Yep, it sure does look like Provence but it’s not. This is Lordington Lavender, aka the best goddamn place you’ll ever visit, and it’s nestled none other than in the South Downs. That’s right, not the South of France. England.
I discovered this place last year after reading about their open days online but we narrowly missed out. Yeah, about that. We rocked up to hunt this mysterious lavender field and ended up in the nearby nursing home asking if they knew anything about it.
The little woman outside drinking a cuppa said she’d never even heard of Lordington but looking back I think she was thoroughly enjoying us trying and failing to find it. Of course, it had already been and gone.
This year I was determined to get my lavender hit before it was all harvested and turned into dreamy pillow spray, and I was not disappointed.
When you first make it round the corner at the top of the hill you’re hit with a spectacular view of the purple sea of lavender below. I couldn’t help but feel smug that with one day spare, we had finally caught sight of it. It might not have been on the boyfriend’s list of weekend priorities, but even he was impressed.
Despite being a bit wary of the bees at first, it didn’t take me long to get rolling around in the acres of lav, quite literally. We were really lucky with the weather so I decided to wear this backless dress from Zara – it’s basically my go-to outfit for summer because it’s so light and the next best thing to being starkers. Somehow I didn’t quite feel brave enough for that with a field full of people. And wildlife. I paired it with my gold Topshop choker and gold heeled sandals, also Zara. But also now sadly deceased. Sniff sniff.
Can we just take a moment to appreciate that tan though. Lollll. It’s like I’ve literally never seen a day of sun in my life, ever.
We spent about two hours there, wandering through the neatly lined crops and of course stopping for a few photos (ahem). Needs must.
The fields were jam-packed with people of all ages: photographers, children, afternoon tea goers – all looking to enjoy a slice of the simpler things in life. It’s the perfect weekend activity for everyone to enjoy and I can’t wait to go back.
