Photo courtesy of Google
Champs de lavande is French for fields of lavender and I have long wanted to see the famous fields in all their blooming, blue-violet glory! The lavender blooms late June and is harvested around mid-July, so we’ve carefully planned to be there in the height of the bloom.
We’ll be spending 3 nights in the village of St. Rémy-de-Provence and some highlights of our itinerary include:
- Visiting the famous market in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.
- Visiting Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque near the village of Gordes; every picture I have seen of the abbey has a lavender field in front, so we are sure to find one here!
- Attending the Lavender Festival at Ferrassières, where local farmers welcome visitors for tours of their lavender farms.
- Pursuing the lavender fields along Les Routes de la Lavande, where there are 5 recommended routes to see the most beautiful hilltop villages perched above sprawling violet fields of lavender.
Inspired by our friend Sheron Long, author of Dog Trots Globe, our own globe-trotting dog, Emma, will be joining us on this adventure! We appreciate Sheron and her dog Chula’s advice and tips in their full color book about Chula’s perspective as she visits Provence and Paris.
Sheron and Chula are graciously giving away an autographed copy of Dog Trots Globe* to one of our wonderful readers. Leave us a comment on this post with your best tip for traveling with your dog and Chula will select the best tip as the winner!
Be sure to follow along on our trip to Provence on our Facebook and Twitter pages as Emma explores the markets, lavender festival, and villages of Provence. And enjoy our continued tales of our recent cruise to Greece on our website while we’re off in France!
*Winner must have a US address for shipping.
Jennifer Dombrowski
Jennifer Dombrowski is a location independent globe trotter and bases herself in Prata di Pordenone, Italy. She works as a social media and innovation strategist in higher education and is a regular contributor on johnnyjet.com. Her website, jdombstravels.com, is the 2012 Destinology Travel Bloggy Best Newcomer award winner. Google+
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We’re Jennifer and Tim and we love traveling! We are just one ordinary couple who have found that travel brought us closer together, taught us patience, the art of compromise, and how to truly appreciate the diversity of this extraordinary world. So far, we've visited 37 countries, lived in the United States and Italy, and Tim has lived in Korea. And we do it all while both holding down full time jobs. 
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10 comments
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Kat
June 28, 2012 at 11:18 am (UTC 2) Link to this comment
Thanks for sharing all this information! My husband and I are based in Cairo right now and have a five-day weekend in late August. We want to go somewhere in Europe which is beautiful, peaceful and with great food plus the possibility for outdoor hikes/biking. I had been thinking of Switzerland but now that I see your post I am thinking Provence could be perfect!! Two questions if you happen to know; I think you must obviously have good research skills: 1. Would August be an OK time (of course with the heat it’s not ideal, but we’re dealing with work schedules) to still see lavander and 2. How difficult is it to reach Provence from Paris? My husband has lots of experience driving in Europe and we both love trains, so we’re comfortable moving around… just don’t want to kill off all our time in transit.
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Jennifer Dombrowski Reply:
June 28th, 2012 at 11:47 am
Hi Kat! The lavender is harvested beginning in mid July, so you would miss it by a few weeks in August. Yes, it is quite easy to reach Provence from Paris. We will be staying in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and there is a train station just 18km away in Avignon. You can take the TGV train from Paris Gare Lyon to Avignon and it takes ~2.5 hours.
Also, use coupon code FRANCE30 & get 30% off first class train travel throughout France if you can book your train tickets by July 3, 2012!
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Jen Butsch
June 29, 2012 at 2:51 pm (UTC 2) Link to this comment
Jen, Champs de Lavande looks beautiful! My best tip for traveling with my dogs is to leave them at home! LOL Well for us that is the best option because we have three. However, on the rare occasion we do take the dogs along, my advice is to be prepared. In addition to checking their collars and leashes for integrity, water, treats, and a first aid kit are a must.
Ciao and Safe Travels!
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Jennifer Dombrowski Reply:
June 29th, 2012 at 10:36 pm
Thanks for your tips, Jen!
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Ali
June 29, 2012 at 3:41 pm (UTC 2) Link to this comment
I’d love to see more of France, and this looks really pretty. Sounds like a great trip you have planned, can’t wait to read about it!
Ali recently posted..Istanbul in Photos – Blue Mosque
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Jennifer Dombrowski Reply:
June 29th, 2012 at 10:39 pm
I’ve long been wanting to see the lavender fields and this area of France. We’re even staying in a little Provencal farm house converted to a bed and breakfast. I can’t wait to see if it all lives up to my expectations!
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Chula Wula D'Augue
June 30, 2012 at 9:56 pm (UTC 2) Link to this comment
Sure hope you and Emma get to pad your way through the Lavender Walk outside Sault. Oh-la-la, the smells there are every dog’s dream. Stop in the Tourist Office in town and get the map. Dogs are always welcome!
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Jennifer Dombrowski Reply:
July 1st, 2012 at 7:52 am
Thank you for the tips, Chula!
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Brock - Backpack With Brock
July 2, 2012 at 6:36 pm (UTC 2) Link to this comment
Looks like a beautiful place to stay!
Brock – Backpack With Brock recently posted..Snapshot: Florence, Italy – My First Italian City
[Reply]
Jennifer Dombrowski Reply:
July 2nd, 2012 at 7:34 pm
Hi Brock! We are staying in St. Remy de Provence, a medieval village famous because of Van Gogh. It is gorgeous! We had rain yesterday but the lavender fields were still vibrant despite the bad weather.
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