Fun workshops for adults

One thing I have loved to learn living in France as an expat, is the commitment within the French culture to share the knowledge of le ‘savoir-faire’. I think I could translate it into craft. This ‘savoir-faire’ (I will keep using this word as I think it’s beautiful and covers the French efforts best), can be expressed into all different kinds of workshops. And the best thing is: you can sign up for these fun workshops for adults in and around Aix-en-Provence.

In this article I give you a little list of my and my friends’ favorite fun workshops for adults that you yourself can follow. Just a little note: the workshops are named ‘ateliers’ in French. 

Cooking workshops

My lovely friend Jamie Berk moved to the Provence around the same time as I. She is originally from Boston but traveled around the world and fell for a French man. Jamie is a health educator with a Masters in Public health and her professional perspective is to dissolve stress around food. Her mission is to foster curiosity, permission, trust and pleasure at the table and she translated this in organizing cooking workshops. 

With English spoken workshops under her label Fork, life & spoon she fulfills lots of joy among the participants. I am lucky to have met Jamie through a mutual friend in Aix-en-Provence and afterwards I participated in several of her cooking workshops. Lacking any natural born cooking talent myself, I found so much joy in her workshops! She gave me lots of inspiration with new and healthy recipes, always cooking with the ingredients that the season in France offers us. A workshop in Jamie’s beautiful kitchen starts at 10:30 which, after a cup of coffee and chats, is followed by cooking preparations with a fun group of other internationally orientated adults. You end this inspirational morning with a very tasty lunch including a nicely paired glass of wine plus the access to Jamie her recipe! For more info, you can hop to her website and Instagram. From time to time Jamie also hosts special kids workshops plus you can book a private group session at hers or at yours! Plus Jamie speaks very good French, so her workshops can be held in French as well. 

Pottery and other creative workshops

Now did you know that pottery is totally hip and happening in the South of France? Where I am from, The Netherlands, pottery has a very dull image. Living in the Provence for almost 5 years, I have noticed that creating pottery is actually very trendy here! So why not book yourself a pottery workshop in the Provence?

As I live in Aix-en-Provence, I have booked a pottery class in town. I am sure that there are so many more cool places, like in Marseille for example, which is a really creative and booming city. In Aix I reserved a spot for a ‘initiation de tournage’, together with friends. There are of course many different types of workshops to choose from, but secretly I have always wanted to experience that Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore vibe from the movie Ghost. I have walked by Atelier8Poterie several times and it looked so pretty and inspiring, that I knew I wanted to have a workshop at this place. The workshop is a gem in this hidden street right in the centre of Aix. As I stepped into the building, I even felt quite old with my 40’s. Our teacher was in her twenties, just as the other persons present to work on their art. That’s what I mean with hip! 

I have to admit that working on the turning table was very hard work :-). Apparently clay has a sort of memory, so when things go downhill, it is almost impossible to fix it. After sort of succeeding with my first mug, I felt reckless and really wrecked my second turn. I am waiting for the day that I can come and collect my first pieces of pottery, let’s hope they survived the oven! 

Atelier8poterie also offer different kinds of workshops for adults, like the decoration of a plate. Though I haven’t taken my kids, other moms told me about their very good experience with the kids workshops on Wednesdays. I do have to comment here that all the workshops are initially in French.

Another beautifully located place to experience a workshop, is Espace Atome. A little warning here as well: the workshops are held in French. But I believe that doing creative workshops for adults is just perfect to get in touch with the language and to just give it a go. 

Espace Atome is created by a couple of young women, only about a year ago. It has a dedicated space to teach yoga classes for both adults and kids. Little side note: my daughter and I did a lovely kid-parent yoga class with Laurie from Mon Moment Magique over here, which is a true recommendation when you would like to spend a nice one-on-one moment with your kid. You can find more info here.

For more creativity, check out the website of art center Hôtel Gallifet in Aix centre. This beautiful contemporary art gallery in a typical old, Aixois building, hosts several creative workshops during the year. From ceramics to creating flower arrangements to dyeing textiles with vegetable colors.

Wine tasting and other events

When living or visiting the Provence, you cannot escape the ever so delicious rosé (or of course you do for reasons of principle). The Provence is the place to be when it comes to discovering the best rosés in the world. Personally I love the very light colored ones that are very common here, for me the very pink ones are just too sweet. Lots of vineyards (domaines) host tastings and tours. Or even apéros (after work drinks, often with food trucks and music). This blog is about fun workshops for adults, don’t you agree that wine tasting is a bit like a workshop too ;-)? Here are my favorites around Aix-en-Provence!

• Chateau Beaupré. One of my favorite places to buy wine! Especially during Christmas time, this chateau is like in a fairytale. They organise several gastronomic events during the year and great wine pairings in December. Absolutely a must try is their white wine coming from oak barrels.
• Chateau du Seuil. A very light and pleasant rosé that is very affordable. It comes from our own village, Puyricard, and we buy it cooled from our local Spar. I love that they don’t charge extra money for that, my fellow Dutchmen would definitely do charge. It is a very pretty place that organizes tours in both French and English.
• Chateau Paradis. This is our favorite vineyard around Easter, as they organise lovely chocolate egg hunts due to this occasion. We enjoyed that they were so family welcoming and we got a great tour on the domaine. Their rosé is great of course.
• Bargemone. This domaine north of Aix-en-Provence is about to celebrate their 1 year anniversary after their renovation. Their property is beautiful and modern! The wine is served out of pretty bottles and a treat to put on the table when celebrating something. Bargemone is very good at organizing l’oenotourisme, the nice French word for touristic events around wine. From Christmas markets, to wine and seafood events, from comedy shows to my favorite apéros.
• Chateau Gassier. Somehow I find this a very girly place, with their pink chairs and other marketing. But great wine, you can organise a picknick in their vineyard, they have comedy nights and outdoor cinema.