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Published: June 30th 2014
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First Lavender field
We came around a corner and...WHOA!!!! I can't get a font big enough for the O M G we gave out. It was so exciting to see it all on the hoof. I only wish computers had scratch and sniff... As I sit here eating my perfectly ripened summer fruits with cream, I am thinking about the sensory overload of today. We came, we saw, we smelled the lavender. We decided to pile off to Sault, the regional capital of the lavender production in the Drome, about 1-½ hours away driving through mountains on windy roads. But the drive was beautiful. As we got higher in altitude, the more lavender we saw. And we would come around a corner, and there it was! And we got out of the car to take pictures and we got hit by the aroma. Wendy picked a couple sprigs for the car and it was still smelling beautiful by the end of the day.
First stop was the Sault information office, after a potty break. But I can’t deal with holes in the floor, so opted to wait until our mid-morning snack…We picked up all the brochures and were told about a distillery and a couple of farms. We went then to a local touristy café and had lovely chevre and tomato tarts. If we had known the size, we would have ordered a sweet tart and shared each. We were told about a
True Color
I always thought those pictures were photoshopped for color, but they weren't. Also check out the color of the sky. walking tour of Sault and decided to take it. Lovely old town. We decided that since it was lunchtime, we would head over to a village called Monieux, and a restaurant called Les Lavandes. www.restaurant-les-lavandes.fr There were tablecloths of sorts which meant we were in for a bit of a ride. The pris fixe meal was a foie gras mousse for entrée, poached salmon for the main, and a fresh fruit meringue for dessert. The mousse was alright…Hard to get enthused about something that resembled cat food (sorry….). They then delivered steaks to us as the main course, and we must have looked at it as though we were horrified vegetarians, based on the apologies by the manager, explaining that they were out of salmon but substituted a lovely sea bass, which was definitely fresh. But the highlight was---you guessed it---the dessert. The little meringue bowl was filled with fresh fruits and their juices. I identified strawberries, mango, apricot, blueberries and red currents. It was very flavorful. All in all, though the food was nice the service was lacking for the cost of the meal and we were a bit disappointed…
(I love the fruits in France this time
Lots of Purple
One of the views from Sault, the regional capital of Lavender of year. Yesterday at the marche we picked up perfectly ripened nectarines, strawberries, apricots and cherries. No waiting a couple days or more for them to ripen. They are all ready to go…NOW!)
I digress….After lunch we headed, back to the lavender distillery and found out everything you might want to know about the three types of lavender used in the area, how they are distilled and what they are used for. And we learned about lavender by-products. A fabulous and interesting tour, led by a wonderful guide who spoke great English. www.distillerie-aromaplantes.com .
Our drive back to Cairanne took us along the southern route, where we saw a lot of men in lycra on bicycles, seemingly getting ready for the Tour de France. The race does run south of here so perhaps they are training on the the Mont Ventoux. They do make driving a bit hazardous though.
All in all, it was a delightful day, and we will be doing it all again tomorrow, albeit in a different direction. À toute à l'heure!
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jean clément
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froods
you will like the froods at Miradoux