12 Days In The South Of France: Days 5-8 In Provence

After just under four days in Lyon, we hit the road for our next stop in Aix-en-Provence. We picked this region because lavender is in season June through August. As it turns out, sunflowers also bloom in July and August, so we would get to see both! We did see some impressive sunflower fields along the way, but as the drive was several hours, we didn’t stop for photo opportunities.

We also loved looking at the classical trees that overhang many roads all over France as seen in the image at the top of the page.

After checking into our AirBNB, we headed to the center of town to check out the shops and eat dinner. We were at a typical outdoor French bistro, and an English couple at the next table overheard that we were there to see the lavender….

Mon Dieu, we have a problem!

An English couple was there with a tour group to see the lavender, and the places they visited had already been harvested, so the fields were bare! It had been unusually hot in France, and so we feared that we missed the lavender altogether because of the heat wave.

Luckily, our next food stop was a wine “cave” (essentially a small café that offers a wide variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks). I asked the local waiter about the lavender, and he recommended Plateau de Valensole, up in the mountains, since it would be cooler there and perhaps the lavender not yet harvested.

A lavender and sunflower double-feature in Plateau de Valensole

Ed Sheeran was right! We have nicknamed our hero waiter, Ed Sheeran, after the only funny part in Bridget Jones’ Baby.

Plateau de Valensole was over an hour’s drive, but up the mountain and through beautiful small towns.

We saw magnificent lavender fields along the way.

And some of the sunflower fields were pretty amazing!

When we arrived at Plateau de Valensole, we found a sunflower field in full bloom right next to a lavender field in full bloom!

There were lots of tourists and even professional photo shoots happening, but the fields were expansive enough that it was still accessible and fun. Our youngest had a tough time with the bees (they are everywhere), but the bees were there for the thousands of blooms, so it was easy enough to coexist. Some people knelt down among the flowers (and up close and personal with the bees). What people will do for an Instagram moment!

A collection of picturesque towns

After frolicking in the fields, we headed back to the town center of Plateau de Valensole. The hilly, cobblestone streets are typical of the small towns we’ve seen here.

We also visited the town of Gordes, which like Plateau de Valensole is higher in elevation, affording a gorgeous view of the landscape.

The drive to Gordes was a bit harrowing. We passed another picturesque town built into the side of a mountain – Bonnieux. It was so small that it probably can better be described as a few streets, not a full town, but the view was worth stopping for:

While at Gordes, we also stopped by the Senanque Abbey, which is an imposing stone structure from the 1100’s and has a lavender field as its front yard. Unfortunately, the lavender wasn’t in full bloom for us, but we still got great shots of the abbey:

Quick stop in Marseille

Marseille is the oldest city in France and its second most-populated city, after Paris and ahead of number three, Lyon. It didn’t seem fair to include this major city in the “picturesque town” category, though what we saw was rather picturesque.

Marseille is a port city so many ferry boats dock there that will take you to points all over the Mediterranean, and there was also an impressive array of smaller boats:

Of course, the pier came with a beautiful view of the waters leading out to the Mediterranean:

We saw The Cathedral of the Major from the 1800’s:

We walked around the grounds of the Mucem (Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations). The Mucem offers an elevated walkway where you get a 180-degree view of the city. It is connected to Fort Saint Jean, built in the 1600’s, and you can walk between the two and enjoy the grounds of both for free.

We climbed the 78 twisty steps up to the top of the tower at Fort Saint Jean.

Of course, I also stopped off at a soap shop, since Savon de Marseille is famous. I always thought soap originated in Marseille – at least, luxury soap, because I see a lot of the artisanal, scented soaps stamped with the Marseille brand. Alas, the origin of soap, though not 100% clear, is likely from Babylon, though Marseille did originate the olive oil soap.

Battle of the purple ice creams (and other Provencal treats)

While on our lavender hunt, we took an ice cream break at a place that offered lavender ice cream, lavender meringue, and other lavender-themed treats. As it turns out, lavender is a food flavor easily found throughout Provence.

Lavender ice cream looks a lot like Filipino ube ice cream, but the taste and texture are completely different. Ube is sweet and creamy. Lavender is light and airy.

We sampled lavender ice cream, lavender meringue and lavender macaroons during our stay, and the best way to describe the flavor is that lavender tastes like lavender smells.

Speaking of macaroons, we sampled a box of different flavors – chocolate (the best), caramel, tiramisu, praline, strawberry, raspberry, pistachio, vanilla, and of course, lavender. Scott had discovered a place on one of his runs called Macarons de Caroline. Apparently, I am a pastry shop owner, as well as a children’s book star! (see post on the first part of our trip for that reference)

The macaroons were so fresh, and the flavors so genuine. We didn’t even have to remember what we ordered – the taste was unmistakable.

Other treats we sampled on this leg of the trip included delicious ice cream – hazelnut, speculoos, Nutella, mint chocolate, coffee, and of course, lavender were some of the flavors we sampled.

One of my favorite individual desserts can best be described as a Linzer tart but with Nutella instead of jelly, from the pastry shop, Biscote & Biscotti. It’s exactly as delicious as it sounds.

Of course, we didn’t just eat sweets (though we mostly did). The pizza is delicious here. We had dinner at an Irish pub one night, and I even had fish and chips wrapped in newspaper just like we had in Ireland:

City of A Thousand Fountains and other charms

Our last meal in Provence was dinner at La Fontaine, a traditional French bistro. The name is fitting since Aix-en-Provence is known as the City of A Thousand Fountains, one of which was in the outdoor seating area of this very restaurant:

Scott captured several fountains just in our few favorite streets in the town center:

Fountains weren’t the only charming aspect of Aix-en-Provence. The town center had a farmer’s market several mornings a week, where the main square was full of fruits, vegetables, cheeses, herbs, breads, even seafood.

On Sunday, there was a street fair with a similar selection to the New York street fairs – lots of jewelry, artisanal food, kitschy crafts, clothing, soaps, etc.

On our last night here, a youth orchestra was performing at the church, and doors were kept open so you could hear classical music spilling out onto the street.

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We came for the lavender, but experienced a lot more than that.

Next stop was Paris. We spent our last few days in Paris, instead of the Loire Valley, because an expected heat wave was too take temperatures over 100-degrees, and much of the lure of the Loire is to be out and about visiting castles. Oh well! We were excited to be back in the City of Lights. More on Paris in the next post!