Provence Trip June/July 2023 - Part 2 Lavender Fields, Verdon Gorge and Col d'Allos

The next morning with new tyres fitted we finally made it to the Valensole plateau, and boy was there lavender! Miles and miles of it in places. I was in my element. 😀

At the next stop (next three photos) the different lavender varieties were labelled, which I found very useful. We had learned about the three different kinds of lavender used in perfume and cosmetic production - True (Lavandula angustifolia), Aspic (L. latifolia) and Lavandin (L. x intermedia), which is a hybrid of the two, at the lavender farm we visited the previous summer. Within each of these three there are different cultivars though, just to confuse us all. 😁  

The smaller lavender is usually the true lavender, L. angustifolia, like the following photo.

No butterflies in sight though, which was really disappointing. There had been dozens at the lavender farm the previous year in the Ardeche.

Yet another lavender farm - some had shops selling their own products. In a number of fields were women dressed up in pretty white summer dresses doing their best Instagram posing!

On this plateau there were two other plants which I assume are also used for the perfume or cosmetic trade, but I don't know what they are. I could only take photos as we were driving past.

This looks like it might be Curry Plant (Helichrysum italicum), though that doesn't exactly smell nice, or perhaps Cotton Lavender (Santolina) which doesn't smell I don't think. Note the white dress!

After the plateau we passed Lac St Croix and headed down the Verdon gorge.

We didn't see the best bits of the gorge as due to time constraints we took the shorter route and K and I had already done the longer one in October 2017 when the leaves were turning a lovely colour. Still, what we could see was quite stunning, though on this particular road there were fewer places to stop to take photos.

We stopped for the night at Castellane, beyond the gorge but still on the river Verdon. We were to follow this river to near its source higher in the mountains.

Castellane was a small town with an interesting rock towering over it, with a cross built right on the top. We had a walk around the town the next morning, but none of us fancied hiking up there!

From here we headed north up the upper Verdon river valley through St Andre les Alpes, Colmars and Allos to Barcelonnette, via the Col d'Allos. The higher we went, the colder and cloudier it got, until we were up in the drizzle!

This road wasn't ideal in a motorhome, but we managed fine. I'm just glad we weren't coming down as it was rather narrow in places and might have set off my vertigo, which I have managed to quell quite well in recent years. When we reached the summit at 2,250m altitude it was really chilly with nothing to see as we were up in the clouds. So we headed on down to our campsite in Barcelonnette and hoped for fine weather for the next day, our really high altitude day!

Part 3 and the famed Col de la Bonette to come!

A visit to a lavender farm - and more butterflies!

I have always wanted to see lavender fields in bloom but wasn't expecting to find them in the Ardeche, so was overjoyed to find they grow lavender here down on the flat land of the Rhone river valley. The Maison de la Lavande situated at St Remèze is open to the public but you have to go on a guided tour. It starts with a trip around the fields in a little train, then you go into a museum like room full of old stills where a guy gives a talk about the different kinds of lavender and then we went into a semi open room where a lady showed us how the still works and how the lavender oil is produced. We then wandered around a little garden full of different kinds of lavender (all labelled up) where she discussed taking cuttings and growing lavender.

After that there is a small snack bar which also has artisanale ice cream with many flavours - I must say that was the best ice cream I had all holiday! It was yet another hot day so the ice cream was most appreciated.

We arrived too late to get on the train so actually did the museum bit first and then took the next train. This guy did go on and on - K understood him, I understood about half but I find it hard to follow French for very long anyway, and my poor brother understood nothing so must have been very bored! The museum exhibits were in English as well but we were rushed through into the next room, so didn't get a chance to look around the whole room.

I did learn about the different kinds of lavender though. There are three kinds, true Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), which makes the best quality oil, but produces less per sq. hectare, wild Lavender (Lavandula latifolia), which has a lower quality oil which smells more of camphor, and Lavandin (Lavandula x intermedia), which is a cross between the two. This produces a fairly good quality oil and produces more per sq. hectare, so this is what is produced at this farm and many others. I now understand what Lavender x intermedia means, or Lavender Grosso or Dutch, they are the cross between Lavandula angustifolia and Lavandula latifolia; Grosso and Dutch being x intermedia cultivars. I didn't know any of this because buying lavender here is always hit and miss as they are never labelled up very well - I have bought Grosso before and also a Hidcote, which is an angustifolia. From now on I will buy lavender online from a specialist where I can be sure of what I am getting, especially as some can be rather small and some are huge! I quite fancy a pink one and a white one to make a change from the bluey/mauve ones but you very rarely see them for sale at garden centres.

Some of the museum exhibits - this was a travelling still. Sometimes in the past a travelling still would come around the farms to make the lavender oil.

On into the next room where a demonstration of how the still works was carried out...

... by this lady.

To give us a break from the droning on 😀, we watched this swallow nest. The youngster wasn't necessarily opening its mouth for food, as mum (or dad) was too, I think because of the heat.

Mummy swallow taking a break in the shade.

Photo credit: Keith Allen

We then went into this courtyard where we were told a bit about growing lavender and how to take cuttings. She demonstrated pulling quite a large section of hardwood off the plant as the cutting - now we have always taken the softwood and done it like that - but I will try this way in future. You get a bigger plant to start with this way.

All these plants were labelled up with interesting info about history of the cultivar, size and growing conditions etc.

Part of the courtyard - this was once a sheep farm.

I met my friend the Blue Spot Hairstreak (Satyrium spini) here again - in fact when we went through the fields on the little train, there were dozens of these butterflies about!

This is a Cleopatra (Gonepteryx cleopatra) - closely related to the Brimstone. You can see the brighter colouring showing through on the top wing which differentiates it from the latter. This one is a male. Note something else flying in the background!

I had to show you this one as I'm surprised it's not too blurry - it clearly shows the wing colouring. I love how they hold their legs in flight! 😀

I was really pleased to see this female Lulworth Skipper (Thymelicus acteon) as the last one I saw was about four years ago on my lavender in Brittany.

Possibly saving the best until last - this is a Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides podalirius) - not so scarce down here I am pleased to say!

There were a few of these moths as well - i have no idea what it is but it's very pretty!

I took some photos from the train as we were going around but they were all a bit blurry - a shame that we could not walk around here on our own as there were dozens of the Blue Spot Hairstreaks and lots of Cleopatras as well, and who knows what else. Having seen their incredibly stony soil, apart from vines or olive groves, I can't imagine the soil being very good for other crops. A bit hard to plough! 

The train did stop for a little while to allow us to take photos, hence this one. There was a lot of wild grass growing in amongst the lavender - I don't know what it is but it was actually a very pretty grass.

I love this - their advert for the farm on an old French Citroën truck.

Photo Credit: Keith Allen

I loved our visit and was so pleased to have coincided with lavender flowering season! I still want to go back to Provence at lavender time though. 😀

https://www.lamaisondelalavande.com/