Blue Sky Living

Surveillance society arrives in the Luberon

The villages of the Luberon might seem tranquil, but petty theft and vandalism has risen to such an extent that a number of villages have installed CCTV. Menerbes, idealised in Peter Mayle's book  A Year in Provence as a rustic retreat from modern life, will have 9 cameras by the end of the year. The Mayor, Yves Rousset Rouard is installing the cameras to safeguard tourists who all too often leave their possessions visible in the back of their cars.

Other Luberon villages and towns following the same policy are Cheval Blanc (5 cameras) and Cavaillon (7 cameras)

Restaurant review - Bistrot de France, Apt

My wife and I have a happy marriage. It’s not often that we fall out and rarely over something as trivial as a restaurant.

So who was to blame for the ear-shrieking row that reverberated around the Combe de Lourmarin last Sunday night and the resulting disgraceful chocolate tart thrown on the floor, retaliatory yogurt arcing past its target (my wife) and splurging against the wall, behaviour?

The hills are alive....

With the sound of hunters. The new hunting season has begun in the Luberon with 86 year old Raymond Aliaga fondly reminiscing in La Provence about the time a young hunter mistook him for a rabbit (how?) and shot him in the arm.

The closest I’ve been to a similar experience is opening my bedroom window at 6 in the morning only to have a hunter swivel round at the sound, both bores of his shotgun training towards my silhouette in the window. This year I am determined to go one step further and join the hunters as they pursue the elusive boar.

In the words of a Peter Mayle fictional hero: "Anything considered"

I received the following email from  a girl called Carolyn at the weekend. Can anyone help her out?

"Bonjour Jamie

In researching jobs in Provence I realized it might be easier to contact expats who are living in the region to see if anyone knows of any people who might need help during october or longer.

Editor's blog

September is here - it’s wet, windy and cool. Thank god. When we first moved to the south of France all we could think of were the long lazy summer days, the cicadas throbbing away in the olive trees, blue skies swimming pools and rosé. What an idyllic way to live we thought.

Funny thing is that after two years our least favourite time of year is the summer. It’s self evident that it’s too hot and too busy, but there’s more to it than that. The sense of community that exists for the rest of the year disappears. Most of the residents succumb to the tourist buck rent out their houses and disappear to the Alps.

Pale pink wine

Three years ago I spent 6 months travelling around France looking for the country’s palest bottle of rosé. The adventure was eventually turned into a book - Extremely Pale Rosé - and the winning bottle of wine was a gris from Corsica - Clos Landry. When we presented the wine to the professionals at the Centre de Recherche et Experimentation de Le Vin Rosé in Vidauban they described the colour as “peau de bebe.”