When lavender makes waves

It is cut by hand from the beginning of July and it is in mid-July that the mechanical harvest of the fine lavender is done, then the lavandin. It is immediately distilled to avoid fermentation and protect its aroma at the heart of the essential oil.

Lavender is a miracle, its virtues are known and recognized since Antiquity and, even if numerous countries now try to produce it, it is in the South of France that it is at home blooming in its noblest form.

In the Provençal Drôme, land of choice of the blue lavender, the most attractive in bouquets, do not miss the Jardin aux Herbes, in la Garde Adhémar with its collection of two hundred sorts of healing plants, hung on terraces at the foot of the church, and the Bleu Provence distillery where you can shop for lavender in all its forms.

Between Vercors and Diois, because it grows at high altitudes, lavender is less early and blooms from mid July till the end of August. The wild lavender is to be discovered at the Domaine des Aromes, the botanical garden of Sanoflore, renowned for its essential oil and its organic cosmetics.

Last but not least, one can learn, at the Lavender Museum in Saint Remèze in Ardèche, - the country of aspic lavender, very camphorated and used more in pharmacy, - all about lavender, its story, its antiseptic and healing properties, its relaxing effects and its use as a natural mothball with its delicious perfume in wardrobes and between sheets.