Cutting lavender... never thought I would be cutting lavender in France. The real pecularity is that we are cutting lavender in northern France. Apparently lavender is commonly grown in the south, so this farm we are working on is a real novelty. People come everyday and walk around the grounds, some have called ahead to request a picnic and they share these picnics underneath a willow tree in the middle of the lavender patches, some people wander up to the cafe and share drinks or snacks and consider purchasing lavender oil, homemade chilli jams or little scented stalks of lavender. The pace of this place is very comfortable, perhaps this is because lavender is supposed to relax you. Some days I'm so relaxed working in the patches that I nearly fall to sleep. We work 5-6 hours a day in return for a fantastic cottage to sleep in and relax. We also have all of our meals included, and we're not talking peanut butter and jelly. We've been treated to French cuisine, english cuisine, Dutch cuisine tons of different and yummy drinks all the while sharing laughs and stories. The owners are bob, originally from England, and corey, originally from holland. Easilycspoken I believe for both maria and I, this has truly been one of the finest highlights of our trip. It's sort of been like a holiday from our holiday. It's been so nice to wake up knowing somebodies going to tell us what to do, instead of making an itenerary, which starts to become exhausting after two straight months... strange thought isn't it? Working for ten days while on vacation because you feel like you need a break from vacationing. So far we have spent three separate days cutting lavender. One days cutting renders 60kilos of the purple stuff which is the amount required for one distillation. The day following a cutting is the day for distillation. It smells more fantastic than I could describe, it smells like......lavender I guess.
So, so far maria and I have cut 180kilos for a total of 3 distillations. The work is so satisfying. The lavender patches are alive with the constant buzzing of bees. I can't believe we haven't been stung. Maria has a constant conversation with the bees, "mr bee, I asked you nicely to move, shew,shew." then she runs from the patch briefly swatting and squeeling at insubordinate bees. We saw a humming bird hawks moth. An insect so brilliant it demanded three names. It's eradic and beautiful as it draws oil from the lavender buds. Other flightful insects encountered daily are: moths, various butterflies, and the one I named, "the giant I hope it doesn't sting me because it's as big as a 747 red and black meanest son of a gun on the block some sort of monster bee." this is a long title, but it's completely appropriate. We weave back and forth through the rows performing our various jobs, wondering if we haven't just stumbled across a piece of paradise. I now sit relaxed atop the cafe porch watching the subtle dances of the working flights of various pollen and oil collectors. I take as many mental pictures as possible. Our days are slowly coming to a close here in Normandy and I regret that we must leave, but I'm so satisfied that we came, and planted, and cut, and weeded and perpetuated a lifestyle for corey and bob that both maria and I can definately relate to. Next blog will be from st. Tropez.