The Good Life France Magazine




The Good Life France Magazine brings you the best of France - inspirational and exclusive features, fabulous photos, mouth-watering recipes, tips, guides, ideas and much more...


Published by the award winning team at The Good Life France

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Spring 2022

Discover Paris in the spring, Caen in Normandy and its marvellous markets plus Yvoire, a picturesque village on the edge of Lake Geneva in Haute-Savoie. Explore Saint-Omer, a historic city in the far north that's full of secrets and treasures, and Evian, where Frankenstein's monster stayed! Head with us to Metz in Lorraine to find out about its incredible past, La Couvertoirade, one of the prettiest villages in France, and the UNESCO heritage of Avignon. Guides, gorgeous photos, what's new in France, the best tours and delicious recipes from the legendary Le Nôtre bakery in Paris - and more.

10 fabulous things to do

10 fabulous things to do in Provence In an area famous for so many things, like beautiful lavender fields, charming hilltop villages, and delicious food, it’s hard to pick favourites. We asked local author Keith van Sickle for his top ten Provence things to do… Les Carrières des Lumières, Baux-de-Provence Magic in a Mountain Imagine this: you enter a giant cavern with sheer, 30-foot-high walls. Huge images start to appear on one wall, then another, then on the floor. You realize that they are paintings by a great artist like van Gogh or Cézanne. The images pulse and swirl, full of life and color, their movements choreographed to beautiful music. This is the Carrières de Lumières, the world’s most magical sound and light show, and a different artist is featured each year. It’s so popular that copies are popping up all over the world, but none matches the original. You really do have to see it to believe it! Picnic in the Sky The Cedar Forest sits far above the Luberon Valley, higher even than the nearby hilltop village of Bonnieux. As you take the winding road up to the forest, there’s a secret spot off to the side where you can picnic under a tree and enjoy an unparalleled view across the valley. 74 | The Good Life France

Les Calanques, Peter Jones Cassis, Nick Meersman France’s Fjords East of Marseille, tall cliffs plunge down to the sea, with craggy inlets here and there. These calanques are like mini fjords, the grey stone contrasting with the deep blue waters of the Mediterranean where you see sailboats anchored, their passengers sunning on tiny beaches. If you’re feeling energetic you can hike to the calanques, but I recommend taking one of the regular boat rides that depart from the pretty little port town of Cassis, then you can see the calanques in two hours or less. Be sure to try some seafood at one of the restaurants along Cassis’s waterfront. Walk Through a Rainbow A century ago, ochre was mined in Roussillon and used as pigment in paint. The ochre quarries are abandoned now but there’s a well-marked walking trail through them. Follow it and admire the brilliantlycoloured hillsides—you’ll see red, purple, orange, and yellow. The town of Roussillon is a nice place to enjoy lunch or coffee, and all the buildings are painted in various ochre shades. Nearby and less crowded is the Colorado Provençal, with its own abandoned ochre quarries that are more rustic than Roussillon’s but equally beautiful. Roussillon The Good Life France | 75