Each field seems more photogenic than the last. Some are wall to wall flowers, while others sport jaunty green stripes where a random row has already been harvested. And far from being a uniform colour, lavender fields come in myriad shades ranging from pale lilac through bluey-mauve to purple, the depth of colour frequently changing with the angle of view.

Fields are cut by tractors that sit astride individual rows and sweep the blooms of adjacent rows up towards the cutting blades. Behind them, the harvested plants stretch out in domed green lines. Just outside the historic town of Nyons – famous as France’s black olive capital – we watched one tractor make its way slowly up the field towards us, cut flowers dropping rhythmically into the trailer behind.

The scent grew steadily stronger as the vehicle approached and the air was thick with perfumed dust as it turned to drop its fragrant load into the waiting trailer. Many farms have their own small distilleries where you’ll see hand-painted signs offering essential oil for sale, but the produce from this particular field was almost certainly heading down the road to the Distillerie Bleu Provence at Nyons.

The distillery’s shop sells a huge range of lavender-based oils and cosmetics and is open all year round, but only for a few weeks each year will you be lucky enough to witness the distillation process. In mid July, we watched men fork bundles of blooms into vast vats before jumping on top to tread them down ready for distillation. Clearly the sweetest smelling feet in southern France!

When the lids on the vats were firmly clamped shut, we strolled off beside the river Digue to visit the 18th century soap factory and olive oil mill next to the pretty Romanesque bridge, and to pick up some colourful Provençal table linens from the tempting craft shop.

Nyons is one of many atmospheric towns that lie deep in the heart of lavender country. Our circuit through Drôme took us to nearby Buis-les-Baronnies, with its shady squares, colourful facades, and fascinating Maison des Plantes Aromatiques. Here you can find out all about lavender, lime trees, and the area’s many other scented plants with the help of information panels, video screens and hands-on sensory guessing games.

Then there was Montbrun-les-Bains, classified as one of France’s most beautiful villages, and a definite high spot in more ways than one. On a sheer cliff, the old town seems to hang suspended above the plain, its ancient houses built into the towering ramparts. Visit the ruined hilltop chateau, the mediaeval alleyways and church frescoes, but don’t miss Brunarôme, a specialist soap maker’s shop where you can buy a basket of sweet-smelling Provençal soaps for just a handful of euros.

Montbrun lies close to the departemental border between Drôme and Vaucluse and here, in the shadow of Mont Ventoux, we spotted bunches of cut lavender laid out to dry for bouquets. 

We found similar bouquets painted on white china tableware at Dieulefit, a charming small town whose name translates as ‘Dieu l’a fait’ – ‘God made it’. A thriving wool-weaving centre in the Middle Ages, 21st century Dieulefit is a thriving centre for pottery, glassware and other creative crafts.

I couldn’t resist buying some pretty ceramics painted with delicate lavender blooms – a permanent reminder of summer to brighten the gloomiest winter days.