Provence de lavande vêtue, chemins de lavande, terroir, photothèque bleu lavande

In his history of French lavender written in 1925, René Marcel Gattefossé wrote:
“Lavender essential oil is a truly French essential oil: its cultivation is important for an entire poor and mountainous region. It is therefore, without this special aspect of the matter, in the general interest to restore the millennium reputation this plant once had - to a greater potency than it has today.”

His comments are still valid 75 years later and the poor and mountainous region that is the Haut Provence still needs a resource to subsist.

Raoul Arnaud is right when he says:
"Here in this wild, austere and noble setting, lavender is at home. You would almost say, as long as it is not in flower, lavender mimics its environment.”

Marcel Provence adds:
"In winter you curl up like a hedgehog mountain plant and at the beginning of July, our scrublands are comparable to the ancient hills of Greece, giving birth to a multitude of fragrant spikes of intense blue, as if to obey a magic wand.

“We have pulled the plow with honor and conquered the land with this tool.”

It was not until the early 20th century that the importance of this production began to be understood. Raoul Arnaud estimated the average annual production of fine lavender at that time to be about 120 tons. After having played an important role during the First World War to treat the wounded, it would be 60 tons in 1923.

* Source : "Lavandes Lavandins Parfum d'histoire" by Robert Veyan