Lavender Museum, Provence:  In June some magic happens in the fields of
northern Provence. Rows of spiky green start to turn purple and by the third
week in June, the valleys have turned to mats of parallel rows of purple while the
tourist come looking to make that perfect photo of ripening lavender.   
Lavender Museum Provence Musee De La Lavande
These spiked mats of purple are not planted for the tourist, however, they are an agricultural crop
once as important to the Provence farmer as the olive or the grape, the cherry or the apricot: they
are lavender, still a cash crop that eventually turns from its showy field display into a dozen products
that we use every day.
Lavender today is not the big business it once was, however; synthetics have pushed it aside. The trade
continues regardless, partly out of tradition and a demand for excellence and authenticity, and partly
because the synthetics just haven't totally measured up to the subtlety and efficacy of true lavender or Fine
lavender as the medicinal plant is called.  
A small building  in the village of Coustellet on the road from Avignon to Apt, (D-901 to D-900)near
Bonnieux and Gordes, tells the story; it's called the Musee De La Lavande: The Lincele' Family's
Lavender Museum.  
If you didn't know that it was a lavender museum you would think they were honoring
moonshine, but the process is similar; lavender goes through a distilling process to release
and concentrate the oils that will eventually become perfumes and medicines, cleaning agents
and spices that we find on our market shelves.
The equipment evolved over the years, some becoming mobile and brought to th fields to
follow the July harvest, some changing due to the cost and availability of energy sources.
The lavender plant itself did some evolving also. First found wild and harvested for medicinal and
household purposes before Roman times, the self-seeding perennial grew wild in most of Provence
at an altitude above 800 meters. (2600 feet)  The Romans reportedly gave the plant the name
lavender from their Latin word Lavare, the word for clean or wash.
Commercial production now takes place mostly in the higher elevations around the town of Sault and
the foothills of Mount Ventoux. The plant now grown commercially is not quite the same as the original
wild lavender harvested by the ancients.
An early model "Open Fire Still" , the earliest dating to 1626, would have the lavender
blossoms with water placed in the large copper kettle while a wood fire was stoked
beneath the kettle. The water turned to steam which absorbed the oils in the flower and
carried them up and out into a condenser, the circular tubing to the right. This condensing
coil would have been immersed in cold water to reduce the steam temperature enough to
condense the vapor back into liquid water which, with its accompanying lavender oils,
would have flowed into a small container. The oils of the lavender would than have floated
to the top for siphoning off.
Visitors will commonly see three plants in bloom before the end-of-July harvest:
  • Fine Lavender, the original plant having one flower, this is the one important plant for
    medicinal lavender products. This plant grows at 2,600 feet elevation in the foothills of
    Mount Ventoux, The Vaucluse, the Alps of High Provence, and  The Drome.
  • Spike Lavender, a plant with several branches and not used commercially in Provence
    although it is grown in Spain and Portugal, according to the Museum literature.
  • Lavandine, a hybrid of true or fine lavender and spike lavender, this sterile plant grown by
    cuttings at lower elevations has several flowers in round clumps and is used commercially
    in detergents and sachettes. The plant produces much more essential oil per acre than
    Fine Lavender  but does not have the subtlety of fine lavender or its medicinal value.
stills grew larger and became mechanised . the introduction of the steam gauge in the 1920s
allowed for faster processing at more controlled temperature. Coal and natural gas became fuel
along with wood and the burning of the spent lavender plants, Winches and cranes allowed for high
production.
Do You need an International Driving Permit to Drive in
Europe.
In France and Italy you can rent a car and do not need
to show an International Permit, only your drivers
license    Italian law, however,  requires that.....  see
Article
No Passing
for
commercial
vehicles
No
Passing
zone ends
Rotary
with yield
to traffic in
rotary
Check out Auto
Europe's Rentals in
France
Auto Europe selection, price, and ease of booking on the web. . Shop online well ahead of your trip and
choose diesel (more economical) or gas, luggage space,(important)  standard or automatic,(important)  
two door, four door and other options.  Renting for more than 17 days; see their options      see  renting a
vehicle in Provence
Speed limits will be clearly marked and the Rotary will be a welcome site with its directions to various
towns.  Gassing up is similar to US with credit card and automatic shut-off at modern pumps. Car rental
are available in all large cities and at many TGV Train Stations..
Information for those renting a vehicle in Provence