to anyone in any country, including France.

To comment, click where it says COMMENTS just below. If your name comes up in the little box, choose that. If it doesn’t, choose NAME/URL from the drop down. (If you don’t have your own website or blog you can leave URL blank.) Please be sure to leave us your email or we can’t contact you if you win. If you have any problem commenting at all, drop me a note (provenceblog@aol.com) and I’ll help. Or send me your name and your thoughts and I’ll be happy to post them for you. Linda and I will choose three winners, confirm your mailing address and send your beautiful Diary right off. (I told Linda I’d be happy to help with shipping and she said “Oh don’t worry...just send me some Herbes de Provence!”)

For those of you who prefer to enter on Instagram, the contest is on my page here. (To follow Linda, her page is here.)

Bonne Chance! And if you'd like to just go ahead and buy the Diary, you'll find it on Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Calendars.com and in English on Amazon.fr.

Photos: (1) You deserve to win this more than anyone! Actually if you win and want to give the Diary as a gift, Linda will inscribe it to your giftee and ship it directly to them. (2) Linda and her photographer Guillaume de Laubier shooting a holiday meal in Paris. Photo by Françoise Hontebeyrie. (3) One of Linda's favorite Paris bistros is La Fontaine de Mars. (4) A thatched-roof farmhouse and B&B called Les Cigognes, in the Normandy countryside near Honfleur. (5) Vintage wooden sailboats, for rent at Le Grand Bassin in the Luxembourg Gardens, have been delighting Parisian children for over a century. (6) Le Perche, a bucolic region tucked into the southeastern corner of Normandy, makes a perfect destination for a weekend trip from Paris. An essential stop when you're exploring the area is the lovely hilltop village of La Perrière, where you'll find La Maison de L'Horbé, this restaurant and antiques emporium. (7) Linda writes: "At sunset, when Deauville's vast white sand beach is tinted pink in the rosy light, the large, vibrantly-hued parasols are closed and wrapped with swaths of contrasting canvas. It's a gorgeous time to be on this iconic beach." (8) Hôtel d'une île is a small rustic inn set in the deep woodland of Le Perche, near the town of Rémalard. (9) On a sun-dappled terrace, crusty breads await you at breakfast at the three-star L'Oustau de Baumanière in Les Baux. * All photos, except as mentioned above, are by @guillaumedelaubier and appear in either the 2020 or 2021 edition of the French Country Diary. 

Book Giveaway: From One Expert to Another

Wine writer Jancis Robinson is known for big books, such as the 912-page Oxford Companion to Wine (currently in its fourth, much-revised edition) and the 1280-page Wine Grapes (which won every major wine book award in the year of its publication). Perhaps that’s one reason her newest title, which just came out in the US, is so compelling: how much of her 40 years of wine experience could she possibly cram into just 111 pages, between two tiny 5” x 7” covers?

As you might have expected...quite a lot.

To celebrate the publication of this new hardcover version (the first was a paperback published in the UK in February), Jancis’ New York publisher Abrams, has given me five copies of The 24-Hour Wine Expert to give away. With corkscrews! Yep, to enter simply leave a comment below. Five lucky readers will get a copy of the book and a corkscrew to match.

Jancis is one of the most-respected, most-prolific wine writers working today. And boy, does she work. Based in London, she travels roughly one third of the year:  tasting, rating and writing for a multitude of publications including her website JancisRobinson.com, which is updated daily and has subscribers in more than 100 countries. Jancis writes a weekly column for the Financial Times while Decanter called her “the most respected wine critic and journalist in the world.” She even provides advice to the wine cellar of Queen Elizabeth II. (I love the idea of the Queen ringing up...Jan? Sorry to be a bother, but the King of Spain is on his way and I have no idea what to pour!)

When I caught up with her last week, Jancis was up in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, where she told me she had just finished tasting some 175 vintages.

“This week?” I asked.

“Today,” she replied.

To learn more about her background and accomplishments, read her shortish Wikipedia bio here or the full, amazing one here...but be forewarned: whatever you’ve done with your life, you’ll feel like a total slacker if you do!

This new book, Jancis says, is for people who like wine but don’t feel quite sure of themselves in a wine shop buying for a dinner party...or in a restaurant, wine list in hand. “It’s for people who want a shortcut to the essentials,” she says. 

And so, after taking us quickly but comprehensively through the wine regions of the world and their grapes, she sets out to painlessly help us make the most of what she calls “the most delicious, stimulating, varied and infuriatingly complicated drink in the world.”

