Provence Lavender Tour

Provence is a beautiful region of southeastern France with varied landscapes and many medieval villages. In the summer, some of the highlights of visiting this region are tasting the fruit and vegetables harvested here, as well as observing the lavender fields in bloom. The Provence Lavender Half-Day trip covers all of these features with a visit to lavender fields and the Lavender Museum in Coustellet, along with stops in two small historical villages, Rousillon and Gordes.

The eight of us on the tour met in the center of the city and left in a van with our guide, Francois. Soon after leaving Avignon, we started to see varied and interesting landscapes. Farmland appeared all around us, and our guide pointed out all of the crops we saw: asparagus, olive trees, berries, cherries, apricots, and grapes. We could even see the bright red cherries on the trees from the road! Soon the landscape changed even more as mountains began to tower over us to the west.

Our first stop was to Coustellet to visit the Lavender Museum, which even smelled like lavender as we walked in. There we learned how lavender is grown, harvested, and distilled to produce essential oil. At the entrance to the museum is a short film on lavender farming, while the rest of the museum houses a large collection of copper stills used to extract the essential oil from harvested lavender. An audio guide explained the history of each of the stills and their construction. It was interesting to see the technical advances made in the design of the stills over the centuries- the museum has several stills dating back to the 1600s. The museum exits through the gift shop, where you can buy lavender bath products, perfumes, and essential oils, all of which are made from lavender grown on Le Chateau Du Bois.

Lavender still

Next we made a brief stop in the town of Roussillon, which has stunning red rocks and soil and sits on a hill with views of the surrounding valleys and mountains. But the real reason most people take this tour was the next stop: lavender fields! If you’re lucky you will catch the month-long time period when the lavender is in bloom, creating row upon row of bright purple flowers. Because cold weather lingered into May and June this year, the lavender bloomed later than usual. Luckily our guide had scoped out many lavender fields in the area and took us to a stretch of road with fields that were almost in full bloom. The adjacent grapevines, distant mountains, and a tiled-roof farmhouse all created a beautiful backdrop for admiring the lavender fields.

Roussillon

Our final stop was in the village of Gordes. The village is perched on the side of a mountain, and the buildings are all made of limestone. What makes the buildings unique is that they were made using the drystone technique, meaning that no mortar was used to hold the stones together–they are simply intricately and precisely stacked on top of one another. It’s quite amazing how the buildings have held up over the near thousand-year history of the town.

Gordes

We then began our drive back to Avignon, once again passing through the fruit and vegetable fields and roadside stands selling the local produce. This tour was a great way to see the many different landscapes of Provence, and to experience lavender fields up close!