The Drôme is known for its lavender fields, and at L’Essentiel de Lavande I dive right into it. I photograph my way between the rows, learn everything about the plant, make my own balm, and taste lavender lemonade with lavender cookies. You can even sleep among the lavender fields. In short: come along to this little lavender paradise in the Drôme.

The Drôme is packed with flavor. Not just on your plate, but in your glass too. I taste my way through the region: from a century-old wine cooperative on the Rhône to a family-run truffle farm. These are the best tastings the Drôme has to offer.

Nyons is a town in the Drôme Provençale, known for its olives and olive oil and its market. But there’s more to do than just browsing the stalls: think a centuries-old bridge, the last scourtin factory in France, and getting hands-on with olive oil yourself.

The Drôme is full of picturesque villages, but only a handful of them officially get to call themselves one of the most beautiful villages in France. I visited three: Mirmande, La Garde-Adhémar, and Grignan.

I wind my way along a French country road toward Grignan. Wildflowers along the roadside. Tractors working the fields. Rolling hills. Big bales of hay scattered across the land. I haven’t even arrived yet, and that lazy vacation feeling already kicks in. Then Grignan appears, perched on a hill surrounded by lavender fields. On top, the castle rises up triumphantly. I spend a day here, and honestly, I could’ve easily stayed longer.

For 33 years, a mailman with zero training in art or architecture builds his palace, undisturbed, in his own backyard. At night, by the light of an oil lamp. A madman? Or a genius? More than a hundred years later, you can still admire his life’s work in Hauterives.