Visiting Provence In Summer | Gordes, France

Provence in summer is a magical place. We actually planned our wedding in June so that we could make it to Provence for our honeymoon towards the end of the month, right before the high season in early July to see the lavender fields in bloom. The lavender is just as lovely, but the crowds are much less and it is not nearly as hot as it would be in July. It was a little too early in the season to see many poppies or sunflowers, but we spent plenty of time soaking up the lavender fields into our memories. 

We drove from Montignac to to Gordes (approximately 7 hours) with our rental car and made it to Gordes in time for dinner, at at least we thought. By the time we got to our Airbnb it was almost 10 at night and the restaurants, although busy, were not accepting any more customers and all the shops were closed. Terrible planning on our part. In the United States, you can pretty much find food at any time of night. Although this is not our norm, we thought the restaurants would be taking in customers later in the evening. We didn’t have any snacks prepared so we went to bed hungry. Breakfast also isn’t a big deal in France either, so no big breakfast for us. After stopping by the local boulangerie for pastries (many yummy pastries), we made our way out to see the sights. 

There is a gorgeous overlook where you can see Gordes, a small village built into a hill, much like many villages in Provence. We chose Gordes as our home base in Provence because of its close proximity to the lavender fields and this magnificent view. 

Share a kiss at the overlook for good luck!Gordes was one of my favorite places we explored in France. The best time to see the village is in the mornings because it does get surprisingly busy during the day with tourists visiting from all over the world. We stayed in the village for two and a half days, which was enough time to see everything we had set out to. This fountain was right across from our Airbnb. See the building in the middle with the light blue shutters? That was where we stayed, all the way on the top floor. In France, it is seen as dirty to eat on the side of the street, even a cute one like this one. I just couldn’t help myself! I love eating outside and it was such a beautiful day. I brought this pastel blue dress with me from the Gal Meets Glam Collection. I love the bow on the back! The Artisan Boulangerie is where we bought most of our snacks. The bread in France is great, but you must try the cheese! Everything I ate with cheese on it was fantastic. When I first looked up the Senanque Abbey, Google told me that it was approximately 22 minutes from Gordes. It turns out, the Abbey was right at the bottom of the hill! I had no idea that we were so close. The Abbey is truly lovely (and very popular so arrive early!), but you cannot actually go into the lavender field. The Abbey still homes several monks who work the fields so be respectful when you visit. Behind the Abbey there are walking trails. Despite all the Instagram photos you may have seen, trespassing here is indeed illegal and can get you arrested. So we took photos safely on the pedestrian side of the fence. Trust me, there are many more lavender fields nearby where you can wander for an epic photo moment. I am not huge on souvenir shopping, but one thing you will want to do is purchase yourself (and your loved ones) a sachet of lavender. The proceeds support the Abbey and it smells heavenly. This little pouch made my suitcase smell like a dream. After visiting the Abbey we decided to explore by car. Because Provence is so spread out, you will want to have your own mode of transportation to get from one place to the next. Behold the lavender!After seeing all we could in Gordes we took a spontaneous trip to the Pont du Gard Aqueduct. I shared a full post with all of the details from our adventure. I just love this street view on our way back to our Airbnb. The black cat in the poster looks so much like our kitty Madeleine. This time we made it to the Restaurant in time. The sun sets around 8, which gave us a full day to explore. It was here that I ordered the most incredible gorgonzola gnocci. The portion sizes here are perfect. Just enough to keep you full, but not so much that you cannot finish. This sleepy little village shuts down by ten. We made our way back to our Airbnb to get plenty of sleep and to make our way to Valensole for a photo shoot in the lavender fields the next morning.