A few years ago we were travelling in France and not being a flower type person I stumbled upon the Lavender fields in the Avignon region. When I say I am not a flower person is the fact that I don't go out of my way to go and hunt flowers specifically. There are flower tourists who travel the globe to see them blooming.
We had been in Marseilles for a short 3 day break and were exploring neighboring towns and one of them happened to be Avignon.We were there towards the end of June and this is Lavender season. I was aware of lavender for it's properties as I have seen lavender oil before as it is used in essential oils and beauty products. I didn't realise how big this business is until you see how much is grown and what products use it.
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We were all drawn to one of the farms which had a huge purple harvest of lavender covering it's estate. It turned out to be a monastery. You are allowed around the exterior, but it is not open to the public. It is a working monastery with real monks and they are very private and only allow tourists to view the fields and not the buildings. If I am not mistaken each group has a maximum of 30 minutes only. If you want to look it up the Abbey's name is Senanque Abbey.
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This region during the months of June and July is a photographers dream as there are so many colorful opportunities to snap mixed in with beautiful architecture. I think what put me off is you can't just arrive like you can do in other countries. The vineyards I have visited in France also prefer people to book first. I think this has created more work for tourist operators who make a commission out of selling the tickets for the lavender farms and vineyards.
