Of an indefinite and indecisive blue, almost mysterious, the first encounter with lavender is first visual… then, suddenly olfactory. By its strong emotional impact, lavender slips insensitively from the natural to the cultural, that amateurs (even enthusiasts) from all over the world come to see blooming every year; emblematic, it evokes almost instinctively, Provence.

Les Routes de la Lavande®As this plural suggests, they are multiple… because, far from being only a long and winding ribbon of some 800 kilometers, connecting Crest (Drôme) to Grasse (Alpes-Maritimes) – while offering however some bushy wanderings – between plain and mountain, they are above all territories, soils marked sometimes by the vine and the olive tree, the walnut tree and the almond tree, the truffle… and bathed by the lavender: lavender in all its forms, ancestral – almost immemorial – dear to the hearts of the men who work it; and which gives this color, so particular and unique, to the landscapes, constantly renewing them.

Philippe Lemonnier, Les Routes de la Lavande, Ouest France, 2011

It is with these words of praise that Philippe Lemonnier begins the book “Les Routes de la Lavande”. He translates his encounter with lavender, the emotion of the singularity of its landscapes, the passion of the men and women who cultivate it, the enchantment of those who, like him, discover its best kept secrets.

This blog invites you to live an original journey in the “Blue Country”, in this Haute-Provence which fascinates so much its art of living seems immutable…

Enjoy your reading!