- Aug 1, 2016

Lavender Fields in Provence, France

The small city of Aix-en-Provence is only a small part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southern France. Many people have never heard of this quaint town, including us, until we did more research about the sprawling fields of lavender in the region. You may have seen these striking purple fields before on travel blogs or even Instagram, but it is truly a treat to come and see them in person. Lavender has a very long history, since the Romans used to use it for its antiseptic and healing properties. According to our tour guide, the word comes from the Italian verb, lavar (to wash). The scent of lavender is light and fresh, so imagine the air filled with this fragrance for miles and miles.

Unfortunately, it isn’t the easiest to come and see the lavender, since it only grows in certain regions in the South of France from mid-June to mid-August. We chose Aix-en-Provence as our home base, although many people also choose Avignon, which is more North of the Provence region and closer to the fields. We did not have the option of public transportation or a rental car, so we booked an afternoon tour with Tylene Tours (conveniently at the tourism center in Aix-En-Provence) for about 60 Euros per person. We totally recommend this option since it is guided and you don’t have to worry about getting lost on the winding roads outside the large cities. We stopped by two different lavender farms in the Valensole Plateau, and were able to step out for pictures and the opportunity to purchase different types of lavender items, including soaps, honey, fragrances, as well as pouches filled with fresh lavender. After this, we stopped by the original L’Occitane store and museum, and had a chance to purchase discounted beauty products! If you are a beauty junkie, you may know that L’Occitane actually originated from Provence! They also offer factory tours in their full day tour option (100 Euros) which includes a visit to both the fields and the L'Occitane factory itself.

We had actually planned our outfits for these gorgeous fields for a while, since we wanted to complement the rich purple of the lavender with our clothes. We chose maxi dresses since we felt it would be appropriate "frolicking in the fields" attire.

Mel: I don't normally gravitate toward yellow clothing, but it was really a no brainer when it came to the perfect color complement for the purple backdrop. This dress is so comfy and simple, yet the strappy and semi-open back brings an element of sexiness to it as well. I loosely curled my hair and wore a floral crown to finish off this ethereal and frills free look! Since I bought this dress a few months back, it is unfortunately unavailable now. However, I linked a few similar dresses including a shorter and more wearable version of the maxi dress I wore in the description at the bottom of this post.

Jess: Mel had found the perfect mustard dress, so I wanted to choose something that paired well with it, without being too similar in color and style. This mint green, flowy maxi is so summery and super flattering! I love the floral design and will definitely be breaking it out for beach days or even errands around town since its such an effortless piece to work with. Unfortunately, this dress was just taken off the website in the past two days, so I've linked a very similar dress below for you guys. I'm also a huge fan of trying to do different things to my hair to keep it interesting, and this braided crown I tried in the morning is now one of my favorite hairstyles! Check out this Youtuber's video to see how she does something very similar :)

Maxis are a staple in any girls' wardrobe, whether you're a tall gal or petite like us. The best part about both our outfits? These dresses cost less than $25 each and are from Forever 21!

We hope you enjoy this post! Keep calm and smell the lavender :)