Olives are everywhere here in the South. Vraiment partout. 🫒 Whenever we go hiking in the hills behind the Côte d’Azur, we pass old olive groves, tiny terraced fields and those wonderfully crooked trees that seem to have been there forever. Les oliviers simply belong to the landscape.
And they mean so much more than food. Picasso’s olive branch became one of the most recognisable symbols of peace, and years later his daughter Paloma turned the beauty of olive leaves into jewellery for Tiffany. But here in the South, you don’t really have to look for the symbolism. You live with it.
In Grasse, you can have lunch at Jacques Chibois, sitting beneath beautiful old olive trees. In the villages, people may have just two or three trees in their garden and bring their little harvest to the local moulin. And during harvest season, tout le monde se retrouve. Bags full of olives, that incredible smell, people coming and going — I just love the atmosphere.
We have around 20 olive trees ourselves. Which sounds terribly romantic… until la récolte begins. 😅 Then it’s toute la famille: laying out the nets, picking, collecting, carrying… It’s work! 2026 looks like it could be a wonderful olive year, despite the heat. From our own experience, the really abundant harvests seem to come roughly every other year. Alors, fingers crossed for this one.
And when you’re in Nice, keep an eye out for the fantastic work of Niçois artist Laurent Bosio. The olive tree is a recurring motif in his art, its roots transforming into human and imaginary forms. J’adore his sculptures — the longer you look, the more you discover. Human figures and olive tree roots seem to emerge — details you may not even notice at first. And somehow, every time you pass them, you discover something new about the soul of Nice.
And autumn is the favourite moment to explore this landscape. La grande chaleur is finally behind, the light becomes softer, and walking through olive country feels completely different. Our neighbours gave us the most wonderful recipe for preserving fresh olives — simple, traditional et tellement bon. It’s one of those recipes you keep and pass on.
Now let’s be curious: how do you like your olives best? As olive oil for beauty, in the kitchen, with an apéro — or simply straight from the jar? Tell us in the comments. 🫒
