Spring has sprung and our adoptive Provence Azur region looks like someone has walked all over its countryside with a bunch of dripping paint brushes.
One of my favorite spring pot of color is by the Lac de l'Ecureuil in the mountain range of l'Esterel (see hike details here). Take a peak at a few bloomers out there right now in mid-April.
In early spring, the deciduous Judas-tree (Cercis siliquastrum) explodes
with fuchsia-colored flowers.
The
tree heath (Erica arborea), covers in
tiny white flowers and appears dusted with snow. Its base is thick and mostly fire-proof. When fires ravage the forests of south-eastern France, as
they too often do, tree heaths often survive. In the old days and to a lesser extent today, craftsmen carved
beautiful smoking pipes from their wood.
Stoechas Lavender (Lavandula stoechas)
sun bathe by the red lava rocks of the Esterel. Bees swarm around them. Very fragrant, their flowers often end up tied up in cotton pouches and placed
in linen closets.
On the side of the trail, the flowers of the broom plant splash a yellow so
bright it appears fluorescent against the dark greens of the surrounding mountain crestlines.
Where do you like to go for a spring stroll en fin de semaine?
