A Summer in Aix-En-Provence

I have never been in a place that embodied a fairytale painting quite like Aix-En-Provence. I fell in love with the way beauty is sewn into the earth and then carried from farm to table. The French culture, the sound of rain after market mornings, the smell of fresh lavender, nutty cheeses, white wine, the list could go on. When in Provence, you must…

Go to the market and buy all the cheese, meats, and bread your heart desires
Pack up your market bounty and go out for a picnic in the countryside
Visit the hilltop villages such as Luberon, Gordes & Roussillon
Try the local wine
Dine in a Chateau
Do pick the flowers (and press them in a journal as a little keepsake)
Pause and listen to the rain
Dance in the flower fields

The best way to see all of the countryside is by renting a car. Set your navigation to one of the hilltop towns I mentioned above and just drive. Along the way, you will stumble upon a sea of red poppies, lavender fields (they bloom in late summer!), and aisles of olive and cherry trees. Provence is just brimming with beauty. Some of the best French painters, such as Cézanne and Monet, resided and spent their lives painting the romance of Provence. To be in the place that inspired some of my favorite impressionist painters and see their art come alive was an absolute gift.

After a long season of creative dryness, my time in Provence came as sweet, sweet rain.

I felt my season of winter turn to spring then summer. New life given to dry bones. As I leave my time in college and enter into a creative career, it seemed as if the red poppies bloomed just in time to welcome me home. God always seems to speaks to me in flowers. This trip marks a creative blossoming, a new season of abundance, and God’s promises fulfilled. Humbled by these blessings daily.