I hope these posts bring a smile your way and a momentary pause during these crazy times. Inspiration, also, to get you moving forward and planning that next big or small travel adventure. Onward!
Lavender Fields Dreaming(s)
Or FYI: They’re not just in France, California has them, too. This one’s in Mount Shasta.
With snippets of spring teasings here, as cherry and plum blossoms abound, I blink as I do every mid-winter and relive a long ago memory: a visit to the now famous, french lavender fields.
Row upon row of purple vibrancy. The smell lulls, calms, and invigorates all at once. It balances me out and makes me wish that tele-transportation was a reality vs. only in the land of those trekkies. Then, I could leap for just that little while, unplug from the everyday and sponge it all in.
So, my friends and new-to-me visitors, I share what may be news to you all: lavender fields can be found in a few other places in the world. California being only one of them.*
If you are stateside and craving these purple wonders, mark those summer calendars now. Keep an eye out for flight sales and/or rental car promos or tune that old car up for a road trip and check this out for yourself.
Summer brings a gaggle of festivals and farm tours throughout the state, so if you’re deep in winter, or dug just too deep in technology, take a few days off to road trip, or airport hop and joy the joy.
And if, by chance you’ve got France on your mind, check out this practical cost/compare chart.
If you have a bit more time on your hands, and would need to hop on a plane anyway and rent a car... with the strong US dollar, more new carriers flying transatlantic - and competing for your business, it may be a more practical and dare I say it, a more economical option for you.
As you can see transportation and lodging costs within the US are much higher than in France (and almost all over the world) especially if you are traveling solo. In Europe for example, a solo traveler pays per person, not per room. This ironically, can make a trip oversees that is a week+ more affordable for solo and all travelers, in general. So maybe it’s time to take that 2 week vacation. Paris, Nice and Provence, anyone?
Do note that summer is high season in the US and also Europe, so plan ahead to find your best options for airfares, train and lodging. Know, too, that prices tend to fluctuate the closer we are to summer. There are also many last minute airfare and lodging travel deals to be had, so don’t be discouraged.
So, if you’ve got lavender on your mind, like I do, I say take the leap. Your winter blues will thank you for it, for years and years to come.
Enjoy!
Lisa
*Some other lavender farms, fields and festivals to check out all over the world are in
Australia, China, Croatia, Japan, South Korea and the UK just to name a few :)