LAVANDE ROMAINE

“Crossing Haute Provence is a mystical journey. Like crossing a rocky desert where trees are rare, if it weren’t for the lavender. The tall bushes are shaken by blasts of the mistral. While the evenings are no longer lit by fires beneath the alembics, as described by Jean Giono, the clean, pure scent is the soul of this land.” [travel notes]

To the Romans, it was the flower that gently perfumed their washing water. Lavender for “laving”. Roman armies spread the plant throughout Europe, but it is here that lavender pairs so closely with the landscape to become its dominant feature, one which once seen is never forgotten - like a dazzling pair of blue-violet eyes. Bewitched by the harshness of rugged nature, Jean-Claude has interpreted it in his own way. Lavande Romaine is an extraordinary page in his history of scent, where blue butterflies flitter at dusk on gentle hints of Blackcurrant, Blue Cedar and White musk.