Bunnygoespop in Provence (France)

The air is charged with the smell of lavender, the buzz of bees, the landscape is swathed in the prettiest shade of purple (lavender), butterflies flutter by, and one feels, aah life is good… until… the baby cries. Yes, we have a bunny baby and this was our first big trip! En Provence!

We decided to go to Provence from Switzerland with an electric car, ‘coz you know, the planet, climate change, and all. But this meant that we had to stop a few times to charge the car. But it turned out to be quite convenient with the feeding, diaper changing, etc..

We were worried that mid of June might be too soon for the lavender. But lo behold, we crossed field after field of lavender in full bloom as we reached our Airbnb. Our Airbnb had a lavender field inside the property! And a swimming pool! We happily spent our first evening there.

The next morning we were scourging the nearby towns in search of some croissants but it seemed that the French wake up really early because croissants were sold out by 0830 am! So we settled for some pain au chocolat instead. Aah the compromises one must make 😛.

Some hours and pool dips later we went up to the La Garde Adhemar, passing some glorious lavender fields on the way.

Some snails (a French specialty) and a glorious sunset later, we called it a day.

The next morning we woke up at 7am to get to the bakery in time (and success!). Then we roamed around the beautiful town of St. Restitut, set on top of a hill (like many towns in Drôme Provencale). It is such an idyllic little town but it felt like we were walking through an empty movie set. Besides the small queue outside the bakery and children and mums waiting for the school bus (presumably), in the town itself, there wasn’t a single person in sight. Just some old shoes out on the balcony, plastic pegs on drying racks, and an open window were subtle signs of life. But still we preferred it a thousand times over the super touristic town of Grignon which we visited later in the trip. Grignon is labeled as one of the most beautiful villages of France! We didn’t think so; St. Restitut was far better.

That evening, we visited a candy shop which had almost everything France has to offer – caramel, foie gras, bread dipped in alcohol (baba something), chocolate, fruit spreads, etc. etc. and plenty of things to taste. It was amazing.

High on sugar and many euros lighter (everything was sooo good!), we then went to a town called Suze-la-Rousse, and walked up the stairs to the chateau (with the stroller, and not the only time!) and looked for the University of wine – this is a real and apparently a very famous university. Wonder what their practicals are like… perhaps like Expovina (a wine festival in Zurich) but even more fun?

The next day, it was going to be 39 dg C (mid of June!). To escape the heat, we went to the Grotte Saint Marcel (St. Marcel’s caves). There are thousands of caves in cliffs/ the gorge of the river, Ardèche and the Grotte Saint Marcel cave system is one of them. All my life, I wondered why were some people interested in caves. After visiting this one, I understand. Pictures don’t do it justice. All these structures were naturally formed! How? Just water and limestone! I am still in awe.

I must say here that in our English/ French guided tour, barely any information was given in English, it was 95% in French and 5% in English. Thanks to Swiss bunny for translating because the info was actually very very interesting! For example, the temperature in the caves is the average temperature of the rain the past year. It was a fresh 13 dg C when we went!

We hit the local markets twice in our stay. Look at all this amazing local produce! Emphasis on local. Some of the fruits came from less than 2 km away and hence, were perfectly ripe and super good! I swear I hadn’t ever tasted strawberries quite like these. Just INCREDIBLE.

All went well and good but I couldn't help but wonder, is tourism in France was for only the French..? 

Honey is BIG in south of France. Honey keepers keep the bee hives next to different kinds of fields to get different tastes. It is really fascinating how the honey can taste so different! No bees are intentionally harmed in the process).

Lavender harvesting is another to do in Provence. We made some bouquets ourselves and baby bunny loved them!

Swiss bunny would just spot the best hills that would have a nice view while driving and drive up to them.

On our last day, we visited the Roman amphitheater in a nearby city called, Orange. The amphitheater itself was quite interesting. The Romans built it on a slope using the geography of the land and made the design such that the actors voices reached till the very end of the theater, to the slaves and prostitutes.

We also visited the museum next to the amphitheater which was quite lame. The only interesting bit I learnt was that printed cotton came to Europe from India and made quite a splash on their fashion industry. The printing and dyeing processes were a close guarded secret and the Europeans had to do a lot of spying and trial and errors before they got a hang of it. There was more to see in Orange but the air in the city felt so polluted after living in the countryside for just a week!

Traveling with a baby– I would be lying if I said our holiday was the same as before. We did everything we wanted to but with some adjustments – like feeding him while watching the sunset or changing him in the back of the car. We didn’t stop at every viewpoint that came along but we did stop at a few. We made the best of what we could and that’s all that matters, isn’t it?

We are looking forward to the next adventures with baby bunny. We hope he likes to pop.