What is it...

...about these little drawings and captions by Andre Jordan? To see his website, click here.

Man Shops Globe, Starting With France

Keith Johnson has the job everyone wants. He travels the world for the American retailer Anthropologie, buying beautiful antiques, art, decor and textiles for the stores to sell or use as display. He also commissions original pieces or finds the perfect one-of-a-kind for the company to knock off. Keith travels half the year, scouring antique fairs, flea markets, artists' ateliers, tiny shops, museums and factories.

Anthropologie if you don't know it, sells a fantastic and very unique mix of clothing, housewares, tableware, books, jewelry, fashion accessories, linens, art and crafts. At last count, they had 120 U.S. stores open; they're now expanding outside the U.S., beginning with a 10,000-square-foot London store opening tomorrow (Friday) at 158 Regent St. (anthropologie.com or anthropologie.co.uk).

And Keith is now the subject of his own TV show, called Man Shops Globe. It's on the Sundance Channel and it's great fun. In Episode #1, he runs around Paris, a large antiques fair in Avignon and the shops of Isle sur la Sorgue. He also visits with painter Aurelie Alvarez, who lives and works near Avignon, and he buys three of her pretty canvases.

The first episode of Man Shops Globe also introduced us to Michel Barma (abilisexport.com), Keith's agent in France, who lives and works in St. Remy and accompanies Keith on shopping forays to help with sourcing, negotiating, buying, and the complicated process of getting the merchandise to the Anthropologie warehouses.

In each half-hour program, Keith will travel to a new country such as Holland, India or Turkey. Michel and his wife Gabrielle will appear in a future episode, which takes Keith to Tunisia (where the glassware above was photographed).

For video clips of the show, go here:

sundancechannel.com/man-shops-globe

In conjunction with the show, Sundance is staging a contest with a shopping trip for two to France as the grand prize. To enter:

sundancechannel.com/man-shops-globe/sweepstakes/

If you'd like to know more about Anthropologie, the magazine Fast Company did a terrific article a few years back. You can read it here:

fastcompany.com/magazine/65/sophisticated.html

Tour d'Argent Cellar Sale

The landmark Parisian restaurant La Tour d'Argent, which dates back to 1582, is cleaning out its 450,000-bottle wine cellar, considered one of the best in the world. The Associated Press says the Michelin three-star is putting 18,000 bottles up for auction in December and that the event "has captured the imagination of French wine lovers." Tour d'Argent is selling mostly wine but also some very old spirits, such as three bottles of Clos du Griffier Cognac from 1788, the year before the French Revolution, as well as a bottle of 1875 Armagnac.

The cellar of the Left Bank restaurant, known for pressed duck and spectacular views of Notre Dame, is an important part of its history. A sign marks the spot where a brick wall was built in 1940 to hide the best bottles during the Nazi occupation.

Estimated prices at the Dec. 7th and 8th sale, by French auctioneer Piasa, range from 10€ to 2,500 to 3,000€ for each bottle of the 1788 Cognac, one of which will go to charity.

Among the wines on sale are Chateau Lafite Rothschild (1970, 1982, 1997), Cheval Blanc (1928, 1949, 1966) and Chateau Margaux (1970, 1990). The total sale is expected to bring in around €1 million.

Chief sommelier David Ridgway says the restaurant wants to cut down on wines it has in multiples to vary and modernize its selection. Buyers can rest assured the bottles aren't counterfeit — a major problem in the industry — because the restaurant bought them directly from vintners.

For more info go here: piasa.auction.fr/UK/

Or read the AP article on the NPR website:

npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113861303

or in the Times:

timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6878642.ece

Photo: Four bottles of 1875 Armagnac Vieux, covered in a black fungus that looks "like matted cat fur," have been unearthed from the labyrinthine wine cellar at La Tour d'Argent. The restaurant will sell 18,000 bottles at auction this December. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Todd & Gina's Excellent Adventure, Part #2

Canadian journalist Todd Babiak, his wife Gina and their two daughters, are spending a year in Provence. Todd is writing about it for newspapers back in Canada. On Sept. 20th I published his first column, the one about the stinky mattress. Here's his second, about Speedos and rules and France. Enjoy!

Les Baux Rocks!

Italian photographer Max Belloni lives fulltime outside Turin but shoots frequently in Provence. He often works with a technique called HDR, which involves the layering of images to create a deeply saturated effect, but says this photo was taken traditionally. Max writes: "Walking around the base of the castle of Les Baux de Provence, I saw this nice texture effect of the water flowing in the centuries on the vertical rocks, and I couldn’t resist the shot." To see more of Max's gorgeous photos: maxbelloni.com. To contact him directly: maxbelloni@gmail.com

How Great Is This Photo?