Topics include how to select the right bottle at retail; understanding the properties of color and aroma; what the different shapes of bottles and their labels tell you; what terms like “full body,” “supple,” “round” and “nose” really mean; what wines pair well with foods such as pizza, sushi or Thai; what the terms organic, biodynamic and natural mean in the wine world; how to chill and warm wines; and much more.

And what about that perennial question about how price correlates to quality? As in, how much do we really need to spend to get a good bottle?

“There is no direct correlation between price and quality in wine,” she writes, before giving us a handy list of underpriced, overpriced and splurge-worthy labels. “Many wines are overpriced because of inflated market demand, ambition, greed, or just because a marketing person sees the need for an ‘icon wine’ in the range. The difference in quality between wines at the top and bottom ends of the price scale is narrower than it has ever been, while the difference in price has never been greater.

“Packaging, shopping, marketing, and, in many countries, local taxes and duties tend to account for by far the majority of the price of very cheap wines,” Jancis continues, “with the cost of the liquid itself representing a tiny fraction of what you are paying. Ambition is responsible for much of the selling price of more expensive wines. For this reason, the best value is generally in the range of $10 to $30 a bottle. Here, you more or less get what you pay for.”

Sound good? Then leave a comment below (click where it says comments) for your chance to win a copy...and a corkscrew! If you have a wine anecdote to share, even better! And please be sure to include your email address or we can’t reach you if you win...best is to put it right in the body of your comment text. 

If you want to buy the book, it’s in all the major retailers or order it on Amazon here.

Contest: Who Makes NYC's Best Baguette?

*Note: Here are the winners for the Best Baguette contest I wrote about just below. Eric Kayser of Maison Kayser took home the grand prize by both reader and jury’s choice. A Special Jury Prize was awarded to the two runners-up for best baguette, Amy Scherber of Amy’s Bakery and Jerry Jan of Breads Bakery, and Clemence Danko of Choc O Pain took home the Special Fan Prix. Epicerie Boulud was acknowledged for the Most Original Bread, and Orwasher’s Bakery was named Best Specialty Bread.

Gentlemen, start your ovens! Fourteen of the city's best bakers and pastry chefs will be battling it out for the title "Best Baguette in NYC" at the Sofitel New York on Thursday January 21st.

The event starts at 6:30 pm and is open to the public; info on tickets is below.

The competition pits the finalists of a readers' poll conducted by the online magazine French Morning against each other, in a blind tasting judged by an impressive panel of experts.

Vying for the title will be: 

* François Brunet (Epicerie Boulud)
* Keith Cohen (Orwasher’s Bakery)
* François Danielo (La Boulangerie)
* Clemence Danko (Choc O Pain)
* Zachary Golper (Bien Cuit)
* Eric Kayser (Maison Kayser)
* Jean-Claude Perennou (Cannelle Patisserie)
* Hervé Poussot (Almondine)
* Gus Reckel (L’Imprimerie)
* Uri Scheft (Bread’s Bakery)
* Amy Scherber (Amy’s Bakery)
* Le District
* Fairway Market 
* Le Pain Quotidien

The professional jury: 

*Chef André Soltner (dean of classic studies at the French Culinary Institute, NYC; James  Beard Lifetime Achievement Award winner; former chef-owner of Lutèce).
*Ariane Daguin (owner/founder of D'Artagnan; winner of Bon Appetit‘s Lifetime  Achievement Award).
* Chef Didier Elena (culinary director of the Chef’s Club by Food & Wine; former exec  chef of Alain Ducasse at the Essex House, where he earned two Michelin stars).
* Sylvain Harribey (exec chef of Sofitel New York and Food Network alum).
* French novelist Marc Levy.
* Sara Moulton (TV chef, author, Food Network alum).
* Charlie Von Over (bread expert and author of The Best Bread Ever).

Event tickets are $30 per person and include a tasting of the baguettes (each chef is allowed two types), charcuterie (from D’Artagnan), cheeses (from Savencia) and wine (from Les Jamelles in the Languedoc).

To buy tickets online, click here.  If space is available, they'll also be sold at the door. 

The Sofitel is at 45 West 44^th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Manhattan. 

Questions? Contact: daniel.harpaz@sofitel.com, 212-782-3013.  

Photo: Le Petit Parisien by Willy Ronis, 1952.

Best of France This Weekend in NYC

This weekend, Times Square in Manhattan will be transformed into a huge French marketplace called Best of France.

The September 26 and 27 event is organized by the non-profit group of the same name, whose purpose is to promote the image of France and "French expertise and savoir-faire" abroad. The event is presented in conjunction with Atout France.

