Valensole: Lavender Heaven

When she was a girl growing up in a small town in China, Zhen read a fairy tale about a French girl who lived In the region of Venesole, France. The story painted a romantic setting of picturesque countryside surrounded by vivid purple fields of lavender. Ever since that reading, Zhen has dreamed of one day visiting this region…. and now that dream has come to life.

It doesn’t matter which meandering country road you travel, you will be met with endless fields of purple lavender sprinkled in the open fields between rugged mountains and majestic gorges. Much to our luck, we arrived just in time before the harvest season removes these enchanting purple fields for the mass production of lavender products. We did manage to see the beginning of the harvest in one field, and purchased home made products from another local family farm.

As always, it’s the locals who add the true color to each visit. Walking through this small town, I was shocked to learn one resident t walk up and down a steep hill 5 times each morning and evening to fill his water buckets from a spring well to water the plants outside his upstairs flat. We also enjoyed staying on a small farm just outside the village, where Zhen easily adapted to the country lifestyle of her fairy tale setting.