I always thought that my visit to Provence would be one of the most impactful legs of my journey – and it was, but not in the way that I had expected.
I have always wanted to visit the south of France, ever since I was introduced to Van Gogh in high school, I wanted to see the vistas that I had admired on canvas for the last 30 years through my own eyes.
I also have a future dream of retiring to the country and building a lavender farm and artists retreat, a place of solitude, peace and inspiration to live out my latter years with fellow creatives – so to truly indulge my artists side I decided to stay at a Lavender farm in a beautiful little town called Lacoste.
The lavender farm was delightful, a beautiful white cottage with blue shutters, trellises adorned with grapevines and perfectly manicured lavender bushes lining the paths to the fields.
The town of Lacoste was equally as enchanting.
20 years ago, Lacoste, a medieval village in the Luberon, lay in ruins from war and neglect until it was acquired by SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) to be turned into an arts college and exhibition district. The whole town has been brought back to life as a vibrant community of art students. Beyond the castle on the hill (which has been partially restored by Pierre Cardin) is a main street full of artists studios and galleries the town halls hosting fashion shows and sculpture exhibitions – it’s so beautiful.
I should have been overcome with inspiration, in many ways I was, but what set in more deeply was a sense of loneliness and homesickness. Here I was, in a variation of the future life I had dreamed of, on my own.
So I wandered through the studios, galleries and castle and sat in the gardens of the lavender farm in a somewhat distracted state, which I attempted to shift through acknowledging gratitude for the friends and family that I have back home and looking forward to the following week when I would be reconnecting with friends after 7 weeks of travelling solo.
