Judy and Bob's big trip: Lavender

Lavender

Well we've seen lavender - and did it live up to my expectations - Yes!
Normally lavender is harvested in late July - early August. We weren't sure if we'd see much when we arrived on August 4th. However, due to the late spring, it has been harvested up to 3 weeks later this year which has helped us.

There are a few classic places to take pictures of lavender in Provence and in front of the Senanque Abbey, founded in 1148, is one of them. It's a 30 minute drive from Isle sur la Sorgue so we set off after the floating market the day after we arrived with our fingers crossed that it hadn't been cut already. It hadn't. Bob got this shot with his clever camera. And he's happy with it so it must be good!

I was excited about the visual experience of seeing the lavender fields in flower but not prepared for the other sensory experiences. The relatively loud sound of bees buzzing, cicadas in the distance, lots of butterflies and every so often a slight delicate lavender fragrance wafting through the air. Just amazing. And all with the amazing backdrop of an ancient abbey.

It's good to know that there are parts of the world where bees still abound.

It's not easy to see but hope you can pick out this cicada on the tree trunk - very well camouflaged.

Of course I had to sit in it for this photo.

We went back early the next morning to avoid the crowds and see if the light was better.
Bob was in photography bliss!

At 8.30 in the morning these brides and grooms were having their photos taken. I imagine they'd got up very early. They seemed to have a common bridesmaid so were connected in some way. This little girl was dressed beautifully in white but had colourful well worn summer sandals on - cute.

I liked it that this man dressed in a lavender colour shirt for the occasion. Don't know if it was intentional. I saw him in the bookshop afterwards and was going to ask him but he didn't look that approachable and I don't know if he spoke English so restrained myself.

This cute puppy had come with his owners from Germany and seemed to be enjoying himself.

The abbey was nationalised during the French Revolution but repurchased by the Church in 1854 and a community of Cistercian monks have lived there since. They make their living growing lavender and making honey.

This monk was in the bookshop.

The lavender in these pictures is fine lavender which is grown above an altitude of 800 metres. Only a single flower grows on each stem. It can only be reproduced by seeding. It has quite a pungent fragrance. It was used for centuries for medicinal purposes and became known as "the blue gold of the region" when it became sought after by perfume manufacturers for it's fragrance. It takes 130 kilograms of lavender to produce 1 litre of lavender oil. In a good year one hectare of lavender will produce up to 25 litres of oil.

Lavendine, or lavandin in English I think, is another type of lavender which grows all over the world up to 800 metres. It has 2 branches on it's stem and can be grown by cuttings. It has a much stronger fragrance and cannot be used for medicinal purposes. It's yield is much more than fine lavender.
The amount of fine lavender grown in Provence is diminishing as some of it's previous uses are being taken over by synthetic products.

So our lavender hunt continued. We drove up higher towards the town of Sault which is a centre of lavender growing. The road was windy and the terrain was pretty rough and then suddenly we came over the crest of a hill to this.

Another classic lavender picture with Mont Ventoux in the back ground.
Mont Ventoux is the highest mountain in the region and is visible from many different angles throughout the area.
It is famous because it is often part of the Tour de France and particularly gruelling for cyclists.
There is not snow on it in this photo. What looks like snow is bare limestone which gives it it's barren appearance.

I like the contrast of the soil between the rows and the lavender colour.