Asparagus +Art + Antiques in the Luberon

Piled high on folding tables or spilling from the tailgate of the lyrically named “Berlingo” (the little white farm trucks ubiquitous to France), the first of 2019’s regional produce debuts the opening of artisanal farmers’s markets on Easter weekend. Entire stalls dedicated to asparagus, strawberries, melons or radishes will make your mouth and iPhone camera very happy. Picture creamy clouds of super fresh goat cheese, garden greens and free-range eggs, honey and chocolate for the Easter hunt and lunch, and fragrant branches of lilac or pastel tulips – 5 euro a bunch for the table. Winemakers from the Luberon and Côte Ventoux offer “tastes” as do the artisanal cheese and charcuterie producers. These are all fabulous products not available anywhere else in the world. I recommend Coustellet for your season opener and for sightings of colourful locals and elegant tourists from northern regions while you slip down oysters with a glass of chilled champagne and Provençal sun. New to the scene will be Le Gare bistrot under new management and chef. Sunday, April 21, Coustellet, Maubec 84660 from 8.30 to noonish.

Art Expo: “Sacre Bleu” Bonnieux

Artist Joanna Staniszkis’s “Sacré Blue” opens Monday April 22, 2019 at 4 p.m. The exhibition takes place in a troglodyte cave in Bonnieux, and, as its name suggests, it is an indigo-blue colour collaboration juxtaposing Joanna’s fluid textile works with Timothée Humbert’s stunning large scale ceramic works. It will be a showcased in the caverns of an ancient grotto. Canadian photographer Erik Von Muller’s photographic essay on the textures, shapes and shades of ochre, stone and zinc shot from his room on Rue Julien Levy elevate the banal to a remarkable photo essay. All Artists will be in attendence. Images below from “La Vie en Some”, Joanna Staniszkis May 2014 exhibition. http://www.joannastaniszkis.com

 

Art Expo: “Dimanche Pâques” 2019 Galerie Kamila Regent, Saignon

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Galerie Kamila Regent, Saignon

On Easter Sunday Kamila Regent opens the doors of Galerie Kamila Regent, a gracious 18th century Maison-du-Maitre in the village of Saignon, for “Dimanche Pâques 2019”. The exhibition features the work of 15 Gallery artists, listed on the side bar, and Kamila’s remarkable baking of Polish Easter cakes – all from her Grandmother’s recipes. A feast for the eye and fork. https://www.kamilaregentgalerie.com

Antiques: mid-century to 17th century … you can’t live without

International dealers gather in Isles-sur-la Sorgue for the 106th Easter weekend antique fair…three days, hundreds of dealers … and, on the same weekend the bi-annual Carpentras Brocante market gets big and moves to the Gare… for what you don’t need and can’t live without.

 

Visit the websites of my Brocanteophiles Corey Amaro https://www.frenchlavie.com and Ruth Ribeaucourt. Book a tour and learn how to find not necessarily what you need but always what you want … that authentic Barbizon painting, an Eames rocking chair, 19th century zinc watering can or perfectly preserved dowery linens etc etc…

photograph Deborah MacNeill