Did you know that France is famous for its soap? More specifically, Marseille soap or Saveon de Marseille. These traditional hard soap have been produced in Marseille and Salon de Provence area for 600 years. In the 17th century, Louis XIV introduced a regulation stating that only soaps made with Olive oil can be called Savon de Marseille, but the regulation has since been amended so that soaps made with other vegetable oils can bear the name.
One of the main highlights of our trip is the visit to the famous Lavender fields of Provence, France. You know, the rows or purple flowers in photos all over Instagram? The time of our visit was just the right time to see the lavenders in bloom, so I was very excited about it. In the Provence area, Valensole is one of the most popular village to visit to see the lanvender fields. The fields are actually outside the village, but you can stop in Valensole for meals, shopping, and accommodation. So after our stop in Mandelieu / La Napoule, we continued driving to Valensole. It was close to sunset when we approached Valensole, and just a few minutes before we reached the village we spotted several cars parked on the street side and people walking in the field. It was one of the Lavender fields! Excited, we made the quick decision to follow suit and parked. The lavenders weren’t as purple as I had seen in pictures, but it smelled so good! One thing we realized at that time was ...