Photographing the Lavender in Provence July 2015
 

Good morning Fodorites,

I am planning our 9 day trip to Provence the beginning of July to photograph the lavender next year and could use some help. I have Stu's amazing itinerary (thanks again Stu) and have the following:

Flights in and out of Marseille
8 nights staying at Les Terraces du Luberon in Bonnieux: http://www.lesterrassesduluberon.fr/index-english.htm

Our main plans are to stay in the Luberon and relax, eat lovely food & drink fabulous wine (for a change ha), and photograph the region. We spent a week in St Remy in 2006 and have been to Avignon, Les Baux etc...

These are the plans so far:

Saturday – London to Marseille

Fly into Marseille arriving at 10:30 from London and drive to Bonnieux – any recommendations for a lovely lunch along the way, preferably outside?

It looks like Maison Gouin in Coustellet is open 15:00 – 19:00 on Sat so we can go out and get stuff for a picnic dinner on Sunday and lunch on Monday. This place comes highly recommended…?

Dinner at Le Fournil in Bonnieux http://www.lefournil-bonnieux.com/

Sunday – Relaxing day – market in Coustellet, photograph a few villages

Lunch: le Castelas in Sivèrgues

Dinner: Picnic on our terrace (maybe drinks at Bastide)

Monday – Kayaking under Pont de Gard

Kayaking http://canoe-collias.com/en/Gard-Boat-Rental.html

Lunch: Picnic

Dinner: L’Arome in Bonnieux

Tuesday – Local area wine touring by Menerbes/Bonnieux (any great wineries to visit?)

Lunch at Le Sanglier Paresseux Caseneuve (by Apt)

Lourmarin evening market and dinner (pick up stuff for tomorrow) - is this a decent market??

Wednesday – Early morning photograph Sénanque Abbey, visit more villages

Lunch: La Ferme de la Huppe http://www.lafermedelahuppe.com/en/restaurant

Dinner: Bartavelle in Goult

Thursday – Cooking lessons at Jean-luc Rabanel in Arles (cant book until next June)

Rest of the day in Arles

Friday – Market day in Bonnieux, visit other villages

Lunch: Auberge des Carrieres in Les Taillades

Dinner: Stuff from the market (savory tartes from the Tarte Man)

Saturday - No real plans

Lunch: Le Pastorale in Cereste

Dinner: la Petite Cave in Saignon

Sunday – Marseille to London

I have also heard that Valensole is great for photographing the lavender and sunflowers - can anyone provide feedback on that - is it worth the trip?

Any tips, great photo ops, restaurants, wineries etc would be appreciated!!

Thank you!

The Friday market in Lourmarin is great; the butcher with rotisserie meats is excellent. We usual stock up on: leg of lamb, duck, rabbit, chicken and potatoes.

Ooo that does sound good, and everyone seems to prefer it so I'll swap that!

Thank you!

Did you read the section about Valensole in my 2014 revised itinerary? We found the best Lavender fields to be in the Valensole Plateau. Didn't see any sunflowers. However, there are several really great Lavender fields in the Luberon too. We were a little disappointed with the ones around Sault this year.

Stu Dudley

Hi Stu - I don't think I have your 2014 update! I will check again!

I put the revision date on the last page of the itinerary. E-mail me at [email protected] to get the 2104 version. LOTS of lavender field info in this new edition.

Stu Dudley

Sounds lovely.

PS Do you two EVER do any work :-P

Thanks Stu I do have it and I am reading it now!! Will definitely include it!!

RM67 - unfortunately yes, but planning vacations keeps me going every day!

:-)

Re lavender fields - well you already know about the Abbey in Gordes, but also the road from Gordes to Roussillon had a couple really nice fields. Also, you said you've already been to St Remy, did you go the St Paul Monastery? The lavender there was wonderful, plus there were some sunflowers.

Are you planning to stop in Uzes the day you go to Pond du Gard? Very worth it if you have not been.

Here's my photo of kayaking under the pont du gard
http://www.pbase.com/annforcier/image/151987153

But also one of my daughter swimming under it
http://www.pbase.com/annforcier/image/151987151

Both of those photos were taken at the same time from the same spot.

My favorite of all the villages near Bonnieux was Roussillon with Goult a close second.

Here's my gallery - http://www.pbase.com/annforcier/france_-_provence

The Friday market in Lourmarin is bigger than the one in Bonnieux... it's really expanded in the years I've been going to the Luberon. I know I'm biased, but I love our Friday market in Bonnieux. Most of the market is on the Place de Terrail, just up the hill a bit from where you'll be staying, and it's so intimate and friendly with lots of local people.

It's a 20 minute drive to Lourmarin. Maybe you could drive over there first (get a good parking spot), and then come back to Bonnieux for the last hour, especially since that will be your "home" village. There's usually music starting around 11 am. We just love the environment of Bonnieux on market day.

Kathy

Lovely pics as always Isabel - you are getting me even more excited!! We didn't make it to those places so will look them up!

Kathy thanks for the feedback...I think we may just decide to stay local! It sounds lovely!

>>I think we may just decide to stay local!<<

That's what we did for 2 weeks this past June - except for a trip to the Valensole plateau lavender fields & Sault.

Stu Dudley

it does look lovely, doesn't it? I note that it's an Alistair Sawday property - I've used his website a few times but never actually succeeded in staying at one of his properties. is that how you found it?

Annhig, I can't remember how I found it....I think just searching tripadvisor. We wanted a place with outside space, a pool with lovely view....but somewhere close enough to town to walk to dinner so Scott doesn't have to drive. This seems like the perfect compromise! We will definitely report back!

Wonderful video Sandralist! The hills add another layer of beauty but also more work! I am definitely going to have to plan I trip to Liguaria...it looks amazing! Thank you!

Last time I was there the lavender fields were spectacular in the evening light and a lot less people too.
We stumbled on a big sunflower field across from the Super U Store near Lourmarin.

jamikins - those are just the criteria that I use - but because I don't want to have to drive home either so I can drink in the evenings. Not that I'm a lush, you understand, but I do enjoy wine with a meal, as does DH, and generally more than one glass.

Definitely looking forward to your trip report!

Understand completely...we definitely enjoy a bit of wine with dinner :)

We will definitely do a report. We are heading yo Burgundy for a week at New Years so will do a report on that as well!

I'm piggybacking off of this request because I am in the beginning stages of planning a last minute trip to Provence (for photography) at the end of the July. We've been to the Luberon numerous times but, not quite so late. We usually go in late June or early July.

I've read many websites that indicate the lavender blooms through August however, several sites say thru mid-July. It's really all over the place. We were there in late June about 10 years ago and it was past peak because it was crazy hot all through June. That said, I know it can be weather dependent but, I'm hoping someone has been at this time of the year and can tell me whether it's just too late. Unfortunately we can't go any earlier.

Is there a specific region where it blooms later?