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The Sault plateau, cradle of lavender
At the foot of Mont Ventoux, the village of Sault offers nature lovers a place to relax and discover.
The blue of the lavender, the violet of the lavandin and the straw yellow of the spelt fields create a colorful postcard landscape on a plateau that rises from 650 meters to 1,400 meters above sea level.
On foot, by bike, on a mountain bike or in trailer mode, the roads and paths of the lavender of the Sault plateau will give you a great view. Visits to farms and distilleries, experience the cultivation and harvesting of lavender in immersion and in symbiosis with the men and women who cultivate with passion the emblematic flower of Provence.
The Village of Sault and its landscapes
Lavender on a plateau, various varieties that shape a unique landscape
In the Pays de Sault, different varieties of lavender are grown:
- Fine lavender, also known as true or population lavender, because each plant is different from its neighbor. This variety, which also grows wild, is unique to this plateau. It gives the fields tones of color that vary from white to intense blue.
- Spike lavender is rarely cultivated because of its very strong fragrance. However, crossing this lavender with fine lavender gave rise to lavandin, widely cultivated on the Sault plateau and elsewhere in Provence.
- Because they are propagated by cuttings from plants that are identical to each other, lavandin fields give the impression of a "sea of lavender", as do fields of so-called "clonal" lavenders, which are increasingly cultivated to resist disease.
Discovering lavender in slow mode
Do you want to breathe a big bowl of fragrant air? From the end of June, the lavender botanical trails in Ferrassières and the lavender path in Sault combine walking with education.
Along paths bordering fields in full bloom, information panels expand your knowledge of the botany, yield, cultivation and distillation of lavender and lavandin.
Whether you're mountain biking or trail riding, the specially-marked trails will take you off the beaten track, into the heart of sublime, little-known landscapes, where you'll feel the adrenalin pumping and be able to surpass yourself as if you were alone in the world.
By bike, signposted loop no. 23 from Sault passes through the authentic villages of Aurel, Saint-Trinit and Saint-Christol. On the edge of the fields, you're in the heart of the wide-open spaces of the Plateau d'Albion, so dear to Jean Giono. The return journey along the Brouville road, where the last true lavender fields are still cultivated, with the dominant silhouette of Mont Ventoux in the background, is more than exhilarating!
Meetings, sharing and "lavender" visits on the Sault plateau
Many farmers open the doors of their farms to share their trades with visitors.
From the traditional distillery whose hearth is fed with dried lavender straw to the most recent one fed by a biomass boiler, the method of transformation of the plant into essential oil is identical. In July and August, experience this ancestral process live! The essential oil of Haute Provence has had a PDO since 1981. Only 19 farms are concerned in Provence, including 13 on the Plateau de Sault which represents more than 95% of the PDO lavender volumes in 2021.
The guided tours of the farms are a meeting with the men and women of the land. Know-how and traditions, often handed down from generation to generation for centuries, are conscientiously applied and proudly shared. And throughout the year, we recommend the direct sale of products from the farm, local is ideal!
