Day two of our trip in Provence brought us to Gordes, a hilltop town with one of the most spectacular views of a city that I have ever seen!
Gordes is about an hours drive from Avignon and we left for the location bright and early in the morning after breakfast. We wanted to try our luck at seeing the Lavender fields at the Abbey Notre Dame de Sénanque and I read that it was best to get there early, before 10am. Apparently the parking lot on site gets very full during the day when the Lavender is in bloom and a que of cars and buses can form on the one lane road leading to the site.
We didn't run into either of these issues because as it happened, the lavender wasn't even in bloom yet. I wasn't all that surprised though. It was mid June and I knew that it was too early in the season for Lavender, especially since it was a rather cool spring with mostly rain and not a lot of sunshine this year.
But then again, I figured we should try anyway because the day before I had been very surprised to see a dozen or so fully bloomed fields along the highway during our drive into the region. The Abbey though is set a little higher in the mountains so I guess it blooms a little later in the year?
The Abbey itself was also under construction when we were there and to be honest, it didn't look all that interesting to me so I wanted to leave right away and go and see Gordes. We stayed at the Abbey for only about 10 minutes 😆. Luckily Gordes is just around the corner so we didn't really waste much time for the brief stop over.
The drive between Gordes and the Abbey Sénanque is mountainous and super scenic. I pulled over once along the way to have a look down into the valley and to take a quick photo of a house up on the cliff top.
The valley and region in general is dotted with not only Lavender fields but also olive orchards and vineyards. It's a really beautiful part of the country and I can't emphasize that enough.
The town of Gordes isn't very big by any means, but what it lacks in size it certainly makes up for in charm. The words, small, quaint and charming are words I often use to describe French towns and with Gordes, its really no different.
Maybe I need to buy a thesaurus and learn some new phrases? But until I do, I'll say that small, quaint and charming pretty much sums up the our experience of the village.
Provence is known for it's lavander and lavender products (obviously), as well as olive oil, wine and the candy snack called nougat, which I'm not all that big on myself.
Nonetheless, all of these things can be found in the little specialty shops dotted around town. Like most places, they also sell ice cream! We couldn't leave without trying their lavender flavor. We were in Provence afterall.
Lavender definitely has the potential to taste like pot pourri or perfume but when it's done right it can be a pretty interesting and delicious flavor.
In this case it was quite good. It didn't taste soapy or anything!
Around the perimeter of one side of town there is a stone pathway with several panoramic viewpoints looking out over the valley. Here you can see plenty of farmers fields and orchards.
The best lookout though requires you to walk a little ways outside of town. You walk along an incoming road that bends back on itself which eventually opens up and allows you to view the hilltop city from afar. It's only about a 5-10 minute walk an I would say that its a must do activity when visiting Gordes.
The scene changes a little as you make your way to the viewpoint. Not surprisingly, I took a dozen or so photos along the way, including the one above of the city looking through a fig tree.
From this location you can see so many interesting parts of the town that you may not have had access to while walking along its streets. You can see the castle, church, and an intricate garden with nicely trimmed hedges among other things. There's so much going on and the scene is so big and in your face that it almost doesn't seem real.
We spent about two hours in town before making our way to our next location. Unless you plan on eating lunch or dinner there, or making it your final destination, I would say that two hours was enough time to see everything there is to see and to get a good feel for the village.
After leaving Gordes, I was surprised that we were actually able to see a few lavender fields in bloom down in the valley! Naturally we pulled over to take photos and we weren't the only ones to do so.
The first photo isn't all that great but what I like about it is that it contains three crops that Provence is known for - lavender, olives trees and a wine vineyard in the distance.
I can only imagine what the farmers and locals must think when they see all of the cars pulled over on the side of the road. "Well it must be that time of year again, a bunch of random tourists and strangers are standing in our field again."
I understand how elevation and weather can effect how early the flowers bloom but what I don't understand is why some fields can be in almost full bloom while others just a minute's drive down the same road haven't even started yet? That's a mystery to me.
Anyway, I was pretty happy that we were able to see at least a few fields almost fully flowered while we were in the area.
Next year I'll be sure to visit Provence in early July when I know that all of the fields will be fully flowered.