Entrance to Best of France is free, but tickets must be purchased for special events such as the VIP Opening Night Reception and the Grand Wine Tastings presented by top NYC sommeliers. 

Event exhibitors and programs are organized by themes: Cuisine, Lifestyle, Travel, Fashion, Culture, Technology and Innovation.  

The list of exhibitors and sponsors includes Air France, Back-Roads, Club Med, Clarins, Croisi Europe, Delta, Diptyque, Galeries Lafayette, Laguiole, Lancome, Le Boat, L'Oreal, Moulin Rouge, Parfums de France, RailEurope, Sofitel, Tartine et Chocolat, Valrhona, YSL and many more. The cities of Cannes, Lyon, Toulouse and Paris will be on hand, as will regional tourist offices (Bordeaux/Aquitaine, the Rhône Alpes the Midi-Pyrénées, Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, etc.) and the islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe and Saint Martin. The full exhibitor list is here.

At the Inauguration on Saturday at 11 am (Broadway between 46th and 47th Streets), 130 French and American kids will be unraveling huge US and French flags. Following the two national anthems, they'll also unravel the largest “marinière” (the iconic striped, knitted sweater) in the world. How large you ask? It's  22' long by 44' wide.

The show highlights are listed here. On the Culinary Stage all weekend, chefs--including Christian Tetedoie, Eric Kayser, Michel Bras and others--will be doing demos.

On the main stage (Times Square at 46th St.), Francophone singers and French artists (such as 16 Moulin Rouge dancers, a first in NYC) will perform. Other offerings include art exhibits, a French book store, book signings, fashion shows on a 45-foot runway, a kids fashion show casting call, live demos by French craftsmen making artisanal products, a French market and "bistro areas."

Volunteers are still needed and can compete to win a trip to Paris; info on volunteering is here. 

The public is invited to enter to win a week in luxury rental in Chamonix (with a six-day ski pass) and a week-long French river cruise. Anyone can enter...you don't have to attend the event to win...just fill out the form here.

For all the details, visit the Best of France website here...and follow them on Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram and Pinterest.

Contest: Send Your South of France Selfies!

Have you been poking around Provence, cavorting on the Côte d'Azur, luxuriating in the Languedoc? Then send us your very best South of France selfie* and you could win a great prize. 

I first ran this contest last year, in the dead of winter, which wasn't terribly smart. So I'm doing it again, now that the summer travel season has fully begun. If you entered the first time around, rest assured that you and your adorable selfie will be entered into this year's contest...there's no need to send it again.

When taking your selfie, we want to see glorious scenery in the background...a gorgeous beach or medieval village...a vast vineyard, bustling bistro, crowded market, remote mountaintop....you get the idea. Be creative and have fun...climb a tree, leap from a plane, fight a bull, go where no man has gone before. Just be sure that the photographer--and something recognizably South of France--is visible in the frame. This contest will go on for a while to allow for your upcoming travels...or you can send one from a previous trip. I'll publish my favorites, readers will vote and the winner will receive two nights at Le Mas de Lilou, a beautiful B&B in Tarascon, 15 minutes west of St. Remy. Plus, dinner one night for two.

So give it your best shot and send high-quality images (jpg, png or gif only) to me at: provenceblog@aol.com. Please put Provence Selfie in the subject line, tell me who's in the photo and tell me where and when it was taken. Can't wait to see you! 

*Note: The Oxford Dictionary celebrated the selfie as the International Word of the Year in 2013. More recently, selfies were blamed for an uptick (sorry!) in the spread of head lice among teenagers. And then we have this: scientists have been investigating the selfie phenomenon using "theoretic, artistic and quantitative" methods. They call it ''the vernacular of the 21st century'' and you can read their findings here.

Photos: A very nice selfie taken in Nice by Robert Schrader of the blog Leave Your Daily Hell, who thinks he very well may be the King of the Travel Selfie (agreed). Me with my friends Olivier and Denis, one hot summer day in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. (I'm much prettier in real life, BTW.) My Irish friends Niamh and Ellen Burns have selfied themselves all over France. Next, some selfies I found online: I love the"Polar Bear Reading a Book Partial-Duck Face Selfie" which I found here, as well as this French Waiter Selfie, Eiffel Tower Selfie, Selfie in Les Baux and sweet Honeymoon Selfie Over Provence. Up in Paris, Rihanna and her fingernails got photobombed while posing ever-so-nonchalantly for a selfie. And finally, we have a new version of the selfie artform: video. This one, Selfies in France, is by Tristan Cooke.