The region Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, which includes six départements including le Vaucluse, extends from Orange and Arles in the west to the Alps and the Italian border in the east. Funny thing, though, about what actually constitutes la Côte d’Azur, or what we call the French Riviera. On the east, no problem: [...]
The silvery green leaves of the olivier (“olive tree”) stay on its branches all year long and are easy to spot throughout the most southern regions of France: Provence-Côte d’Azur and Languedoc-Roussillon. One sees the gnarled trunks of the low-cut trees lined up in groves, along the side of the autoroute, or in [...]
In 1635 le cardinal Richelieu, minister of Louis XIII, made good on a promise of sponsoring a small number of people who met at l’Hôtel de Rambouillet to discuss literature. The group became l’Académie française and continues to function today. The academy acts as the official authority to advise the nation on [...]
