The biggest day of the year had arrived in Provence if you were into lavender. After attempting to translate the programme we decided to arrive for the parade that started at 10.30am. Knowing the French are into mornings or punctuality we were expecting a small turn out at this time. We were wrong. While on route on a road we have taken several times and had pretty much had to ourselves, there was a stream of cars heading towards Sault, home of the Lavender Festival. On arrival to the usually quiet town it was every man for himself and if you saw a parking spot take it. We then opted to take the short walk instead of squeezing onto a navette, which translates as ferry but was actually a free bus to the festivities at the hippodrome, which actually means race course so there was not a hippo in sight. On arrival there seemed to be no sign of the advertised parade, then some horse and carts turned up with people dressed up in period clothing. Ah ha the parade so that was good timing. There was only about a dozen groups with people watching then moving on. We thought that was a short parade and moved on too. At the other end of the race course was a crowd so we headed there. It ended up being a lavender cutting competition and it was really cool to see how it was done before the big monster machines they use these days. Each contestant lines up against a row of lavender, armed with a sickle and a large piece of cloth. Some of the contestants folded their cloth around their bodies so when the lavender was cut they popped it on their back straight away and kept going. After the race to the end of the lines, and a large cheer from the crowd, the lavender was bundled up for judging, based on the quality of cut as well as the weight. Then all the lavender was dumped for onlookers to put into bundles and take home. Heather and I ended up with a lovely bunch that is now providing a calming fragrance round our house. After watching other people being energetic it was time for sustenance and what else do you have at a lavender festival on a hot day but a lavender ice-cream.
It was yummy and my tummy was very calm afterwards. Heather and Callum enjoyed theirs while Neil went for peach. While eating our ice-creams more parade went past. It seemed that it wasn't a continuous parade but one that stopped and started. We then had a walk around the market that was beautifully shaded by large trees. It's amazing what you can make from lavender. I bought some lavender lemonade (which I have not tried so I'll let you know what it's like soon). It was a fun morning but a lack of knowing what was happening was a little frustrating. It did seem however that only a small handful of people actually did know what was happening when and where, while the rest were just wandering peacefully and calmly. Time to head home and relax.
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