Dreams Do Come True...At Least In Provence....

Today started out a little later than us ladies had anticipated. With the stress from yesterday and some physical aches and pains, we were all feeling just a bit out of sorts and found we all had woken up on the wrong sides of the beds. But once we got our acts together, we headed out towards the little town center near our hotel to grab a bite to eat for lunch!

The place we ended up at was actually a restaurant INSIDE this organic grocery store and the food was super delicious! Amanda and I both got their 'quiche du jour' and Tibby got a tasty, toasted sandwich. 

We three sat and chatted for another half hour or so and then walked around the little supermarket helping Amanda record some videos for her French students! She was a great star for the camera, pointing out vegetables, fruits, and assorted French food products!

When we finally were finished at the grocery store, we hopped back in the car and began our search for the lavender fields!!!

Luckily, a nice guy at the hotel had given Amanda some directions on where to go so, along with our GPS, we headed out towards the countryside.

It took us about an hour or so until we got close to where the guy had told us to go, but before we even reached that area, Amanda kind of freaked out when all of a sudden we passed the L'Occitane Factory/Museum! Known for their beauty and health products and specifically their lavender-based items, L'Occitane was the perfect jumping off point for our lavender-field-day!

Although we didn't tour the factory, we did get to see some of their antique distilling machines and read about how their company started out working and continues to work with the majority of Provence's lavender farms to produce their amazing soaps, lotions, etc!

And Tibby even says she kind-of-sort-of smelled one of their essential oil samples!!

So, after making a few purchases and asking the cute cashier if there were any fields nearby, we got some more directions and continued on our search!

It wasn't all that much longer that our quest was finally fulfilled. Seriously, it was like a scene from a movie where we drove over a flat hill, golden with leftover hay, and suddenly there it was....our first lavender field!!!

It was so beautiful!!

I was gasping and squealing with delight before we even stepped out of the car and ran over to the open field. We didn't know if it was legal to walk among the rows, but really we didn't care because it was just so beautiful and the heady scent of those gorgeous purple blossoms was something akin to a warm embrace.

The three of us basically spent the rest of the afternoon just walking among the flowers and taking hundreds of photos. Here are just a few of those....

....I was very excited...

...Amanda sittin' pretty!!

Unfortunately, it seemed our enthusiasm was a signal to all the other tourists driving around to also come join and suddenly our scenery was taken over by other excited travelers. So we decided to move on - but not before Tibby called for some classic jumping pictures in the hay field nearby. All was going well as we were attempting to get the perfect shot and then suddenly I felt a sharp pain on my inner thigh. I jumped around crying out and then found myself holding the remains of a bee stinger. Yes, I got stung by a freaking French bee! And man did it hurt!! Even after I stripped down in the car and slathered some Neosporin on the thing, it still felt like someone was jabbing me in the leg with a hot needle.

But I was NOT going to let it ruin the day and got out and finished that jumping pic! Once that was complete, we drove on for a few more minutes and then suddenly Amanda pointed out a sign stating that just a ways up the road was a place that sold local olive oil and lavender products. Of course we followed it!

Come to find out, the olive oil and lavender wasn't just any oil or lavender....they came from the exact field we had just been traipsing around in!!! You can see in some of the above pics the olive grove in the background...and yes, those were the trees that made this olive oil! And to make it all the more wonderful, the French lady who owned the place was so welcoming and friendly - the picture of Southern French hospitality! Also, once Amanda had explained to her about my beesting, the woman immediately grabbed a bottle of lavender oil and started giving me directions to rub it into the little wound. And by golly it totally worked!!! It was the craziest thing!

But that wasn't all. Next she gave us all samples of everything in her shop - vinagrettes, three different kinds of olive oils from her trees, showed us more lavender products, and even honey made by the very bees who had been flitting around the fields! Even though I got stung by one, those bees make some darn good honey!!

Then she even gave us instructions on how to reach this huge lake which was supposed to have this amazing view and good spots for dinner! She was just pretty much the most amazing French woman ever.

Unfortunately, we couldn't stay in her cute shop forever, and eventually had to say au revoir but not before she kissed each one of us on our cheeks. Then she waved as we drove back up the road and away towards the lake.

Although it was a bit of winding road and there weren't many signs, we didn't really mind not knowing exactly where we were going because the lavender fields continue to pop up all over the fields we passed! Tucked between sunflower crops and in the shadows of gorgeous rugged grey mountains, it was again like a scene from a movie! We all joked that places like this simply weren't supposed to exist in real life and yet here we were!! It was amazing.

Finally we reached the lake and let's just say it didn't disappoint. It was a gorgeous shade of blue and the town we stopped in reminded me of a smaller Cinque Terre. Stone houses with terracotta roofs hung alongside the green cliffs looking a bit precarious over the water. Little streets cut through in all different directions too and the corners housed more than their fair share of kittens and potted plants. It was again like something off of a postcard. This is also were we eventually decided to eat dinner. We sat on the terrace of this cute little restaurant (that had an antique-looking baguette slicer that looked a bit like a paper cutter...it was so cool) where we ordered three different dishes and decided to share everything. It was perfect!

The plates were so beautifully-crafted and seemed almost too gorgeous to eat! But the food was equally amazing and the perfect end to a seriously perfect afternoon....

...so gorgeous!! And they even stuck lavender in there!! Love it!

After dinner, the sun had set and it was quite an adventure navigating the back-woods roads of Provence without any lights! Even the moon seemed to be in hiding! But eventually we made it back to our hotel and we now are looking forward to some sleep before we begin our next adventure tomorrow - touring some of the ancient towns!

Can't wait!