I’ve always had this vague idea that it would be nice to see the lavender fields at the end of my stay in France; it’s something that I’ve talked about with friends. But I never really thought I would be able to do it, since I was moving back around the end of June and the lavender fields tend to bloom in early July.

But guess what? There was a heatwave in France (which sucked because I don’t have air-con in the dorm) and the lavender fields started blooming in mid-June! So I started looking for one-day tours that I could go on my last week in Nice, only to find that…

They were all sold out! I guess everyone else got the memo that the lavender fields were blooming and booked the same tour.

At this point, I was ready to give up. But then one of my friends texted me to suggest a private tour. Initially, the tour we found cost over 800 euros, which wasn’t very feasible since we could only find three people to go, but that same friend managed to find a private tour on Wechat that was half the price! That makes it comparable to one of those one-day tours and I finally got to see the lavender fields!

Although… our first stop was somewhere rather blue/green. Verdon Gorge and Lake Sainte Croix are near the lavender fields and the first place we visited on the trip. Our driver took us to bridge over the entrance of the gorge, and then to a stop somewhere in the mountains for some truly gorgeous views!

Given it takes over three hours to drive from Nice to the Gorge, it was lunchtime by the time we were done taking photos. We headed to the charming village of Moustiers Sainte-Marie, which is near Lake Sainte Croix. There, we had lunch and enjoyed strolling around the village. It’s not a very large village, but it is beautiful and definitely worth a visit.

After lunch, we finally made it to the lavender fields! Our guide is very meticulous, so he only brought us to fields where there were no weeds. The fields are generally private so you need to be respectful of the land (don’t break off any lavender plants being the main thing to remember).

Another thing to remember about the lavender fields is that there are a lot of bees!! I guess humans aren’t the only ones that love the smell of lavender. The bees are generally fine, but it started raining at the first fields and all the bees flew up into the air. I had gone back to the car at the first sign of rain and it was somewhat terrifying to see all the buzzing bees surrounding the car.

Thankfully, the rest of our trip was uneventful! My friends really wanted to go boating in Lake Sainte-Crois, so that was the last stop of the day after the rains had stopped. Now that I’ve been to the area, I see why there are no guides on how to go there by train – I didn’t see any sign of public transport whatsoever. So if you’re planning to see the lavender fields, I’d highly recommend booking a trip early, instead of being like me and scrambling at the last minute.

P.s. I know this post is super super late, since I went in late June and it’s now August (and therefore will be of no use to people who want to see the lavender fields in 2022), but I still hope you enjoyed the pictures!