The Best 2012 Christmas Markets in Southern Provence

We've updated our guide to the best 2012 Christmas markets, fairs and festivals in Southern Provence, from Arles to Avignon to Cassis by way of Aix en Provence and, of course, Marseille. Click here to read more

Sirens at Midday

In Marseille this week, I suddenly came across a crowd of expectant people clustered around the Opera House - on a late November morning. It seemed an odd sort of time for a spectacle, but indeed just before midday a file of figures all dressed in white tricked out of the freshly restored classical frontage and onto some little squares of grass laid out for the purpose.

It seems that France's cities test their emergency warning sirens at noon sharp on the first Wednesday of each month. And in Marseille a theatrical collective, Sirènes et midi net (the name is a rather laboured pun), has staged a different little spectacle each month ever since 2001. Each show has to last exactly 12 minutes (the time between the sounding of the two sirens) and members of the public came take part too. The November playlet - inspired by the fact that the month begins with All Saint's Day - was a dance of death. Intriguing. You can read more about the project here.

Hiking on the Pagnol Trail in Southern Provence

When the weather is fine (and the forecast is good for the next few days at least), November is an ideal time to go rambling in Provence. You'll dodge the blazing midsummer sun as well as the ever-present risk in July or August of finding your favourite route barred to hikers because of fire risk. And, so far, the real midwinter cold has not yet set in. So I've prepared a guide to self-guided walks in Aubagne that will take you past some of the landmarks that Marcel Pagnol loved as a child and used as locations in many of his later movies. Click here to read more.

Plunge Into An Underwater World

This part of the world goes rather quiet in November. But, judging by my visitor numbers and demographics, there are a fair few people coming down to Provence at half-term and looking for things to do with the family -- in not necessarily clement weather. The perfect answer: the World Festival of Underwater Pictures in Marseille, a very long-established and prestigious fest of films, photographs and artwork, accompanied by children's workshops and all sorts of other things to keep them happy.

Marseille, à la Peter Mayle

In Peter Mayle's new novel set in - well, you guess - the main character attends a rap concert, necks a few beers with Joey Barton after an Olympique de Marseille match, buys a rather out-there shirt from Marseille's hottest young new designer on the Cours Julien and enjoys a slap-up meal of couscous in Belsunce... only joking. In fact, Mayle's comedy thriller takes you on a tour through the usual tourist attractions and upscale restaurants of the Old Port area and contains few surprises -- except, perhaps, in his choice of villain. All the same, The Marseille Caper is an easy, breezy entertaining holiday read. Click here to read more.

A New Classical Music Festival in Aix en Provence

So I've now reached as far as March with my diary of events in the South of France in 2013, when Marseille-Provence (that's the whole region, not just the town) will be European Capital of Culture. And I wanted to flag up, in particular, the brand-new Easter Festival of classical music which will be launched for the first time next year in Aix en Provence and will be a sister-event to the city's long-established and prestigious Festival of Lyric Art in July. The full programme is now online, and the online box-office also opens today, so get in early to play your trip! Click here to read more.

France's First Metropolitan Long-Distance Footpath

A new hiking trail seems at first an unusual project for the European Capital of Culture's programme. But the Grande Randonnée 2013, or GR2013, is a long-distance footpath with a difference.

Mapped out by a collective of artists who are also keen ramblers, it doesn't just pass through some of the magnificent countryside and familiar tourist attractions for which Provence is justly celebrated. The Grande Randonnée 2013 also takes hikers to unusual, little-known places: disused factories, industrial trading estates, odd graffiti, Marseille airport and Aix TVG station.  It's being described as "the first metropolitan hiking trail".

And if you think that hiking isn't really a cultural activity, think again. Those crazy artists are lining a packed programme of events and activities all along the route throughout 2013. Click here to read more.

Marseille-Provence 2013 European Capital of Culture

In between a fabulous mini-break in Italy, I've started my complete guide to this enormous jamboree. The European Capital of Culture is not confined to Marseille - it sprawls all over Southern Provence, as far east as La Ciotat, as far west as Arles and the Camargue and as far north as Saint Rémy de Provence. There's an enormous amount going on, it kicks off on the weekend of 12-13 January 2-13 and I'll be keeping a close eye on all the news. Here's my events diary for January 2013 - watch this space for further developments.

Casting the Anchor

 It's been a busy ten days, as I've been building a website for my local restaurant, L'Ancre (The Anchor - there's a huge one just in front of it -- goodness knows how it originally got there). This intimate place is right at the entrance to Niolon, with an outdoor terrace overlooking the bay towards Marseille and a cosy indoor dining area with an open fire.

It has gone through successive waves of bad or apathetic management and last year got a truly terrible review in the restaurant guide Le Bouche à Oreille. But it has been take over this summer by a family from the village and I can testify that the mother is an excellent cook. So, when you have a moment, take a look at the (my!) website for L'Ancre. And, of course, do visit the restaurant itself if you're ever down Niolon way.

An Extraordinary Trip Round the Bay

I love September in Provence. Well, I love Provence at most times of the year, but right now the dog days of August and its sweltering heat are over, the weather is mild, the tourists are gone (mostly) and there's a ton of exciting things to do. Septembre en Mer (September by the Sea) is a case in point: this festival (which actually sprawls over a good six weeks from late August to early October) encompasses hundreds of marine-related events, from an introduction to scuba diving to a gastronomic fish barbecue overseen by a top local chef or a visit to a lighthouse or shipyard. Yesterday I opted for a boat trip to the Riou Archipelago, a cluster of islands off the coast near Marseille's calanques. This nature reserve is an amazing lunar landscape and eco-system that's normally closed to visitors throughout the year except for four days in September. Click here to see my photo gallery on Facebook.