I'm going to Provence in Sept and will stay in Avignon. Does anyone know where is the nearest Lavender field? Is sunflower still in season?

Lavender is in bloom in July and August..when we were in Provence in a Sept, we were told we just missed it...

the same thing with the sunflowers- as all the fields of Sunflower were wilting on the vines...


Sorry..........

Sorry, but there isn't going to be much to look at in the way of flowers in September this year....
Lavender blooms mid June to the end of July (when most of it is cut). Sunflowers are usually around the same time. This year, however,because of the heat and drought, everything matured early - lavender was cut earlier (mine was finished by mid-July - I live just south of Avignon), sunflowers dried up - they're picking the grapes as I type this (and have been for over a week now).

If we don't get some rain soon, you'll see lots of brown fields - but because we have so much undground water, there's still plenty of green around the Alpilles (St. Remy, Les Baux, Eygalieres, Maussane-les-Alpilles, etc.)

Patricia

This is a bit off of the subject, but I'll be visiting France soon, and I love lavender scented bath/body products. I have a L'Occitane store at home, so I don't want to buy something in France that I can buy here...What are some French product lines to look for?

thanks!

If you are anywhere near Le Beau, the small walled town has terrific bath products- esp the soaps.........

MY favorite is the "Coté Bastide" in Lourmarin.

L'Occitane is much less expensive in France, they have far more scents than are available here, and if you buy enough stuff in the same store or in a department store, the VAT rebate makes it even cheaper.

If you are in Paris, Grasse, or Eze, check out the Fragonard Perfume store, which has great soaps in addition to miraculously inexpensive perfumes (they sell some of the same perfumes under generic names that they bottle for designers).

Thanks everyone. So sad that I won't get to see any lavender and sunflower... now i shall plan my itinerary to take in more towns. (and shop!)

eurodreamer, when I have been in the l area there were still fields of unharvested lavender. The color has faded but the fragrance is there and thru the years have gone into the fields and picked a huge bunch to take home. some are still in my room
sunflowers forget.

Thanks cigalechanta! I'll definitely keep a lookout for it. Do you remember where the field is?
It must be nice to be able to keep the scent of Provence in your room after all these years!

Eurodaydreamer, just remember, you can still buy a lot of lavendar scented stuff to take home with you - wonderful soap, sachets etc. And the smell will really be with you for a long time!