Sunday, August 2nd ~ Lavender fields near Avignon

Provence, France

One of my biggest wishes for this trip to southern France was to see the lavender fields in bloom. I was so excited when I saw in our tour literature that our cruise was scheduled to have an excursion to visit a lavender farm. Sadly, France had experienced a heat wave for a couple of weeks prior to our arrival, and most of the lavender fields had already been harvested. 

I was so disappointed.

While still on board the SS Catherine, I asked the Concierge if he had any way to find out if ALL of the lavender fields had been harvested, or if we might still be able to find one after our cruise ended. Later that afternoon he phoned our cabin and helped us arrange a private five-hour tour that would take us over the famous “lavender roads”.

We were on a hunt!

Here is a link of a tour similar to what we did.

Were we successful? Well, yes, kind of. The lavender was past its prime, but we did get to see and enjoy it.

We found a lavender field still in bloom with a fabulous village in the background

Our driver also took us through several quaint villages where we got to enjoy even more of the Provence beauty and charm.

Another short photo stop

And a few random shots from the day:

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Returning back to Avignon that evening we stopped in a local market to pick up some snacks to take on our high-speed train ride up to Paris. I found their computerized pricing system a step ahead of anything I have seen in the states. Perhaps it is in some US cities and just has not made it to our stores in Los Angeles yet, but I was intrigued by it.

Enter the pricing into the system, and it updates on the shelf. No longer a problem with the price on the shelf matching what is scanned at the register. I like it!

Check out the computerized pricing below each item

GRATITUDE MOMENT: Today I am grateful for the truly wonderful time we have had on our trip from the Netherlands, through Belgium with Gate 1 and the last two weeks cruising with Uniworld. I was so pleased that we were able to find some lavender still in bloom.

UPDATED LATER: From Avignon we took a high-speed train up to Paris, one quick overnight stay near the CDG airport, and a very long flight via London back to Los Angeles. It felt good to be home and crawl into a familiar bed!