Camargue and Provence Photo Tour Day 9 and 10
By Michelle Alten

HDR photo early morning in a lavender field
This day we devoted to the lovely lavender fields of the Plateau de Valensole. Rows of flowers created sweeping blankets of purple, at some spots embracing rock mas, rustic stone Provencal houses. In one field a Russian bride posed in her lily-white dress for photos amidst the blossoms. Wolfgang chatted with her, and she was happy to let him photograph.

sunflowers and lavender

sunflowers

sunflower

bride in lavender at sunset
On our last day, we visited pottery studio to see how they make faience pottery, a local art originally from Italy that was revived here in the early 20th century.
Then it was time to slow our pace. In the shade of giant plantain trees, in the garden of a restaurant belonging to world-renowned chef Alain Ducas, we did a wine tasting. The sommelier chose three special wines including a crisp rose, Domaine d’Ecole, and a red blend from Les Beaux-de-Provence. Soon the waiters appeared, carrying our picnic through the garden: red mullet from the Mediterranean with grilled zucchini, veal fillet served with roasted fennel accented with Nicoise olives, a refreshing tabouli salad, local chevre cheeses, and an apricot almond tart. After our coffee, we took up our boules to learn the French game of petanque. Our teammates begin enthusiastically cheering each other on as though it was a World Cup soccer match. This delightful day of gastronomy and games in the gardens of the restaurant was the perfect ending to our trip.

kitchen

Wolfies at wine tasting

picnic in the garden

Wolfies playing the French game of petanque
This brings our blog to a close as we prepare to say aurevoir to the Wolfies!
We hope you will join us for photos and the blog in August, when we are off to Kenya!!
If you are interested in a future Camargue and Provence tour, please email Wolfgang at [email protected]