My Village: Mollégés, Bouches-du-Rhône

Photographer and painter Ashley Tinker shares her journey of renovation, community and creativity in the beating heart of Provence…

We live in Mollégès, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in Provence, and we chose the village by chance. It was all about the property we bought here in 2019. Robin, my husband, is a project manager so we were looking for a renovation project. We found a project and a half! This property is turning out to be a life-long endeavour. It is an old farmhouse with two barns, located in the middle of the village. For the past few years we have been transforming one of the barns into a two-bedroom holiday rental and the other into my artist’s atelier. We have yet to touch the house.

In Mollégès we are lucky to experience the best of both worlds in the sense that when in the garden, you feel like you’re in the countryside. Meanwhile, we also have two bakeries, a butcher, a wine shop, farm shop and more, all just a two-minute walk away. Although located next to some very well-known places, Mollégès is very quiet and has a strong sense of community. People are very friendly here.

We moved to Provence 11 years ago, originally for a housesitting job at a château. I could write a book about that wild experience alone! We then bought our own property, the end slice of a Provençal farmhouse in the chic village of Maussane-les-Alpilles. Robin spent nine months renovating that house and we were even featured on the TV show House Hunters International.

Where do we start? This area is teeming with activity and historical sites. If you drive in any direction you’ll quickly find Van Gogh and Cézanne sites, Roman ruins, art galleries, pottery studios, stunning hiking trails, and hilltop villages with majestic views. We are located between two regional parks that produce cherries, olives, wine, apples, pears, lavender and more.

The local architecture is forever interesting here especially as Robin focuses his work on older buildings. We both have a deep appreciation for history (I used to be a tour guide) and there is quite a lot of it here to explore all around us. We even found a 1246 coin in our own house!

I took French classes throughout my early education. However, this sadly did not translate into the real world. Despite being from Montréal, Canada, I am from an English part of the city. These days everything is truly bilingual there, but not necessarily so when I was young. Therefore, it was still a steep learning curve.
I feel that the only way to learn a language is to speak it every day. I will always be learning, but thankfully the few years I worked at the market here in Provence really helped and taught me (or rather forced me, as I was rightfully teased) to adopt a good French accent -albeit with a Provençal twang.

I have found a group of girlfriends through work and social media whose husbands are French or from other European countries. When we get together, it’s a wonderful cacophony of languages. This mixture of expats and French locals is ideal for us, as we have the benefit of friends who have shared experience, as well as local assimilation. As lovers of food and wine, we fit right in!

I am a photographer and painter. I started my site curiousprovence.com as a blog nine years ago and managed to create a community that is interested in our renovation projects. I’m lucky that my followers are also interested in my landscape oil paintings and portrait photo sessions.

There are many local specialities I enjoy such as soupe au pistou, daube, soupe à la barigoule (artichoke based) and more. However, what is
really worth mentioning is the produce here. I am convinced that it is some of the best in the world. We are surrounded by producers of goat’s cheese, olive oil, vegetables and fruits of all kinds, meat farms and more. Now that we have learned what fresh seasonal food really looks like, we cannot even consider living anywhere else.

Despite living in a small village, we have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of local festivals, art exhibitions, and events that happen annually here in Provence. There is always something to do, if you know where to look (although communication about these events can be slightly lacking).

How about a Provençal one? There are many words and expressions that are still used here. Peuchère is commonly used and the locals are quite impressed when a foreigner knows what it means. It’s used as a way of expressing pity or compassion, such as saying “you poor thing”.

Find out more about Ashley Tinker’s work and life in France at curiousprovence.com or follow her on Instagram @curiousprovence

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