I found this 2CV on FabulouslyFrench and just had to share.

Cezanne, Van Gogh, Picasso Slept Here

Ewa Zebrowski is a Montreal-based photographer who recently spent 10 "magical" days in Provence. She sent me the following photos and text, which I'm delighted to share with you here. Her contact info appears at the end of the photo essay.

What would a trip to Provence be without the art? I left for Provence knowing I wanted to see the Cezanne-Picasso exhibition at the Musee Granet in Aix. I never imagined that I would have a chance to see the atelier where Cezanne had worked, the bed where Van Gogh had slept and the chateau where Picasso spent the last days of his life. It's one thing to go to a museum and see great works of art. It's another to experience the places where great artists worked and lived.

I had heard about the asylum where Van Gogh lived at the end of his life (1889-1890), located near St. Remy de Provence some 32 km from Arles. I never expected to discover such a beautiful garden, building and cloister and to be so moved standing in his room seeing his small bed and seeing, with my eyes, the same view he had seen years ago. I could feel his presence and the burden of those years. I had not realized how prolific he had been while living at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, producing many paintings including the acclaimed, well known Starry Night (1889).

In Aix I discovered that Cezanne’s atelier was close to the center of town. It's as Cezanne left it. One enters the studio on the second floor, a large high space full of selected remnants of Cezanne’s life. One sees his clothes still hanging on hooks on the wall, a few still life arrangements, his easels, paints and other reminders of his presence. One wonders who made the decision to keep the place intact and if in fact the objects are exactly where he had left them. The light in the atelier is bright, north light...a place for contemplation. While walking to his studio one notices a black and white archival photo of the atelier on permanent display in the street. Today the building is virtually hidden by vegetation.

To my great disappointment, I only saw the exterior of the Chateau de Vauvernagues. Even though we arrived at the Musee Granet before 9 a.m. to purchase tickets, we were too late. Apparently they had sold out shortly after they went on sale in January 2009 and only 30 or so are available daily. Nevertheless we decided to drive to the small town of Vauvernagues situated at the foot of Mont Sainte-Victoire, so important in the work of Cezanne. We hoped to catch a glimpse of the chateau and hoped, having traveled all the way from Canada, that we would be allowed to visit once there. A naïve wish! In 1958 Picasso had moved to the chateau. Today he and Jacqueline Rogue are buried there. The chateau is furnished and decorated as Picasso left it; many bronze sculptures remain, although there are no longer any paintings either by Picasso or from his private collection.


The chateau is owned by Catherine Hutin, Jacqueline's daughter by her first marriage. She has opened the premises to the public for the first (and possibly last) time since 1973, in conjunction with the Musee Granet exhibiton.I was sad and frustrated that I was not able to visit Picasso’s last residence. I especially wanted to see the mural he had painted in the bathroom. I wondered what Picasso would have thought of these bureaucratic restrictions. What sense to have a museum that is virtually inaccessible to the public?

Artists die and leave a legacy of their work behind. We visit museums and galleries to see their work, but rarely do we see the places where they lived and worked, retrace their history and come to more intimately understand their parcours. These places of creativity give us a deeper appreciation. They remind us that these artists really existed in time and space, at once a humbling and inspiring realization.

Photos: Cezanne's Fruit, Van Gogh's Bed, Picasso's Chateau; copyright Ewa Zebrowski, 2009.

For info on the Cezanne Picasso Show and the Château de Vauvenargues: http://www.picasso-aix2009.fr/uk/exposition_granet.asp.
For info on the Atelier Paul Cezanne http://www.atelier-cezanne.com.
For info on Saint Paul de Mausole Monastery in St. Remy: 04 90 92 77 00.
To contact Ewa Zebrowski: www.ewazebrowski.com, ezebrowski@hotmail.com

Starchitects in Provence

Did everyone know about this but me? Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel, Renzo Piano, Norman Foster and Tadao Ando, some of the very biggest names in architecture today, are at work on a new art center, restaurant and small hotel at Chateau La Coste winery in Aix.

A self-taught architect and Pritzker Prize winner, Ando drafted the art center’s master plan and designed its 3,000-square-meter (32,000-square-feet) main gallery. The center, opening next year, features a music pavilion designed by Gehry, a wine cellar by Nouvel, and other structures by Piano and Foster, all Pritzker laureates.

“We’re creating a space filled with water and the gallery will appear to float on top of it,” Ando told Bloomberg.com (which is where I just read it). The location holds special meaning, he says, because “Aix-en-Provence is the home of Paul Cezanne, the father of contemporary art.”

