When the lavender blooms: a week on the Valensole plateau.
From the first pale rows outside Puimoisson to the cutting day at the Roman distillery of Valensole, we trace one full bloom in a single, walking-paced week.
Southern France · Editorial Cartography
A slow cartography of Provence — lavender, rosé & stone villages.
An independent travel atlas to the hill towns, vineyards and perfumed valleys between the Luberon, the Camargue and the Côte d'Azur. Written on the ground, drawn by hand, updated with the seasons.
42
Villages mapped
11
AOCs & vineyards
7
Lavender seasons
2019
First edition
Featured regions
Six corners of southern France, each with its own light.
From the ochre cliffs of the Luberon to the salt flats of the Camargue, our atlas groups the most expressive landscapes of Provence into districts you can travel in a single weekend — or a single summer.
Hill country
The Luberon
Hilltop villages, cherry orchards and the fabled lavender of Sault and the Valensole plateau beyond.
Wetland frontier
The Camargue
Salt, pink flamingos, white horses and a sky you can read the weather in for a hundred kilometres.
Riviera
The Côte d'Azur
From the perched village of Èze to the markets of Nice, where the Alps fall into a sea of changing colour.
Signature stories
Field notes from the season.
Long-form dispatches from our correspondents — perfumers, winemakers, market gardeners and historians — published each month with an updated map and a short playlist of sound.
Pale as a Tavel: a pink-wine primer for the table.
Why the best rosés of Provence are paler, drier and more mineral than their reputation suggests — and which domaine to visit first if you only have a weekend.
Stone by stone: a slow walk through Les Baux-de-Provence.
The white limestone of Les Baux has been quarried for two thousand years. We follow the trail from the castle to the quarries with a geologist and a baker.
Wine & lavender
Two cultures, one season.
The atlas joins two calendars that rhyme — the harvest of the grapes in late August and the harvest of the lavender in mid-July. Plan a trip that catches both.
Cellars of the Luberon
Twenty-three family domaines within a 30 km radius, with tasting notes by appellation and a downloadable route.
Open the cellar mapBloom calendar
Altitude, latitude and the year's weather shape the bloom. We publish a weekly chart from late June to early August.
Read this week's chartDistilleries
From family stills to industrial co-operatives — where to see, smell and buy the year's essential oil.
Visit the distilleriesPairing notes
Eight pairings for summer tables, written with a sommelier and a perfumer from Grasse. Print-ready.
See the pairings