Travel Diary: South of France

Opened in the 1920s and famous for the rip roaring artists such as Picasso, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, Joan Miro and Alexander Calder who drank and danced the night away on the open terrace with their friends in the 1940s and 50s, this hotel has remained a destination of pilgrimage for the art lovers who visit to soak in the history, and view the extraordinary collection of artwork that grace the hotel walls in the most ordinary of ways. Exhausted, we wandered the hotel in awe of its walls, had a romantic dinner side by side, eating a simple and delicious meal of poached white fish, vegetables, egg and aioli, typical of Provance and tumbled into bed.

First stop in Marseille was the studio of Sarah Espuente, otherwise known as Oeuvres Sensibiles. While we had already worked with Sarah, offering her wonderful hand embroidered double placemats and napkins through PORTA, we had never met in person. Meeting in person is always the best as in these meetings other ideas percolate and the personal connection and understanding is made - it's just not the same online no matter how many zooms take place or emails are exchanged back and forth.

In Marseille we stayed in Hotel La Releve. Located in the buzzy 7th arrondissement above La Releve restaurant, each room has a different, inventive look, decorated by Honore Design who has a shop down the road and lives across the street.

We had the most delicious and jolly mussels and chips for dinner at La Coquille. A must when in Marseille!

Atelier Vime lies at the heart of wicker working that was developed in Vallabregues which once counted as many of 450 wicker workers in the 18th century. In 1878 a workshop was installed within the mansion that has been lovingly restored by Benoît Rauzy and Anthony Watson who helm the Atelier and through their collection of willow baskets, lighting, mirror and furniture have quietly built up a cult following. As we are shepherded around the house by Benoit and Anthony, told of the history and future plans, sipping apricot juice with them at their kitchen table, we feel as though we have stepped into the pages of Architectural Digest. Each vignette is considered but natural, even their dog poses for our photographs. We left with a hushed sense of awe in their passion, vision and the strength of the brand they are building. What a brilliant dream.

Founded in 1827 and still run by sixth and seventh generations of the family who founded it, this amazing general store holds nearly 200 years of history that has made this shop an institution. It is filled with soap, pots and pan, toys, linens and candles, quills with in, wax with stamps, stationary, socks - you need it, Maison Empereur has it. 


Francesca's ancestors ruled over Les Baux-de-Provence by back in the (medieval) day, so we had to check out her old stomping grounds. As it turns out, harkening from the 10th century and set atop a precipitous rocky mountain, the Les Baux meant business and were clearly a family to be reckoned with! I guess some things never change…We arrived as the castle was closing, but Francesca politely explained that this was the place of her distant family and a kindly guard took pity on us and ushered us through the gates for a private viewing. The town was hung with flags that felt very PORTA - must be in the blood.

Finally on to the town of Apt famous for its colored marbleized faience pottery aptly called Aptware, developed around the mid 18th century and initially inspired by the color of the soils in the region. The colors have now expanded to include the rainbow that can be combined to one's heart's desire, making for an exciting and daunting design proposition. A highly skilled technique, it was fascinating connecting to the makers and we are excited to bring what we landed on into the shop this summer.

Last but not least, we made our way back to Nice as the sun was setting, landing at the Hotel Amour. What a gem to end on - this hotel is perfect. We were about to head out to dinner, but realized there was quite a hubbub filtering into the bar and restaurant. We turned on our heels and made our way over. As the crowds gathered, the music rose and dinner came to a close, Francesca looked across the table and said ‘you know, we are about to get up and dance’. I did know, and dance into the night we did!