2018 Self-Guided Tour of France Fourth Stop: Provence
2023-05-16
When it comes to Provence, it's natural to think of lavender la lavende. The annual harvest season is from mid-June to mid-July. We already miss fields with purple flowers. 2018-08-29 Leaving Avignon in morning, we first went to Lavender Museum to learn about lavender cultivation and essential oil production. The museum is also a place for tourist shopping.
Lavender-la-lavender
Distillation plant for production of lavender essential oil
We visited Lavender Museum and walked along winding mountain road to Stone Town, which is transliterated as Gordes, a typical French town in Provence. Most of buildings in city were built in Middle Ages. The houses throughout city are formed by a cluster of granite on mountain, and they are intertwined in a trapezoidal shape. From afar, they look like houses in sky. In the south of France, overlooking a small town, there are intensively cultivated farmlands and vineyards.
Stone City
Country house in south of France
Walking through small town of Stone Town, you will encounter landscapes on every corner.
The highest point of Stone Town is a small square with two or three restaurants, for lunch we chose pizza and vegetable egg salad.
The boy at next table is very cute. I photographed him with permission of my parents. The innocent and lively little boy is also very sociable and funny.
The Abbey of Senanque, blooming with lavender, is a hallmark of Provence, and flower field in front of abbey at sunset has become a classic. The most beautiful time, of course, is when lavender is in full bloom at end of June-beginning of July. Unfortunately, we arrived late, but still came to celebrate and report.
Senank Abbey
It's hard for you to imagine that a small town in south of France, based on khaki, has such a brightly colored city hidden away. It has been discovered that entire city of Roussillon is actually multicolored. No wonder it was chosen by French government as one of "classic beauty villages". Since soil is rich in ocher, natural pigments were previously mined here, outer walls of houses are also bright red, and flowers planted by each family give city a romantic style.
Roussillon
At 16:00, leave mountains of Provence and head to Côte d'Azur. Landscape along the road...