SUMMER IN PROVENCE: VILLAGE OF GORDES + HEAVENLY LAVENDER FIELDS!

happy fourth of july, everyone!! today was a dream come true – a dream i’ve had since i was a young girl. we celebrated one of my favorite holidays (any excuse to light up sparklers!!) at the lavender fields! in provence! in france!! please don’t pinch me awake as i want this dream to last a little bit longer!

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after caroline’s delicious breakfast of french cheeses, warm breads, homemade jams, fruits, and coffee we went off to explore! we made sure to pack our hats, fun yellow hunter wellies, sunscreen and water bottles to stay hydrated! if you are searching for the perfect leak proof sippy cups, get these! we are huge fans of re-play made in the u.s.a. products and have them in every color imaginable!! when we travel, i usually bring two of the same color and mark one with a sharpie dot on the bottom!

first stop: senanque abbey, a medieval cistercian monastery founded in 1148, located just north of gordes. we had hoped to make it there before the tourist buses arrived, but it took longer than we thought (fyi if you plan to visit: the drive there is a NARROW winding road where tourists spontaneously stop their car and cause massive backed up traffic up the hill!) and we arrived to find parking almost impossible to find! the place was packed!

so, we decided we would thoroughly enjoy the view from the outside today and  walk through its beautiful halls and appreciate the romansesque architecture on our next trip to provence. i simply LOVED the look of the weathered grey stones of the abbey – its austere beauty combined with the sea of lavender surrounding it was beyond lovely and i could imagine myself staring at it for hours. i can’t wait to come visit again – and hopefully during early morning hours as the light would probably be best then (plus fewer tourists!).

next stop: hilltop village of gordes. wow – this has to be one of the most beautiful villages in france! straight out of a fairy tale! as we drove towards it, our jaws just dropped and we drank in the stunning view as if it were to be our last drink! i wanted to stop right then and there and grab a photo (for some reason, my family can’t believe me when i tell them i will take just one photo), but my very hungry family members vetoed and voted to keep driving in search of food.

after we parked our car in the public lot (very easy to find as the traffic guard pointed everyone driving in the right direction), i was on a mission to find a yummy place to eat – the quicker we eat, the quicker we can get back to that glorious hilltop view – and plus, my children were starving and, of course, as a good mama i could think of nothing else but filling up their precious bellies.

well, until gordes market day came upon us. oh, the visual feast spread out before my camera lens and eyeballs: there was booth after provencal booth full of glorious trinkets, fabrics, scrumptious snacks, crafts, antiques, toys, pottery, flowers, etc. i immediately handed over the job of food hunting to my dear hubby and told him i would join them shortly. he gave me his handsome please keep it short look and took the kiddos to resume the mission. i just love him.

i quickly snapped some shots and was about to join them (really!), but this one booth suddenly caught my eye – french almond nutty bars and french MACARONS (my absolute fave)!!! i could not resist lingering there for a bit. i didn’t take any photos as i was too busy chatting with the owner. i told him my family and i would return after a quick lunch. sadly, the lunch took forever and when we did, we found the entire market was nearly done closing up for the day. i drowned my sorrows by taking a gazillion shots of the gordes hilltop village. so gorgeous. i mean, LOOK:

i’m pretty sure i shaved 15 years off my life expectancy after sitting on this ledge here! we kept the kids far back (needless to say!).

***BY THE WAY! all worked out fine the next day at saint remy’s market – we ran into the same owner (who recognized me) and we chatted again like we were dear old friends!!! so funny! and we got to have our fill of french almond nutty bars and macarons after all!***

after leisurely strolling through the streets of gordes some more, we got back in our car and stopped by the supermarket to pick up some sandwiches, snacks, dessert, and water. kate (who has long ago stopped napping) napped in the car, while hb and jack went inside to shop.  the hot summer sun nearly lulled me to sleep as well! after we all rested a bit, we headed towards the plateau of valensole where the sea of purple and blue lavender fields awaited us.

during our hour drive there, we did not see a single lavender field. and then, all of a sudden there they were –  rolling hill after hill of the lavender in all its glory! the late afternoon’s golden sun was shining down and the happy sunflowers were waving to us. it felt so surreal to be standing there – RIGHT there. and oh the SCENT!  the air was thick with its soothing scent – i deeply inhaled, the kids laughed and skipped around, and the sweet honey bees danced all around us. it was heaven.

this little face. i could kiss it forever! and this sweet happy carefree girl with a heart full of compassion turns FIVE in two weeks. we are truly blessed. truly.

it occurred to me that there was not a single mosquito in the area. as dusk started to fall, we waited for them to appear with dread – kate and her daddy are usually half eaten alive by this point and we had forgotten to bring the spray repellent. BUT strangely they continued to be bite free!  we later found out that mosquitoes hate lavender! i would like to grow these amazing gems ALL OVER our yard when we move back to the states. in fact, it should be law that everyone who has a yard plant these precious things, because i passionately believe mosquitoes do not need to exist.

i was so happily immersed in my own la-la lavender land that i didn’t really notice what the kids were doing. they seem to be in euphoria themselves going through the rows of purple, collecting what i thought were little white cotton fuzz balls. but no. when they proudly showed me the lavender bouquet filled with them, i realized i was wrong and that they were not cotton balls, but little white pebbles.

well, all that night i had this dream/nightmare that those little white pebbles were crawling out and creeping about everywhere! so, in the middle of the night i bolted awake and went to go peek in the lavender bouquet — and yup — snails and their sticky snail trails everywhere. yuck! kiddos had managed to gather a rather nice bouquet of SNAILS! i quickly grabbed the bouquet and its runaway tenants and placed them outside.

the kids woke up at dawn (by the way, why is it that they happily wake up extremely early on weekends and on vacation, but not on school days??) and for the better part of the morning they ooohed and aaaahed over their new “oh so cute” pets. and, no, they did NOT come home with us – those four very sad puppy eyes did not work on their mama this time.

the golden afternoon turned into evening way too soon! as we said good-bye to the lavender fields and the glorious sunset, we promised to return next year. i already have my calendar marked.

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