"Lavender Fields Forever...."

Where to begin. I sit on a rock accompanied by our sweet farm dog Kan at the "Internet Cafe" just down the rocky hill of the farm house to write this post. We jokingly call this turn of the road the "Internet Cafe," because it is the only spot that can pick up internet connection which we get from a 3G iPod-looking device. You have to hang the internet-connector-ipod-thingy up on a pine tree and find yourself a rock to sit on beneath, or a shady spot nearby, as the sun tends to follow. It's unusual to my spoiled L.A. life where internet is readily available, but it works. And, actually, I enjoy sitting outside to write.

The "Internet Cafe"

It's another gorgeous day. I've had many gorgeous and beautiful days here in this place, which I will try to reflect on here. But, these last two days have taken a turn, and I struggle today to write this post with half my face swollen by a bee sting beneath my right eye. My vision from my right eye is impaired from the swelling. Bee stings are a bitch. Pardon my French. But, they really are, especially on your face. I had been stung in high school during swim practice once upon a time, and since I've been here, and before this happened on Wednesday when we were harvesting chestnut honey in Braux, I had only been stung once on my ankle. I had my bee jacket on and was protected throughout most of our work time, until the end when tragedy struck.

Braux, place where our chestnut honey is harvested and crime scene. 

Somehow, a bee got into my suit and without hearing it, it aimed right for my right eye and without even seeing it, I felt a sharp stab of pain. GOD. It hurt so much and what was worse was the bee tried to burrow into the corner of my eye. Jorris, fellow wwoofer and my bee teacher, guided me over to a spot away from the bees and helped me get the bee off my eye. I took a walk in the woods and sat for a break. The heat in that bee suit and the pain in my eye was horrible.

I decided to walk back to continue to help my fellow wwoofers Estelle and Jorris. Just as I came back, not even one minute, and I felt a sharp pain on my right thigh, another sting. FUCK! I had had it with it all in that moment. The bees, the bugs, the squatting in the woods and the search for toilet paper in the car every time you have to pee, the peaches and zucchini for every meal, the late meals, the rocky uneven roads....but then, you take a deep breath, you take a sip of water, you're on the road again, the clouds shift with sounds of thunder rumbling through, it begins to rain and all your anger and annoyances are washed away. And you're perfectly happy again with a hand out the window, catching the little droplets of relief from the torrid weather.

Estelle, my fellow wwoofer and bee-stung friend. 

The three of us wwoofers: Jorris, moi, and Estelle @ Guillaumes Marche.

It must have been the adrenaline, since my eye was ok after the bite. But then, the next morning, after the adrenaline wore off, I looked like Quasimodo from the Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Yesterday was  a rough day selling at the Guillaumes market with this face. But, Estelle, Jorris and I had a laugh because ironically, Estelle got stung on the side of her head earlier this week and it had been swelling over the past few days. Yesterday, we were two gals with swollen right eyes selling honey. Some people asked if we were stung, and we'd have another giggle, nodding our heads. I'd like to think we're courageous, getting chestnut honey to our clients Quasimodo-faced or not, and somehow, I think it makes our work more meaningful and authentic. Jorris also joked, exclaiming, that we should think about how he feels being a man around two women with swollen eyes..haha.

Our precious honeys.

AB means organic honeys of: thyme, sarriette, lavande, provence, montagne. 

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But as they say, you can't have the roses without the thorns. In this case, you can't have the honey without the bees and bee stings. It is utterly beautiful here. When I first arrived, after a missed bus the first day, finally having made it, the first humming songs to my ears were a version of the Beetles "Strawberry Fields Forever," except Christel, the fellow wwoofer who picked me up, and Jorris, were singing it as "Lavender Fields Forever..." while we prepared our first dinner together. It was funny. Since then, every now and then, it gets stuck in one of our heads and we are caught humming it, and getting mad at each other for infecting the other with the very contagious song.

Le Plateau de Valensole where the lavender grows. 

Relishing in my earliest memory of my time here when I first arrived nearly two weeks ago and Jorris and I went to check on the bees of the Lavender Fields, I remember thinking to myself, if there is a heaven, I think I've found it. The landscape rolls with waves of lavender, a most gorgeous shade of purple contrasted with the blue sky and green trees.

So far, Jorris has been good company and a great teacher. He is from Holland, half French, part Dutch and German and speaks 5 languages: French, Dutch, English, Spanish and German! I feel a bit inferior only knowing English, Vietnamese, some Spanish and Mandarin. And whereas I can only write in English, he can write in all those languages. I feel the same way around many Europeans, since most speak and write in multiple languages.

Stopping for food at typical market stand on our way to Valensole. 

Fresh and local produce. 

We'd been driving most the morning to get to the fields. We stopped at a small farm stand selling lavender products and produce from the region to get some fresh bell peppers (poivron),  and divine Provencal-herb goat cheese (fromage de chèvre). Provencal herb mix consists usually of thyme, oregano and rosemary.

Then we made a turn into the sea of lavender and found our bees. Stacks and stacks of bee boxes, 62 hives, to be precise. We decided to have lunch before getting to work so found a shady spot on the hillside and had our picnic lunch of bell peppers, tomatoes, beets, amazing homemade bread from local baker, goat cheese and olive spread. Picnicking is very typical here. Simple and delicious.

This is where le miel de "lavande" is harvested. 

Then it was off to work. I suited up and Jorris did as well. The bee suit is white with a zipper down the middle and a bee hat that you also zip on. The bee hat is zipped to keep the bees out. You have to be calm around them, no sudden movements. Jorris started the smoker, adding pine needles, grass and other greens to make a cool smoke. We checked the 62 hives and marked an estimated percentage of honey on the boxes, adding new half supers (bee box) when it was a 70% or over honey estimation. It was hot and tiring work, lifting the half super boxes over to Jorris when we had to add a new one.

Moustiers St. Marie

But then, afterwards, we drove down to a little darling town Moustiers St. Marie and walked through the Farmers' Market. I got some postcards to write and send out. It was such a perfect visit. We tasted honeys at the market and had an ice cream; one lavender honey scoop and one scoop of hazelnut. This was my second best part of the day, my first being when we tasted lavender honey straight from the hive, sneaking it quickly under our bee masks.

This lake was like a gorgeous ocean. 

Perfect swim after working hard in those hot bee suits. 

After touring the town, we drove down to this huge lake with turquoise water that looked like an ocean. We jumped in for a swim. This was the 3rd best part of the day. For dinner, it was another camping style meal of cous cous,  sautéed bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, zucchini, sarriette (mountain savory herb), and olive oil. Just before we were about to eat, we were suddenly attacked by these little nasty black mosquitoes. They were aggressive and mean. Within 5 minutes, they really began to eat us alive, so we quickly gathered our things and got the hell out of there, way up in the mountains. There we finished our meals, on a ledge off the side of the road and watched the sunset.

Applying itch cream on our wounds, we laughed at how ironic it was that on my first day of bee keeping, I was attacked by mosquitoes, rather than bees!

"Let me take you down cause I'm going to.... Lavender Fields, nothing is real, and nothing to get hung about, Lavender Fields Forever"






*Photos by Tiffanie and Jorris.