Weekend à la Lavande

Did I tell you that François and I have a pact to go away overnight at least once a month? Well, we do. June was crazy with our arrival in Gap, FQ's new job, the apartment-search, the moving... Despite all that, we still managed to squeeze in our monthly getaway. We decided to go to Valensole, a village about an hour and a half from Gap, that is famous for its lavender fields. After calling the tourist office to make sure that it is indeed the right moment for lavender-viewing (?!), we reserved at a B&B and hit the road Saturday afternoon. I was way too excited to see the lavender fields. Not being a big gardener or crazy about sachets of dried lavender in the undies drawer, I was surprised at how keen I was to go wander among a bunch of purple flowers for the weekend. But really, lavender is so French. How could I not love it?

It was amazing. I'd seen photos galore of rows upon rows of lavender growing next to fields of wheat with a big blue sky above... but the real thing is even more beautiful than I expected. The whole experience reminded me of when I went to see Stacey in Japan for cherry-blossom season. Before witnessing it with my own eyes, I thought, "people sure get excited about a bunch of blossoms!" But once I was there, it was amazing, gorgeous and mesmerizing! Ditto for the lavender fields. And it smelled so good! All fresh and summery... not at all like a dusty old granny's dresser drawer!

We managed to tear ourselves away from taking endless photos of lavender fields long enough to explore the village of Valensole, have a little BBQ on the patio of our B&B, visit a boutique selling all kinds of lavender products (what else?) and go swimming! It was hot hot hot. At least 35 degrees and dry! I felt like I was in a giant kiln. What a relief to find some water to cool down in.

Back here in Gap, our apartment has become "lavender central". Lavender soap? Check! Lavender oil for the diffuser? Check! Lavender water (a kind of spray you can use as air-freshener or put on your pillow to sleep better)? Check!

Think I'm going overboard? Consider this: I've seen lavender-flavoured yogurt and ice cream in the grocery stores here. I imagine it would taste a lot like soap. Non, merci.

So, if you have lavender-scented hand cream or similar, now is the time to bust it out in order to fully enjoy my beautiful photos from last weekend.

Valensole June 2008