Madeleine Vedel

The Curious Writer, Chocolate-maker and Guide to Food, Wine, & Travel in Provence

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Madeleine Vedel is a writer, photographer and teacher. Over a peripatetic life she has become an accomplished goat cheese maker, a culinary tour guide in Provence, a translator and writer of articles and stories. Trained in France, she brings her culinary, wine and cheese know-how across the Atlantic to Northern Michigan. During the winter, she organizes culinary tours out of her home in Avignon, France.

Provence Fiber Arts Tour March 13-24, 2025

 
 

My personal passion is knitting, and yours?

The world of fiber arts is both intimate and marvelously diverse. Eco-dyeing, quilting, weaving, felting, sewing.. There’s the pleasure of mastering new skills, acquiring fluency and familiarity with the multitude of materials that we transform into wearable art and beyond. As a knitter it’s been a voyage of discovery as I play with wool - natural, undyed, superwashed, lace weight to worsted - , splurge on cashmere, and begin to comprehend the unique qualities of mohair, silk, and linen.

Thus, when approached to design a Fibery Arts tour in Provence I took to the quest with gusto, and voila the result. A 10 day traipse through little villages and ancient cities, to view the traditions of the centuries before us, to visit with contemporary artists and farmers eager to share their craft, to create new projects together, as well as collect wool/mohair/cloth and beyond. Details below

 

Sylvie will be sharing her marvelous felting skills and you’ll come home with your own wool & silk scarf.

Included in the program:

11 nights accommodations in Saint Rémy de Provence and Simiane la Rotonde (2 of the 11) and 10 days

All food and wine (excepting one lunch and one dinner) including guest chefs at our home base, cooking classes, elegant restaurants and funky bistros & local cafés.

-the Soleiado Indian Print Museum and outlet,

-the Boutis Provençal quilting museum,

- a wool and silk felted scarf hands-on workshop

- a day of eco-dyeing your own silk scarf

-a guided discovery of an eco-dyer’s garden

-knitting/wool boutiques and cafés

-multiple glorious markets in Arles, Aix en Provence, Ile sur la Sorgue & Saint Rémy de Provence

-time to wander through the streets and neighborhoods Van Gogh captured on his canvases and into the painting studio of Cézanne.

-an introduction to the costumes and dress-making of traditional Provençal gowns.

-the wool museum and boutique covering the history of wool production in Provence (merino d’Arles)

-an angora/mohair goat farm and boutique

-visits to créateurs’ boutiques of local designers and textile crafts in Avignon,

-a walk through the dye craft history of the rue des Teinturiers in Avignon

-feasts with friends - old and new

-two days in the Lubéron in a hill top village

-and of course, time to make, meet, chat, relax, nibble, sip, wander, cat-nap, explore this beautiful and colorful world with friends, old and new.

$4250/person. - shared accommodations

To sign up and pay click here

Aurore Pelisson devotes her talents to bringing out the most sensual and stunning colors and patterns in her eco-dyeing of natural materials. She’ll share her techniques with you, and guide you through the creation of your own unique piece.

Véro will show you how she crafts her beautiful pottery, sharing the colors of her world.

Séverine here toasting us all as she prepares a glorious meal in our tour home away from home, teaching us her recipes and techniques as we laugh, sing and anticipate the feast to come.