France + All Things French
Place Masséna, Nice
While the rest of France is cold and some regions are still covered in snow, festival fever breaks out on the French Riviera. There are three major festivals that warm up the winter days in the South of France in Nice, Menton and Mandelieu-la-Napoule.
Here's what you need to know about each of them so you can plan your next winter trip to the French Riviera to enjoy these hugely popular and artistic festivals.
France is rather special in that it holds dear to its customs and has a rich tradition of assigning saints as special guardians and protectors of just about every aspect of our lives. There is even a patron saint of bakers and pastry chefs called Saint Honoré.
Saint Honoré is the saint or protector of all bakers and pastry chefs and with just about every village or town boasting at least one boulangerie (bakery), and cities with substantially more, Saint Honore is indeed a very busy Saint!
Have you ever wanted to look behind the closed doors of French government and wander the corridors of normally closed châteaux?
Well you can, on each third weekend of September during the annual Journées du Patrimoine, or European Heritage Days. Over the weekend the public are welcome to explore some of France's most exclusive locations as part of the 'portes ouvertes' (open doors) event that takes place across Europe.
Recently shared on social channels was a beautiful golden rattan chair I found at the Durtal Antique Fair in the Loire Valley. I thought I’d share more about this incredible market with you. It's coming up again in a few months, so now is a good time to plan your visit.
Each September at Durtal you’ll find an amazing antique fair that entices local, regional and international visitors. I drove for over three hours to get to Durtal from my village as I’d read so much about this incredible fair and the really good quality of all the stalls. More than a whopping 450 exhibitors come from far and wide to show off their wares here. The market gets over 20,000 visitors in one day, so it's a biggie on the antique market trail.
The event overtakes the town’s streets and extends along the walls of the city’s castle. Officially the Rendez-Vous International de la Curiosité et de Brocante de Durtal (Durtal International Flea Market Fair), it’s also more casually known as Brocante de Durtal or Durtal Brocante. I love decorating my home in Brittany with vintage and antique items and share more on the best ways to find them in my post Finding French Antiques and Vintage Items in France. Take a peek into my home on Instagram @my_french_village_home
When Rosé is mentioned, most people likely think of Provence. That's probably because Provence is recognised as the birthplace of Rosé wine and new varieties are still compared to those created in the South of France. Let's find out more about the world's favourite pink drink and the day it's celebrated across the globe - National Rosé Day.
Celebrated by some on the second Saturday in June, and others on 14 August each year, Rosé day is a fun day on the calendar whether you celebrate it in June or August. Some even say that it's the whole month of August that we should be celebrating, so I'll leave this one up to you!
There's even an official hashtag to use if you want to share your pink bubbly photos - #NationalRoséDay
Each February the annual Violet Festival or Fête de la Violette is held at Toulouse. The city celebrates the violet flowering season with a series of events dedicated to its favourite flower and national emblem, the violet.
Toulouse is even called the 'City of the Violet'. The city is said to be the world capital of the violet flower and it's carried the emblem of the sweet purple flower for centuries.
The festival is centred around Toulouse's grandiose main square, the Place du Capitole. The grand capitole (city hall) has graced the square since around 1750 and with its elegant facade is a popular tourist location. The complex also includes the National Theatre of Toulouse and is the historic centre of the town.
The Mimosa Festival celebrates the bright yellow fluffy flower which flourishes in February and brightens France's southern winter landscapes. The Côte d'Azur is ablaze with the fresh yellow glow of blooming mimosa which cheerily brightens public places and private gardens with its colourful bushes. This treat from Mother Nature is called the 'winter sun' by the locals and looks like a sea of yellow from January to March.
The arrival of its thick golden clusters of flowers which results in a flowering golden haze heralds the oncoming of spring and warmer weather, and is celebrated across towns in Provence. Forming a striking contrast with the vibrant blues of the Mediterranean, these evergreen trees with their bunches of fluffy, powdery, and fragile looking bright yellow small balls attract nearly 100,000 visitors each year.
A whole month celebrating cakes, cookies, pies, tartes, flans and ice-cream sounds amazing doesn't it. Well, that's what we can all do for the whole month of October because October is National Dessert Month.
Of course, celebrating National Dessert Month is rather easy when you live in France because small towns and sometimes even little villages, will have their own boulangerie with tempting desserts to choose from, and when we talk about France's large cities, well the choice of pâtisseries is almost endless!