The project, in the French countryside famed for inspiring Cezanne and Van Gogh, aligns with Ando's desire to “create spaces for appreciating the intersection of nature with history and art,” he said. Earlier this year, he refurbished the interior of a 17th-century customs house in Venice, the Punta della Dogana, turning it into a contemporary art museum for Gucci’s billionaire owner Francois Pinault.

The new art center was commissioned by Irish property developer Patrick McKillen, a friend of Bono of the rock band U2. Ando is also designing McKillen's new home on the Irish coast.

Read the Bloomberg story here.

Photo: Chateau La Coste in Aix.

The Cocktail Drinkers' Guide to Gardening #1

Born in Hampshire, England, my smart (brainy) and smart (elegant) friend James Clay is an artist and sculptor who settled down (somewhat) in St. Remy close to 20 years ago. Over the years, he lovingly created a gorgeous one-hectare garden, filled with fruit, palm, pine, and olive trees (he has 60 olive trees, all of them transplanted), plus many varieties of bamboo, flowering plants and shrubs.

James knows everything about gardening in Provence. Plus, he likes to drink. And he likes to write. So in this new monthly column, he'll serve up essential month-by-month garden tips... with drinks. It's so obvious, no?

If this all seems familiar to you, it's because you read something similar (by which I mean identical) on AlpillesNews.com, where it first appeared. Without further ado, here's James' thoughts on September.

Column #1: Laws of the Lawn

I always breathe a sigh of relief come September. The major heat of the summer is past and, with luck, I've managed to get to this point without losing the lawn; I don't mean in the sense of having misplaced it, rather that it hasn't died on me. Whether you water by a sprinkler system or by irrigation flooding (the ancient and better way), it's always nerve wracking when you lose patches (and it’s ugly to boot).

It's common sense to water your lawn either late at night or very early in the morning. With the intense heat, the grass, if watered during the daytime, is liable to burn and of course the water tends to evaporate very quickly. I often think how crazy it is to water during a mistral with blasting temperatures--something one does see here in Provence, which constitutes the equivalent of burning money!

I wonder if you’ve noticed what I think of here as a second spring? By mid month, we enjoy a milder heat and what with the abundant water system installed by the Romans, there is a period of growth which is quite surprising. (To quote from the Monty Python film The Life of Brian: "What did the Romans ever do for us?" to which a character replies: "Wine, aqueducts, under-floor heating, roads"...the list is almost endless!)

Lawns in Provence are high maintenance and quite expensive to keep up so I always advise people (if they are determined to have one) to keep them as small as possible. Another tip during the hotter months is not to cut the grass too close but to let it grow longer than you would do, say, in the spring.

I’ve finally progressed to a tractor mower (my pride and joy) and they’ve become far less expensive over the last few years. I find mowing quite therapeutic and it gives me time to survey the garden as I trundle round.

Again, it is best to mow later in the day as the heat declines. The other great thing about mowing is that you can anticipate the coming evening and perhaps reflect on what might be delicious to serve your friends who are coming over to enjoy the cool of the evening on the terrace with you.

Cousin Neil and his delightfully witty wife Becky came to stay last month. Her stunning impression of Skippy the Kangaroo (remember the Australian children's TV show from the early ‘70's?) had people in tears of laughter; she managed to hold herself back when it came to the jumping element natural to that species! On seeing yours truly alight from his orange (YES orange) tractor calling for a drink, this funny lady suggested making a ‘Lawn Boy.' So here’s the recipe for this thirst-quenching cocktail.

Put three handfuls of ice and six shots of vodka in the blender, toss in a handful of fresh mint, blend until smooth, adding sugar to taste; fill with lemonade. Add more vodka if you like! Pour into a pitcher, serve in tall glasses--et voila! As your guests are chattering away, take a second or two to admire your freshly mown lawn (always a satisfying moment). My darling Ma would always say, "Keep the lawn cut and the paths weed free and the garden will always pass as well kept."

How right she was...Have a cool September! Cheers.

Todd and Gina's Excellent Adventure: Part #1

The other day I got a terrific email from Canadian journalist Todd Babiak. (Then again, how bad could any email be if it starts "Dear Julie, I love your blog"?)

It turns out that Todd, his wife Gina and their two daughters are spending a year in Provence...and Todd is writing about their adventures for a chain of daily newspapers back in Canada. I read Todd's first column and knew immediately I wanted to share it. You can read it by clicking HERE. Start with the video at the top of the page...it gives you the backstory.

Todd's column will appear weekly in Canada and, hopefully, on Provence Post as well. If you'd like to know more about Todd and his work, go to www.toddbabiak.com or email him: toddbabiak@shaw.ca.

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this first installment as much as I did!

Avia (left), Esmé (middle) and Gina Babiak in the Roman ruins of Vaison-la-Romaine. Photo by Todd Babiak.